Israel seeks revenge after Gaza ‘storm’

A shock military offensive by Palestinian resistance to end Israeli apartheid and end the blockade of the Gaza Strip could precipitate a new peace process for the Middle East – or an apocalyptic act of revenge by a humiliated Israeli Prime Minister.

After years of a grinding oppression and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, an unprecedented action saw resistance fighters storm the heavily fortified Erez Crossing, entering Israeli-held territory by paraglider and parachute.

Thousands of rockets were also launched over the border wall as the ruling Hamas authorities announced the beginning of “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm”.

“Today the people are regaining their revolution,” said the leader of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, in a recorded message. He called on Palestinians to join the fight and “expel the occupiers and demolish the walls”.

There were casualties in border towns and villages, including among Israeli settlers who had occupied stolen Palestinian lands. Participants in a music festival held by the Gaza Strip’s ‘iron wall’ were also caught in the crossfire. One woman who held joint Israeli-Irish citizenship was reported to have died on Wednesday.

Israel immediately launched a sustained bombardment while sealing off routes out of the enclave. It attacked scores of residential buildings as well as medical buildings, UN offices, schools, and a university, killing over a thousand Palestinian civilians at the time of publication.

Aid agencies warned that many of their staff working on the ground had themselves become refugees after their homes were damaged or destroyed. Several died in the Israel rocket fire, including medics working for the Palestine Red Crescent Society who were killed in what were described as “directly targeted” strikes on two ambulances.

Israeli spokesperson Daniel Hagari confirmed that “hundreds of tons of bombs” had already been dropped on the tiny strip by Monday evening, admitting that “the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy”.

Over the past sixteen years of the Gaza blockade, some 6,400 Palestinians have died in total more than 20 times the number of Israelis who have lost their life. Israeli violence in the has been an almost daily feature in recent years and military operations directed against the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank in July resulted in scores of casualties.

That could all be dwarfed by the current conflict. Known as the world’s largest concentration camp, Israel has put Gaza under a siege, with no power, food or medical supplies allowed into the 2.3m inhabitants.

Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant declared there would be a “complete siege” of the territory with “no electricity, food or fuel” allowed to pass.

Fuel supplies have already run out, including those keeping power generators going in Gaza’s hospitals.

There are fears the Israeli leadership could soon launch a ground invasion of the area, with even more unimaginable consequences.

A statement issued by Gaza’s authorities on Wednesday described the situation as “catastrophic”. The statement referred to Israel’s carpet bombing campaign “as the dirtiest crime of collective punishment against defenceless civilians in modern history” and called on the international community to move quickly to stop “this crime against humanity and this multi-form mass murder”.

Aid groups say there is less than two weeks’ supply of food and water to assist those who have sought their help, while others have been forced to suspend their operations due to the bombings.

British Prime Rishi Sunak and his cabinet Ministers have refused to condemn Israeli war crimes, including collective punishment. They joined western world leaders in a Putin-like manipulation of the media, using a propaganda campaign based on the false statements of the Israeli army.

The President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, openly backed Israeli war crimes identical to those she recently condemned Russia for perpetrating. Irish EU MEP Clare Daly attacked her and other unelected EU officials for lending unconditional support to Israel “even as it flattens Gaza and massacres innocent civilians”.

There are fears that the high levels of international support, particularly from the US, could encourage Israel to carry out a large-scale massacre of the civilian population of Gaza. It is said to be massing 300,000 troops around the enclave ahead of a potential act of genocide.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was this week proudly sharing videos of devastating Israeli bombings on social media, vowing “this is only the beginning”.

An international human rights effort is underway to avert a crisis and to end what Amnesty describes as the “repeated cycles of violence”.

Irish President Michael D Higgins urged a cessation of violence and for the protection of the lives of innocent civilians.

The President said the diplomatic failure to address the conflict “is bearing a terrible fruit for all those involved”.

“The absence of positive engagement has made a stone of the heart of so many,” he said.

Urgent Appeal