Israel has commenced the second invasion of Gaza City as part of the next phase of its murderous genocide: ‘Operation Gideon’s Chariots II’.
This ‘operation’ involves the mass demolition of homes, including high rise towers which housed hundreds of families, using remote controlled vehicles packed with explosives.
The Israeli ‘Defence’ Forces have continuously attacked medical facilities, including Al Shifa hospital. Tens of thousands have been forcibly displaced to the already overcrowded south of the Strip. Many have paid thousands of shekels only to find areas lacking the basic means of survival, and so are forced to return to the warzone of Gaza City.
There is an almost complete communications blackout in Gaza, silencing the witnesses to genocide. The few videos which have reached the outside world have given a horrifying glimpse of the mass slaughter being carried out in broad daylight. Those unwilling or unable to leave Gaza City are living in a constant state of fear, awaiting the next cowardly drone attack or remote controlled bombing.
Two million Palestinians face starvation due to the Israeli inflicted famine. More than 2,000 people, queuing for food, have been murdered by the notorious Gaza Health Foundation mercenaries and the IDF. There is little access to electricity, sanitation or basic medical care due to Israel’s near total blockade since 2 March. The official death toll has passed 66,000.
The US has given this carnage its full backing. Both in terms of continued supply of military technology and financial support, Israel’s crimes would not have been possible without US support.
Despite formal recognition of a Palestinian state by the UK, Australia, France and Canada, these countries also arm Israel and continue to trade with the Zionist state. Keir Starmer’s Labour government has even ‘concluded’ that there is ‘no risk of genocide’ in Gaza, contradicting the views of all humanitarian organisations and even his own Labour Party conference.
In response to the US allies’ recognition of Palestine, Netanyahu reassured settlers in East Jerusalem, ‘We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us.’ To the UN General Assembly he said, ‘This is sheer madness. It’s insane, and we won’t do it… Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats.’
Trump’s Catch-20
Donald Trump’s 20 point plan does include steps towards some kind of Palestinian administration, but only after Hamas has been disarmed, a hostage-prisoner exchange completed, and a transitional government established with Palestinian technocrats but under the auspices of war criminal Tony Blair, with Trump as chair of the ‘board of peace’.
The Palestinian Authority would play no role until a ‘reform’ process was complete, but civilian Hamas members would be allowed to remain in Gaza, as would all Palestinians. Israel would not be allowed to annex Gaza or build settlements there. Reconstruction would commence, financed by Arab states and other countries, who would also provide a peacekeeping force, while the IDF retreats gradually.
This is a significant break from Trump’s previous plan for a US-owned Gazan Riviera without Palestinians. It appears to have been prompted not just by his European partners, but mainly by Israel’s attack on Qatari soil, which angered the States’ Abraham Accord partners, like Saudi Arabia. Could this signal that Trump is ready to tell Netanyahu to stop the war?
The two are due to meet in the White House as we go to press, but there are real obstacles in Trump’s pathway to a Nobel Peace Prize. First Hamas has to agree to disarm and hand over all the hostages before the IDF withdraws or Palestinian prisoners are released. These conditions would be hard to swallow, but the Islamist group is under extreme pressure to agree such terms.
It is Netanyahu, however, who faces the biggest about-turn. He would have to accept that Hamas cannot be defeated, Gaza cannot be annexed and, crucially after all this, point 19 states: ‘conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood, which is recognised as the aspiration of the Palestinian people’.
This would be a bitter pill for Netanyahu and Likud to swallow and would certainly result in Ben Gvir and Smotrich walking out of his coalition. Opposition leader Benny Ganz has been approached to return to government to save Netanyahu from having to resign. But there would be political mayhem in Israel and heavily armed settlers would run amok on the West Bank.
Solidarity
Whatever happens, international solidarity must continue. We must step up our efforts and escalate with new methods, like the Global Sumud Flotilla and the Italian general strike for Palestine.
Israel will drag out talks if not reject the plan outright. Meanwhile the IDF will continue to raze Gaza to the ground; food, water and medical supplies will not flow in time to prevent mass slaughter; snipers and drones will continue to murder children and civilians. The genocide is ongoing – solidarity must be ongoing.
But even if the US eventually forces Israel to concede to this plan or some other imperialist-sponsored ‘peace’ deal, the Zionist state will never allow justice for the Palestinians or neighbouring Arab states. It will reign terror on the West Bank and seize more land, continue to occupy swathes of territory in Lebanon and Syria, and keep Gaza on starvation rations, its drones firing at will under the pretence of Israel’s ‘right to self-defence’.
Our motto must be: no justice, no peace! A two-state solution, with a heavily armed Israel intact, will only produce another, slightly slower route to genocide. Palestine must be free—from the River to the Sea!
US geopolitical ambitions for the Middle East have been undermined by Israel’s continuing provocations, in its endeavour to become hegemon of the whole region through the establishment of a ‘Greater Israel’. This has recently included strikes in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
The recent missile strikes on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar, despite their military alliance with the US and their hosting of the US airforce base, caused the greatest shockwaves. All five members of Hamas’ negotiating team escaped unharmed but the violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and the fact that the prime minister was not given any warning has damaged US-Israel’s relations with the entire Arab world.
Palestinian resistance
Meanwhile, the resistance led by Al Qassam Brigades continues to fight against enormous odds, carrying out several operations against the IDF in a struggle it has called ‘Moses’ Staff’. Despite the overwhelming conventional superiority of the Israeli military, successful guerilla operations have led to embarrassing and demoralising setbacks for the IDF.
Israeli troops are being rotated monthly in an attempt to alleviate the growing discontent within the Israeli population and army. Mass anti-war protests inside Israel, with protestors setting fire to roads and paralysing the economy, pile pressure on the regime to end the war. Although this movement is by no means anti-Zionist or pro-Palestinian, it contains the seeds of a resistance movement, which could play a role in ending the massacre.
The inability of Israel to crush the Palestinian resistance through military means is a testament to the bravery of those fighting to liberate their people and secure their homeland in the face of genocidal annihilation. Despite the political errors of the Palestinian resistance leadership, all socialists and internationalists must support the right of occupied people to fight for national self-determination through any means necessary.
International working class
However, the support of the international working class plays a vital role in this resistance, not least because it can force the hand of the imperialist powers. In this context the attempt of the Global Sumud Flotilla Coalition to break the siege is now taking central stage.
An unprecedented 50 ships from 44 countries, carrying activists and lifesaving aid, is, as we go to press, in the final stage of its voyage to break the siege. Tens of thousands came out in Barcelona and Genoa to mark the departure of the Flotilla, and the Italian Dockworkers of the Autonomous Dockworkers Collective have threatened to block all trade with Israel should they lose contact with the Flotilla for even 20 minutes.
The one day general strike in Italy on 22 September with plans for a further and bigger action to come, plus the Livorno dockers’ refusal to unload Israeli cargo, shows a mounting determination by workers and youth to do even more to halt the genocide. The strength of the movements in Italy and Spain, and the attack on the Flotilla by Israeli drones have prompted the governments of Giorgia Meloni and Pedro Sanchez to despatch warships to protect it.
Such action must be matched by militant working class struggle throughout the world, particularly in those countries which maintain diplomatic, economic and military links with Israel.
In the first instance, the international solidarity movement should call a global workers’ day of action in support of Gaza, as a step towards an all-out strike to paralyse the world economy until the siege is lifted and Israel withdraws.
Although there seems to be little reason for optimism, we must keep escalating the worldwide resistance for the liberation of Palestine. One day, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
