Palestinian resistance continues despite Zionist assassinations
As the genocide in Gaza marked its 300th day of bloodshed, Israel continues to demonstrate its intentions to prolong the genocide while provoking a possible regional war.
In a series of assassinations in late July, Israel targeted and killed Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukur. Mohammad Deif, a senior Hamas military leader and a founder of the Qassam Brigades, was also confirmed killed in an Israeli air raid in southern Gaza on July 13.
These assassinations reveal a sense of desperation from the Netanyahu regime, as their campaign has failed to destroy the Palestinian resistance. More importantly, the assassinations demonstrate the regime’s total disinterest in achieving a ceasefire-hostage deal, given that Haniyeh was Hamas’ chief negotiator.
The string of assassinations has also not affected the U.S. imperialists’ support — far from it. Washington has ordered its naval assets in the region to move into position expeditiously while also approving an additional $20 billion worth of tanks, jets, and missiles to Israel. This is on top of the $3.5 billion released to Israel just earlier this month in August. As a client state, Israel is powerless and cannot exist without the U.S.
Meanwhile, there’s no relief for working-class people in the U.S. who can’t afford food and rent. The Guardian recently reported that, between 2014 and 2023, 11,500 people died unhoused just in Los Angeles County. Three thousand were seniors. This contrast in the allocation of resources makes Washington’s priorities clear.
The question remains how Israel’s latest provocations will alter the political landscape of West Asia and affect ceasefire negotiations moving forward.
A path to peace?
It’s important to highlight how central Haniyeh was to the negotiation process. He and his delegation were adamant that any deals made would need to include a full and complete end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and the relinquishing of control over the Rafah Crossing – all of which have been nonstarters for the Netanhayu regime since a ceasefire proposal was first put forward.
What is made clear now is that the Israelis were never interested in negotiating to begin with and instead used the notion of a ceasefire-hostage deal as a stalling tactic. At the same time, they pursued their stated agenda of incapacitating Hamas and the Palestinian community both politically and militarily.
Before the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, hopes for a hostage-ceasefire deal were at a standstill. In May of this year, Hamas, through its mediators in Cairo and Doha, had agreed in principle to a hostage-ceasefire proposal. However, negotiations quickly unraveled as Netanyahu doubled down on his commitment to “eradicate” Hamas from the Gaza Strip and continued with his siege of Rafah.
The following month, in June, Hamas responded positively to a U.N.-backed ceasefire plan. Yet that same week, the Israelis responded by pressing on with their assault and embarking on yet another bombing campaign in Al-Mawasi, the only designated humanitarian “safe zone” by the Israeli military.
The assassination of Haniyeh marks a dangerous new turn in the conflict. It not only places any hopes for a ceasefire deal on the back-burner, but it further escalates simmering tensions in the region.
Because the assassinations of Haniyeh and Shukur took place within the sovereign borders of Iran and Lebanon, respectively, both nations are entitled under international law to respond however they see fit. Both the United States and Israel are keenly aware of this, which is why the U.S. has already preemptively dispatched warships and fighter jets to the region in anticipation of an Iranian response.
As of now, U.S. forces have been attacked at the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq, while Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for a drone attack in northern Israel.
Notably, assassinations are one of Washington’s preferred tactics, going back many decades. Obama pioneered the use of drones in this regard, and we are only four years out from the Trump administration’s assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, Iraq.
That same month, January 2020, Iraq was rocked by massive protests that forced the country’s parliament to pass a resolution to expel all foreign troops from the country. The U.S. has still not complied, showing its imperial disregard for the sovereignty of both Iraq and Iran.
A legacy of targeted assassinations
Make no mistake, the assassination of Haniyeh continues a long legacy of targeted killings by U.S.-backed Zionist occupation forces meant to disorient and demoralize regional resistance forces. Extrajudicial killings have been a hallmark of Israeli intelligence agencies going as far back as the beginning of the settler state.
In 1972, Israel launched Operation Wrath of God in response to the righteous actions of Palestinian athletes — banned from that year’s Olympic Games held in Munich — who held Israeli athletes hostage, demanding an exchange for hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Despite these actions being heralded as military successes and a show of might in popular media, such as Steven Spielberg’s 2005 dramatization of the events, the assassinations strengthened the resolve of the Palestinian people and the resistance.
It should go without saying that positions of leadership within Hamas are not without their occupational hazards. Since its inception, many of Hamas’ leaders have been assassinated while still in office. Hamas’ founder and spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, was assassinated in 2004 – and just 15 days later, Yassin’s successor, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, was targeted and killed by the Israeli air force. An attempted assassination was also carried out on Khaled Mashal, the successor to al-Rantisi.
Similarly, Haniyeh’s predecessor and founding member of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Saleh al-Arouri, was assassinated by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon earlier this year, in January.
Upon closer examination, it becomes apparent that Israel’s strategy of high-profile assassinations does very little to break the resolve of resistance groups on the ground, nor does it make very much sense strategically, as Hamas continues to demonstrate its ability to seamlessly transition between leaders if and when one is martyred. However, it is not out of the realm of possibility that these actions are simply meant to provoke a response from its neighbors and non-state actors alike.
Where things currently stand
Hamas recently announced that Yahya Sinwar is the new political bureau chief. As the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Sinwar has played a critical role in ceasefire negotiations and is believed to be one of the principal architects of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7, 2023. Because of this, Sinwar stands as a wanted man by the International Criminal Court and the Netanyahu regime, who’ve placed Sinwar at the top of their most wanted list.
Sinwar’s appointment as head of Hamas’ political bureau not only places Gaza at the front and center of any future ceasefire-hostage negotiations but also demonstrates that despite Israel’s declared objective of wiping Hamas “off the face of the Earth,” the group remains resilient and united on multiple fronts.
In recent days it has been reported that U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has pressured Sinwar to accept a deal on less than favorable terms, stating that Sinwar “has been and remains the primary decider when it comes to concluding the ceasefire,” and urged Hamas to meet to finalize negotiations scheduled for Aug.15. Hamas has responded to this by reiterating its support for the previous proposal put forth earlier this summer and stating that Hamas would “study” the invitation despite reports in the Western press claiming they had pulled out of negotiations entirely.
U.S. President Joe Biden mumbles his way through diversions while increasing the arms shipments to Israel and sending an additional armada to the region while threatening Iran. He issued a joint statement with European allies that calls on Iran to “stand down” when it is Israel that is on the attack.
This serves as a reminder that the genocide of the Palestinian people is being carried out with the explicit endorsement of the U.S. government, both militarily and financially.
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