To raise awareness...understand the brutality of the occupation and its goals

Funeral for one of the Palestinian children who died of starvation in Gaza (Getty Images)

Since October 7, several attempts have been made to understand the reasons for the continuation of the occupying state in its crimes against civilians in the Gaza Strip in particular, especially in light of its failure to achieve any major goals at the military and political levels, which deserves an in-depth discussion that refers to the theory To raise awareness of what the occupation is working on.

Annihilation theories

It has become unnecessary to say that what the occupation forces committed in the Gaza Strip, and are still working to implement up to this moment, amounts to genocide, regardless of the final decision that will be issued by the International Court of Justice, noting that its initial decision is regarding preventive measures, and therefore Accepting South Africa's complaint, he points to extermination as a possibility.

There is no other description that can express the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, and the wounding of many times that number, the vast majority of whom were women and children, with the destruction of more than half of the Gaza Strip’s buildings, and the targeting of all institutions that provide people with the means of life, in addition to special targeting of hospitals and health institutions. All of this was done deliberately by an army that possesses the latest technologies that enable it - if it wants - to precisely target whoever and what it wants.

Regarding the motives and reasons for this unprecedented brutality, except during the Nakba era and what preceded and followed it, researchers and writers discussed several possibilities or theories. The first is an attempt to show strength and restore the deterrence that the occupying state lost with the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, and thus reassure and stabilize “Israeli” society after the crisis of loss of confidence it showed at the beginning of the war.

Among them is also the instinct for revenge against the Palestinians and their resistance for what they accomplished on the 7th of October, especially with this being coupled with a superior and racist view towards the Palestinians, about whom the occupation Minister of Defense said: They are “human animals.” Wasting any human rights they had, and paving the way for extermination.

One of the explanatory frameworks for “Israeli” behavior since the first day of the aggression is to exploit an unprecedented opportunity - from the occupation’s point of view - to change the rules of the game, impose new facts and get rid of any threat once and for all. The inside is mobilized behind the narrative of “existential war,” and the outside is led by the American administration. It provides unlimited, unconditional, and unprecedented support, despite relative differences in views regarding some details of the ground operation (not its legality nor its goals).

Among them is also, and among the most popular, the theory of confusion and the absence of any clear plan for military operations, as well as what was called the “day after” the war. This theory was reinforced by the occupation’s inability to achieve any of the major goals declared for its ground operation in particular, despite the previously detailed human and material losses, as well as the siege and starvation, which turned the lives of civilians in Gaza into an unimaginable tragedy.

In nearly six months of continuous bloody aggression, the occupation did not eliminate Hamas, nor stop the firing of rockets, nor free the “Israeli” interior from the threat of the resistance, nor release its prisoners. The facts say; The resistance is still confronted in the field and is capable of delivering painful blows to the occupation, which means that its command and control system is still largely intact despite the losses.

Ki awareness

Most of these explanatory frameworks seem logical, and may be suitable for understanding the occupation’s motives for its crimes against the Palestinians, especially in the first days and weeks of the aggression, but we do not see them as sufficient to explain the continuation of this brutality and bloodiness all these months, and after the shock of the first day has passed.

The perception that the occupying state - and those who support it, stand with it, and even direct it - is still acting according to the reaction after all this period of time and without a clear plan for the medium and long term does not seem logical. The continuation of the "Israeli" military machine in the same approach - despite the clear failure to achieve the declared goals - suggests that there is a vision that governs the "Israeli" behavior recently, and it will remain in the medium term at a minimum, as an alternative to improvisation, chaos, revenge, and other things that prevailed in the first weeks. .

This vision is an effort to raise the awareness of the Palestinians and those who support them or stand in solidarity with them in the long term. The occupation has used policies to suppress awareness since the beginnings of the Zionist project on the land of Palestine, and throughout the decades of confrontation with the Palestinian revolution, then the resistance in the last two decades, but today with the “Al-Aqsa flood” they appear more clear and deliberate.

It is striking in this war that many of the crimes and atrocities committed by the occupation were the ones who documented and published them, or ensured their spread and popularity, from the bombing of defenseless civilians, to targeting hospitals and killing hundreds in their vicinity, to targeting those waiting for humanitarian aid, to field executions, to torturing prisoners. Unarmed people, and much more.

By crossing all limits of brutality, bloodiness, and inhumanity, the occupation seeks to cauterize awareness in three dimensions: the first; It is the impact of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation, which turned into a state of pride and an inspiring model from its first hours for the Palestinians and the peoples of the region, to say the least.

That day crushed the myth of the invincible army, demonstrated the intelligence flaws of the occupying state driven by the arrogance of power and excessive reliance on technology, and the well-prepared resistance. Many saw it as a “rehearsal” for an upcoming liberation battle.

The scenes of the resistance fighters storming bases and fortified military points, overtaking the heavily armed occupation soldiers, and pulling them out of their tanks to capture them, confirmed the “Al-Aqsa Flood” as a turning point in the Palestinian struggle and the conflict with the occupation, and as an achievement that cannot be changed.

Brutality in this context is a direct "Israeli" weapon to try to obliterate the feeling of the achievement of October 7th, and establish it in the consciousness and subconscious in a positive way.

The second dimension; It is the responsibility for the genocide itself, as the entity’s leaders are betting that the prolonged aggression and the continued suffering of civilians in their inhumane conditions will push some/many of them to become angry with the resistance and hold it - not the occupation - responsible for what happened and the continued suffering. This is a great gain - if it happens - for the occupation. Because it relieves him of responsibility for his crimes on the one hand, and increases pressure on the resistance on the other hand.

And the third dimension; The main thing in the issue of ironing awareness is to try to ensure that the Palestinians do not return to a battle similar to the “Al-Aqsa Flood” in the future. Every confrontation between the occupation and the resistance was the basis and ground for the confrontation that followed, and the direct results of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” encouraged behavior of this kind after the collapse of the “Israeli” deterrence force.

Therefore, brutality and failure to observe any laws, customs, or laws of war was the only way for the occupation to convince the Palestinians - specifically the resistance - that resistance has its price and cost, and that it must think a thousand times before returning in the future to a step similar to what it did on October 7. .

In conclusion, the occupation's strategy in Gaza has been focused for months on deepening the humanitarian crisis in the Strip, and using people's suffering to try to raise the awareness of the Palestinians and those who support them regarding the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation and its aftermath, as it has its implications and future repercussions, as well as the party that bears responsibility for the humanitarian disaster in sector, and we believe that sooner or later, with American support, the occupation will adopt a similar scenario in both Lebanon (Hezbollah) and Yemen (Ansar Allah/Houthis).

Despite this, the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation will remain the most prominent, most important and influential stage in the course of the conflict with the occupation, and the latter’s barbarism will not be able to make the Palestinians, and indeed the region and the world, forget what happened that day, and what it can build upon in the future.

In other words, the seventh of October will have consequences in terms of the future of the Palestinian issue, the confrontation with the occupation, and the entire regional system, and the occupation will not be able to change that despite its brutality, if everyone pays attention to the policy of raising awareness, and does not fall into the trap of the occupation and its political mouthpieces. And the media inside and outside Israel.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.