‘On All Fronts’ – Has Israel Been Strategically Defeated?

April 9, 2024

By Robert Inlakesh

Today, the Palestinian movement for national liberation is more popular than ever before and the Palestinian Resistance remains steadfast.

Israel initiated its war on Gaza last October with two clear goals, neither of which have been achieved, while meanwhile they have suffered severe blows on the military, security, political, legal, economic and public relations fronts.

When Israel began its campaign of mass murder inside the Gaza Strip, following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, it repeatedly named its two primary military objectives as the total annihilation of Hamas and the return of its political prisoners by force. 

Military Capabilities

At this current stage, Israel has failed to even eliminate the smaller Palestinian armed factions in Gaza, such as the Salahudeen Brigades (Popular Resistance Committees), Mujahideen Brigades (The Mujahideen movement), Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades (PFLP) and others, let alone the much more powerful Qassam Brigades of Hamas. 

By Israel’s own admission, at least 80% of the underground tunnel infrastructure of the Resistance groups, remains intact beneath Gaza. 

As for the statistic released that some 9,000 to 12,000 Palestinian fighters have been killed, not only has there been zero evidence to support this claim, but Israel labels all these supposed combatants as “Hamas”, which begs the question as to why they have not announced confirmed kills of members of the some dozen armed groups which make up the Joint Room of Resistance factions; all of which are participating in the battle.

Israeli Captives

As for the return of Israel’s captives, seized by the various Palestinian Resistance groups on October 7, they claim to have stumbled upon a female Israeli prisoner early into their initial ground invasion of Gaza.

She was not claimed by any faction to have been held captive by them and was likely held by non-Resistance fighters who crossed the separation fence on the day of the Hamas-planned military raid.

In addition to this, there was a claim that two elderly Israeli prisoners were seized by the occupation military, for which an Al-Mayadeen report later alleged that they were being held by a civilian family that sought to collaborate with the Israeli army for benefits. 

Other than this, the unhinged and indiscriminate Israeli aerial bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 50 Israelis who were being held captive; according to the Qassam Brigades. While the only significant release of Israeli prisoners of war alive came during a prisoner exchange that was conducted back in late November.

Stiff Resistance

This, as the Palestinian armed groups have continued to attack Israeli military formations, guarded positions and penetrating forces, inflicting significant losses on the occupation army. 

The rocket fire from Gaza has also continued throughout the six months of war, without any sign that the arsenal of weapons belonging to the Palestinian factions is near depletion. 

Despite claiming to have achieved the wiping out of the Hamas command and control in various areas, the daily communiques and videos released by the group indicate this to be false; while in the negotiations over a ceasefire, Hamas refuses to bow down on its initial requests regarding an Israeli withdrawal, the return of residents of the north to their homes and a permanent ceasefire.

Despite the overwhelming technological, manpower and firepower advantages of the Israeli military machine, which coordinates closely with the world’s strongest military power, the United States, the Palestinian Resistance factions have utilized their environment and managed to inflict a large number of embarrassing military defeats on Israel’s most advanced army units. 

Horror of Humanity

All Israel has to show for its military campaign is the slaughter of around 40,000 Palestinian civilians (including the some 7,000 missing and presumed dead), along with the annihilation of Gaza’s crucial civilian infrastructure. 

The world, watching the unhinged mass murder of civilians, roughly 70 percent of whom have been women and children, have reacted in utter horror at one of the worst series of war crimes committed since World War 2. 

The collective horror of humanity has resulted in unrelenting grassroots protest movements throughout the planet, from South Korea to South Africa, from Washington DC to London, there have been mass marches united in their demand for an immediate and lasting ceasefire.

Nations around the world are withdrawing ambassadors, severing diplomatic ties, stopping arms sales and recognising the State of Palestine at the United Nations. 

Even the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which represented the leading normalizing nation of the so-called “Abraham Accords”, has withdrawn its ambassador, while normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel has proven impossible; despite it being the primary foreign policy objective of the Biden administration in West Asia. 

International Law

South Africa achieved a landslide victory (15-2) in its case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of violations of the Genocide Convention, with the World Court deciding that their was a plausible case that Tel Aviv was committing a Genocide in Gaza. 

This has now led to Nicaragua filing its own case at the ICJ against one of Israel’s top arms suppliers, Germany, for aiding Israel in committing Genocide.

A United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution was passed and violated by Israel, which had called for a ceasefire until the end of the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan. 

The UN General Assembly has also passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire, which unanimously passed.

Information War

All this has made it impossible for even the most pro-Israeli leaderships and media outlets to cover up for its crimes, with even channels like CNN and MSNBC taking a harsher tone with the Israeli government.

On social media, the information war has been decisively won by anti-war activists and has invigorated the younger generations of the West to take what action they can in solidarity with the Palestinian people, placing great pressure on Western leaderships. 

While in Western popular culture, a sea of celebrities from the music, sport and movie industry have taken strong stances in favor of Palestinian human rights and a call for a ceasefire. 

In the media, even right wing commentators that have been traditionally pro-Israeli, have changed their tone, and the world’s top podcaster, Joe Rogan, has labeled Israel’s actions a Genocide. The Left in the West has also united over this issue like no other and have provided passionate voices and a platform to defend the people of Gaza.

Internal Divisions

Meanwhile, Israel is left socially divided on internal domestic issues and is without political direction.

It appears inevitable that the far-right coalition of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will collapse over his handling of the war. 

Meanwhile, in the north of Israel, over 100,000 settlers have fled their settlements and refuse to return, after Hezbollah has launched more than 1,200 military operations that destroyed (partially or completely) some 750 settler homes.

The economy of the north, for Israel, has been dismantled and the military has been forced to concentrate over a hundred thousand soldiers in the area that has placed even further financial pressure on them.

Surrounding the Gaza Strip, many of the Israeli settlements have been deserted in whole or in part and many refuse to return home without the defeat of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza. 

As for in Umm al-Rashash, or what Israel calls the port city of Eilat, the Yemeni blockade on ships passing through the Red Sea has greatly impacted the local economy their too, as businesses go bust and economic inactivity at the port declined by around 85% as far back as December. 

In the West Bank, the Israeli military has constructed over 800 new gates and checkpoints, while deploying more soldiers to the occupied territory than it has in Gaza, in a desperate and costly attempt to quell an uprising.

On every front, with the exception of the cases of the Palestinian citizens of Israel and those living in East Jerusalem, Resistance has erupted in consistent and major ways that Tel Aviv has been forced to confront at great expense. Even in the cases of the Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians of East Jerusalem, there have been acts of armed Resistance and protests, just on a smaller scale to the West Bank.

Any way you look at it, the Israeli regime has been dealt a massive, unignorable, decisive defeat in several arenas, from which it will likely struggle to ever fully recover from. 

Today, the Palestinian movement for national liberation is more popular than ever before and the Palestinian Resistance remains steadfast. 

There is no conceivable way, despite the immense suffering of the people of Gaza, that Israel will come away from this unscathed and with its image, military prestige and economy intact.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.