The Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is not a unique event for the Palestinian people, as the struggle of the Palestinian people did not start on October 7, 2023, but began 105 years ago with the occupation, 30 years under British occupation and 75 years under Zionist occupation.
Therefore, this operation cannot be separated from the historical context of the Palestinian suffering in general.
Historical Context
Upon the British occupation of Palestine, Jews did not own more than 1.5% of the land of Palestine, and they were citizens enjoying all privileges and rights, living in peace and security amongst Muslims and Christians.
Britain paved the way for the Judaization of Palestine by allowing Jewish migration from Europe to Palestine, opening the doors of immigration to Jews and suppressing the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian people were aware of this conspiracy, so the Buraq Revolution erupted in 1929, ending with the martyrdom of dozens of Palestinians, and in 1936, the Great Arab Revolt began, lasting for three years, but Britain was also able to suppress it.
Read Also: Prophet Musa’s Revolution: The First Palestinian Uprising Against British Mandate
Ofcourse, British colonization made it easy for Jews to buy land from Palestinians, and most of the land sales were not from Palestinians. Despite all this, Zionists, back then; did not own more than 6% of the area of Palestine.
Then .. Britain killed and displaced Palestinians from their cities and villages, as before the Nakba, approximately 200 Palestinian villages were displaced.
Read also : Balfour Declaration - (From who doesn’t own, to who doesn’t deserve)
In 1948, Palestine was occupied by the Zionists, and Zionist forces committed heinous massacres and ethnic cleansing, leading to the control of 77% of the land of Palestine and the displacement of more than 57% of the Palestinian people, and the destruction of more than 500 Palestinian villages and towns. In 1967, the rest of Palestinian land, namely the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem, and other Arab territories such as the Golan Heights and Sinai, were occupied.
Read Also: Depopulated Villages During Al-nakba (by Israel military groups)
Amidst this injustice, destruction, displacement, and massacres, Palestinian resistance movements emerged to resist the occupation (such as Fatah, the Popular Front, etc.), resisting this occupier and executing a series of operations against the Zionists.
The displacement of Palestinians from their cities and villages during the Nakba.
The displacement of Palestinians from their cities and villages during the Nakba.
The Zionist occupation pursued resistance movements wherever they existed. In 1968, the occupation attempted to eradicate Palestinian resistance in Jordan, leading to the Battle of Karama, which ended in the defeat of Zionist forces. In 1982, they besieged Beirut for 82 days, committing massacres while these factions were facing the occupier. The invasion of Beirut did not end until an agreement was reached for the withdrawal of Palestinian forces from Beirut.
After the withdrawal of Palestinian forces from Beirut, the Zionist forces committed the Sabra and Shatila massacre against Palestinian civilians who had been displaced from Palestine to Lebanon, resulting in the martyrdom of approximately 3,000 Palestinians.
Read also : Zionist Massacres against palestinians
In 1987, the First Intifada erupted after the Zionist occupation killed six Palestinians in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza. This Intifada continued until 1992.
In 1992, a peace agreement was signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Zionist occupation, establishing a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, while the PLO recognized the State of Palestine, with the return of Palestinian refugees, dismantling of settlements, and East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
The Palestinian Authority committed to the terms of this agreement, while the occupation did not adhere to any clause. In 1996, martyr Yasser Arafat launched the Tunnel Intifada, in which all segments of the Palestinian people participated. One of its outcomes was the occupation being forced to hand over the city of Hebron to the Palestinian Authority.
In 2000, the criminal Ariel Sharon (Prime Minister of the occupation state) stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, triggering the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which lasted for 5 years and only ended with the martyrdom of Yasser Arafat. Approximately 5,000 Palestinians were martyred in this Intifada, which led to the withdrawal of the Zionist occupation from some settlements in the Gaza Strip, as they were supposed to withdraw from them according to the Oslo Accords.
The Gaza Strip
After Hamas took control within Gaza, the occupation imposed a siege on two and a half million people, seizing their basic rights to healthcare and food. The Gaza Strip suffered from this siege for more than 17 years, turning it into the largest open-air prison in the world. It also endured five devastating wars initiated by the occupation. Even when our people in the Gaza Strip attempted peaceful protests and demanded their basic rights to live through what is known as the Great Return Marches, the occupation did not really care and killed 360 Palestinians and wounded more than 19,000 others, including around 5,000 children.
A picture depicting the besieged Gaza Strip, with the imposed restrictions rendering it uninhabitable.
My name is Razan al-Najjar. I was a paramedic. An Israeli sniper killed me while I was performing my humanitarian duty, assisting the wounded whom were targeted by occupation soldiers during the Great Return Marches on the borders of the Gaza Strip.
West Bank
The West Bank Settlements
Despite the fact that the occupation should have dismantled settlements according to the Oslo Accords, the Zionist occupation had not adhered to that, but rather had built new settlements. In 1992, at the signing of the Oslo Accords, the number of settlements in the West Bank was around 147 settlements and 9 settlement outposts, with a total of 252,545 settlers. By comparison, the number of settlements has reached 175 settlements and 174 settlement outposts, with a total of 726,427 settlers.
The Settlers Attacks
Protected by Zionist occupation forces, settlers commit almost-daily attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, including land confiscations, uprooting trees, and ofcourse; murdering Palestinians in the name of “defense”. Since the beginning of 2023, settlers have killed only 10 Palestinians and prevented access to approximately 134,000 dunams of land near settlements for simply olive harvesting.
