This year’s Ramadan month is marked with a new movement in Palestine – a fight that has roots in Gaza and the West Bank, but has culminated in the occupied lands, with the Palestinian diaspora joining the new movement.
IRNA has reached Sadollah Zarei, West Asia expert, and Ali Abdi, Zionism expert, to explore new developments in Palestine and the future of the resistance front.
Asked about the recent four attacks in the occupied lands under the Zionist regime's control which took shape in Be'er Sheva and was extended to the center of Tel Aviv, Zarei said that the regime considered the 1948 borders a closed case, as it was accepted by the United Nations and the global community, including Arab states, but the recent chain of attack within these borders proved that the Palestinian community has not still accepted the notion.
The main challenges the fake regime is faced with aren’t limited to Gaza, the West Bank and Hezbollah in the north and along Syrian borders, Zarei noted, the regime, instead, has the same problem within 1948 borders. He added that this challenge differed from the regime’s problem with Hezbollah and Gaza.
He explained that the outer challenges, like what the regime faces with regards to Hamas, Jihad and Hezbollah, could be considered aggression in international law, as the regime’s struggle with the aforementioned groups is considered a war, but the new challenge is posed by those Arabs who have Israeli IDs with representatives in the Knesset and this could be an internal challenge which is further deepened when is mingled with the external challenges.
The Israeli regime is faced with over 2 million Arab citizens whose identity and citizenship has been recognized by the regime and they could target Israel’s core security foundations by posing an Intifada in Haifa or Tel Aviv, the expert underlined.
Abdi, the other expert, gave an outline of the current situation with regards to the recent operations, saying that there are new variables to be taken into account: 1) New administration in the United States and the change it is approach to Palestine; 2) Previous developments like the so-called deal of the century and Abraham Accords; 3) The Changes in the resistance; and 4) The concessions the Donald Trump administration gave to Israel, including recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights.
He mentioned that maximum pressure from the Trump-era US that targeted the axis of resistance and caused formation of a concentrated force in the resistance that was looking for a change to strike a blow to the Arab-Hebrew axis.
Abdi traces the current movements among Palestinians back to the Saif al-Quds battle in Ramadan month of the last year, arguing that the battle was the first of its kind where the fight began with a Palestinian ultimatum and also ended with a Palestinian ultimatum.
The battle was also distinct in that it saw a high level of unity between Palestinian in Gaza, the West Bank, the Palestinian diaspora and the Palestinians within the 1948 borders, according to Abdi.
Participation of Arab citizens of the occupied lands was a distinguishing feature of Saif al-Quds battle when they took over a Jewish settlement for 72 hours and the Israeli regime had to use its army, Abdi said.
This can cause the Israeli regime to get stuck, he said, as the transportation routes of the regime passes through Arab-populated areas in the occupied lands.
Zarei noted that the resistance forces face two hurdles in the West Bank: Israeli forces who should have left the region after the Oslo Accord was signed but they refused to do so in action, and security forces of the Palestinian National Authority which is highly independent on international agreements, foreign governments and foreign funding.
So far, it was assumed that resistance forces in the West Bank couldn’t be armed because the region was block with Jordan and Israel in East and West, Zarei opined, but now this presumption has faded out and the Palestinians know that their required arms can be supplied from the Israeli armories and the weapons in the hands of PNA forces.
The Shin Bet is under criticism for the current operations being questioned how an Arab man could carry out an armed operation in Tel Aviv where every inch of the city is controlled by cameras and how the big Israeli surveillance network has failed to prevent the attack, the expert said.
He added that the bigger question for the Israeli spy organization is that how many weapons are now in the hands of Palestinians within 1948 borders?
10 armed operations were carried out against the Israeli regime within 1948 borders, four of which were successful and led to the killing of Israelis, he noted.
Zarei emphasized that the new Intifada is different from the previous ones in that it is armed and independent from the well-known Palestinian organizations, although those organizations have announced their support.
Asked about the possibility of Israel’s waging a war if the Intifada continued, Abdi said that the Israeli regime was so shocked by the operation in Tel Aviv that they called Sayeret Matkal, the oldest elite force in the Israeli military, to work on the issue.
The Israeli regime’s reaction to the operation was all of a mess, because they first announced that 1,000 military forces have enter Tel Aviv and then announced a curfew in the city, and the Israeli regime’s field operation was broadcast live while the faces of security forces weren’t censured unlike the previous instances, according to Abdi.
Zarei said that the mess is caused by the deep concerns that the Israeli regime has about the possibility that the 2-million population of Arab citizens in the occupied lands could be activated.
He also mentioned the negative migration in Israel where new stories have been published about emigration of 700,000 residents of Be’er Sheva to the northern cities, adding that this figure is a very big one for that region with population of 1,500,000 people.
Another figure has been disclosed recently, according to Zarei, stating that 40 percent of those considered Israeli have dual citizenship and haven’t shown up in Israel for the last 20 years.
Even more important, as Zarei said, is the population replacement rate, as the Israeli regime is attempting to increase the 1.3 rate of birth among the Jews, while the figure for Arabs is 4.7, causing a big concern for the Israeli regime about the Arab population taking over the majority in the future.
He said that studies show that over 50 percent of Arab citizens between the ages 15 and 29 in Israel are not proud of Israeli identity and have to interest in a Jewish home country, and this is a big figure.
In the meantime, the population of Palestinians, including Christians and Muslims, amounts to 12 million people, while the Israeli regime alleges that 8.5 million Jewish Israelis live in occupied lands.
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