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Join on Telegram Rabat – Israel is preparing an invasion of Palestine after a night of continued punitive airstrikes ahead of the holy day of Eid-al-Fitr. Despite global calls for de-escalation, it appears Israel intends to further exacerbate the already asymmetrical warfare against the citizens of Palestine.
Weeks of Israeli provocations and forced evictions of Palestinians in Jerusalem prompted a desperate response from Gaza. The armed wing of Gaza’s elected Hamas government has fired hundreds of its rudimentary rockets into Israel, killing seven people in Israel.
Israel’s response has been the disproportionate deployment of its technologically superior military that has pounded the densely-populated city of Gaza with artillery and airstrikes, killing at least 83 Palestinians and leveling entire residential tower blocks.
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Global media have widely reported on the number of the estimated 1500 rockets fired at Israel in comparison to the 600 Israeli missiles launched in return. What the media does not report is the vast disparity between the technical capabilities of both sides’ weaponry.
Each of Israel’s Air-to-Ground missiles fired at Gaza is likely to cost more than all of Hamas’ rocket arsenal combined. The Israeli jet fighters launching the attacks each costs more than Hamas’ entire estimated annual military expenditure.
Despite the vast difference in weaponry and the impact of those weapons, Israel appears ready to push its asymmetrical advantage even further by introducing ground troops, tanks and heavy artillery on the border with Gaza.
Israel’s military is in “various stages of preparing ground operations,” its spokesperson told Deutsche Welle.
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Meanwhile Israel’s diplomats are ensuring it keeps control over the narrative surrounding the current hostilities. Germany has been one of Israel’s primary targets in recent years, pushing the idea that any criticism of Israel’s onslaught on Palestinians should be equated with antisemitism.
Israel’s pressure campaign against Germany appears to have worked well, as the European country’s foreign affairs minister, Heiko Maas, has publicly blamed Palestine for the current conflict.
“Hamas willfully brought about this latest escalation by launching more than a thousand rockets at Israeli cities,” Maas told German newspaper Bild, ignoring weeks of violence, forced evictions and new illegal settlement construction instigated by Israel and Israelis in Jerusalem.
Adding insult to injury is that Palestinians and their supporters are facing online censorship, a skewed media narrative and indifference from Israel and the US — even as the global community calls for an end to the violence.
As global powers look away – or issue vague condemnations to save face – the victims of the renewed fighting are undoubtedly those living in the occupied territories, where this year’s Eid-al-Fitr is a day of mourning instead of celebration.