The Israeli Forces' Incursions into the West Bank
After the end of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2004, 22,383 Palestinians were martyred in Palestine by Zionist occupation forces, distributed as follows:
- Children: 6,650
- Women: 3,462
- Elderly: 1,061
- Journalists: 175
- Prisoners in occupation prisons: 43
My name is Lian Al-Shaer, I was 9 years old. An Israeli airstrike killed me while I was heading to play and have fun on the beach with my mother and sisters
My name is Ali Dawabshah, I was 18 months old. This is my mother and this is my father with me in the picture. Settlers attacked our house in the village of Duma at night while we were sleeping. They set it on fire, which surrounded us. They killed me and my father and my mother by burning us alive while my only brother Ahmed survived with severe burns.
My name is Mohammed Abu Khdeir, I was 16 years old. Israeli settlers kidnapped me in the city of Jerusalem while I was heading to perform the dawn prayer in the blessed month of Ramadan. They tortured me and then burned me alive.
The Prisoners within Israeli Prisons ..
According to the Oslo Accords, Israel is obligated to release Palestinian detainees held in the occupation's prisons. However, the occupation has only released a small portion of them and continues to arrest Palestinians almost daily. Currently, there are 8,800 prisoners in Israeli prisons, including 80 women and 200 children. Additionally, around 3,291 prisoners are held under administrative detention (without charges). Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons endure harsh conditions, including physical and psychological torture, systematic brutality, deprivation of medical care, food shortages, solitary confinement, and sleep deprivation. Palestinian martyrs have also risen to the skies in Israeli prisons due to torture. Administrative Detention: A Tool of the Occupation's Crimes
Read also: Do you know what is the Zoanda? | Foremost crimes of the occupation
Read also: Palestinian Prisoner's Day, Zionist crimes against prisoners
The martyred prisoner Khader Adnan was martyred in the occupation's prisons.
Jerusalem
Israel has been aiming to change the landmarks of Jerusalem through Judaization, by displacing Palestinians to end the Arab presence in it. This has been going on through land confiscation, home demolitions, revocation of Palestinian IDs, and imposing insane taxes on Palestinians.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
The occupation seeks day after day to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque through digging tunnels under the mosque under the pretext of searching for the alleged “Temple”. It also seeks to impose temporal and spatial division so that a part of it is taken for Jews only, while the other part allows Palestinians to visit and pray at certain times only. Additionally, Zionist settlers' incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque are increasing day by day.
The anniversary of the burning of the mosque Al-Aqsa by the Zionists
Path of Peaceful Settlement
Despite the Oslo Accords in 1993 with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which was supposed to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Zionist occupation has reneged on all of this. Supported by the United States and European allies they have multiplied settlements and pursued Judaization policies.
Prior to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a speech to the United Nations held up a map of historical Palestine including the West Bank and Gaza Strip; all colored in one color with the name Israel on it. The world remained silent, allowing Israel to flaunt international will and deny the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
The International Position
The United States and its Western allies have been dealing with the Zionist occupation state since its establishment as a state above the law or at least a state that “sets” the law as it wishes to through setting the “definitions” of bypassing the law, providing the necessary cover for its continued occupation of Palestine and suppression of the Palestinian people. Despite issuing over 900 resolutions in favor of the Palestinian people, Israel has refused to abide by any of them. The Western veto has always been ready against any attempt to compel Israel to abide by the resolutions or even condemn its behavior.
A picture showing the map of Palestine starting from 1948 till how it is right now in 2024.
The Al-Aqsa Flood Operation
According to international law and United Nations resolutions, all means of resistance against an occupier is available. Now, after the aforementioned facts, and the failure of any hope for liberation, what does the world expect from the Palestinian people to do?
Was it necessary for us to continue waiting and relying on the United Nations and its ineffectiveness (as it is right now), or is it normal for us to take action to defend our land, our people, and our holy sites, knowing that it is a guaranteed right within the international law, religious laws, and human norms?
The Al-Aqsa Flood Operation targeted Israeli military sites and aimed to capture Israeli soldiers, in an attempt to impose a new reality that would improve the conditions of the Palestinian people and alleviate some of the injustice imposed on them. Sure, some civilians were struck, which we surely do feel sorry for and hope it wasn’t the case; but in no way shape or form can you compare the accuracy of Hamas’ rockets (Made in tunnels from primitive materials with the hands of no more than 50/100 Engineers) .. to Israel’s (one of the most advanced armies in the world).
Post-Flood Realities
- When the Palestinian resistance entered the occupied territories, it entered its stolen lands and plundered homes.
- The fragility of the Israeli state was evident, as within moments the resistance was able to invade security, military, and fortifications, and the Israeli state was unable to secure 35-40% of its borders except through European and American support.
- The Zionists’ narrative relied on lies, as the occupation claimed that the Al-Qassam Brigades targeted civilians and beheaded children, but the world discovered how inaccurate, false and how fake their narrative is
- The brutality of the Zionist occupation was evident as it targeted Palestinian civilians, demolished homes, prevented medical and livelihood aid such as food and water, targeted journalists, and bombed hospitals, exactly what terrorist organizations like ISIS do.
- The occupation claimed that the resistance raped women, but the Mondoweiss website refuted all these allegations.
- The world saw through the testimonies of released prisoners that the resistance treated them fairly, some even went to the extent of saying that they enjoyed being with Hamas.
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