What is demonstrated in the piece is that racism and fictitious notions of ethno-supremacy completely govern the author’s thoughts, disregarding what international law says.
Using the war statistics provided by the Israeli military unquestioningly, the Tel Aviv University-affiliated Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) think-tank publishes an article drawing the conclusion that Israel failed to achieve “victory” in the Gaza Strip. Yet, the piece continues to push unrealistic narratives laced with notions of supremacy.
“The Long-Awaited Victory Over Hamas Was Not Achieved—What Now?” was the article that only days ago was published by Israel’s INSS think-tank. While some mention of its content has been picked up in the Arabic language media, there has been no reference made to it in any Western corporate media reporting.
The piece, authored by former senior Israeli military intelligence official Brigadier General (res.) Udi Dekel draws upon Israeli army statistics that have been repeated ad-nauseam by Western politicians and on Western media, yet have never been substantiated.
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These include the claim that the Israeli military killed 17,000 Palestinian fighters and that half of Gaza’s tunnel infrastructure has been destroyed.
It is clear from the propagandistic language employed by the writer that it is written from a very Israel-centric point of view, while the Iranian-led alliance popularly known as the Axis of Resistance is referred to as the “Iranian–Shiite axis”.
Two takeaways from the tone of the article are that the think-tank seeks to push the notion of some kind of sectarian alliance on Iran’s behalf, while also seeking to express an Israeli opinion on what has transpired over the course of the past 16 months.
Intriguingly, after mentioning all of the blows absorbed by the Hamas movement in Gaza, which he lumps the mass destruction of civilian infrastructure into, Dekel admits the following:
“Hamas’s propaganda is at its peak. Its key messages emphasize that jihad has proven effective, that it has humiliated Israel and inflicted its worst military failure since the country was established, and that it still maintains military and administrative control over Gaza. Hamas, for now, has thwarted the normalization process between Israel and Saudi Arabia; trades hostages for the mass release of prisoners and terrorists, and has forced Israel to sign a deal with it, which the Palestinian Authority and Fatah have failed to achieve.”
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This logical conclusion is reached by the author through the understanding that Hamas has managed to again take over the position of governing the Gaza Strip and was not “eliminated”, while the Israeli captives held in the besieged territory were not returned by force; both are Israel’s war goals. Therefore, a failure to achieve its stated goals spells a defeat. This argument has been made by analysts before, yet coming from a leading Israeli think-tank it is significant.
However, what has received even less attention, even in the Arabic language media, is the advocacy for what steps must be taken in the post-war phase in the Gaza Strip. Most strikingly, the author openly advocates leveraging reconstruction – in other words, livability – in the Gaza Strip. Dekel is effectively calling for a collective punishment approach, ie. Hamas either hands over its weapons of the illegally occupied territory won’t be rebuilt.
The think-tank author’s first point that he stresses the Israeli government set forward in the post-war phase is as follows:
“Reconstruction in Exchange for Demilitarization—Israel must not allow Gaza’s reconstruction as long as Hamas remains in control and retains its military wing. The formula should be reconstruction in exchange for demilitarization, with Israel maintaining both the overriding security responsibility and the right to enforce demilitarization through military action.”
Other points that are recommended that Israel demand are international recognition of their “freedom of action” for any violence they choose inside the Gaza Strip, the burden of aid and costs of their occupation be taken care by international actors, that a foreign supervised technocratic rule be formed and armed to take on Hamas, in addition to other undemocratic, inhumane and illegal recommendations.
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Also mentioned is how Israel must ensure a replacement for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA):
“Reforming the Education System—A new education system must be created in Gaza to replace UNRWA’s. Europe, which has funded Palestinian education for years, could play a central role in its development, alongside the UAE, which has successful experience in education for de-radicalization.”
The reason behind dismantling UNRWA is not because the UN agency is somehow educating Palestinians to hate Israel, or that it is involved in armed action, claims that have no basis.
Instead, Tel Aviv’s anti-UNRWA agenda, which has led to extensive lobbying efforts to pressure European nations and the US to withdraw funding from it, all comes as a push to destroy the Palestinian Right of Return; as enshrined in International Law under UN Resolution 194. UNRWA registers Palestinian refugee status and therefore provides it international legitimacy.
While the INSS piece does indeed admit that Israel failed to achieve victory against Hamas, it is a rather alarming glimpse into the deeply flawed Israeli strategic thinking of what a post-war reality ought to look like in the Gaza Strip. If this vision is to be imposed, or an attempt is made to do so, it will not work and is going to result in further bloodshed.
Ultimately, what is demonstrated in the piece is that racism and fictitious notions of ethno-supremacy completely govern the author’s thoughts, disregarding what international law says, but also making the exact same mistake that the entire Israeli establishment made in the lead-up to October 7, 2023.
(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.
