The “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation—and the destructive Israeli war that ensued on the Gaza Strip—has caused a seismic shift, shaking several long-held and seemingly immovable standards. It began with the Israeli military narratives crumbling amidst ongoing battles, to the tons of shells dropped on the heads of the people of Gaza with Western approval of Israel’s actions.
These shifts in perception are now crystallizing within regional and international political circles, acknowledging that post-war equations will not remain the same. A report by Al Jazeera, marking 100 days since the war on Gaza, outlined some of these transformations and exceptions. Notably, the resilience of the small and resource-limited Gaza Strip persisted against the might of the Israeli army, notorious for defeating the armies of the neighboring Arab states in six days.
This resistance marks a unique exception that was unforeseen in the history of Arab-Israeli conflict before Tel Aviv initiated its devastating war, justifying it as a response to the attacks by the Al-Qassam Brigades—the military wing of Hamas—on encampments and settlements around Gaza on October 7, 2023.
A Steep Price
The steep price paid by Palestinians has also been exceptional. Casualties reached approximately 100,000, including martyrs, injured, and missing persons (with an average of one thousand each day), in addition to the displacement of 1.8 million people from their homes and towns that were leveled to the ground. Moreover, all supplies of food, water, medicine, electricity, and fuel were denied to the inhabitants of Gaza.
Equally extraordinary was the alignment of Western leaders behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, disregarding the images of innocent victims’ dismembered bodies, the rubble of residential areas, and public protests around the world.
These demonstrations reached an exceptional fervor, vocalizing outrage against the abandonment of humanitarian and civilizational values that were previously used as pretexts and justifications for intervention in other regions of the world.
Israel’s narrative, adopted by its allies, was based on ignoring over seven decades of invasion, killing, and displacement faced by the Palestinian people prior to October 7. The war propaganda centered around portraying the conflict as having begun on that day.
The only aspect of the war and its outcomes that was not exceptional was the American and Western diplomatic effort that initially tried to impose guardianship over the Palestinian people. Under the guise of seeking ‘the next day plans’ after the cessation of hostilities, they proposed scenarios that were devoid of implementing international legitimacy or the principle of peoples’ right to freedom and self-determination.
