“Breaking the silence” in Israel... calls to stop the Gaza war with “diplomacy failing”

Amid the intense Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip that continued for the fifth week in a row, without the ground incursion contributing to the liberation of Israeli prisoners held by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), voices rose in Israel calling for a ceasefire and the conclusion of a comprehensive prisoner exchange deal, warning against the return of Occupation and settlement in the besieged sector.

Opposition to the war on Gaza has escalated inside Israel, at a time when convictions have strengthened among large sectors that the Gaza battle cannot be resolved with military options, with the escalation of protests by families of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the repercussions of the delay in concluding an exchange deal that would lead to the liberation of all of them.

This movement comes with the decline in international support for Israel, and the consensus that Israeli diplomacy has failed to mobilize international support for the war, and that it has lost the battle of awareness against the Palestinians.

"The Suburb Doctrine"

The "Breaking the Silence" organization, or "Shofarim Shtika", joined the Israeli movement, which is an Israeli organization against the occupation, and specializes in publishing Israeli army soldiers' violations against Palestinians in the territories occupied in 1967.

The organization’s director, Nadav Vaiman, chose to circulate a message to Israeli society, in which he reviewed its participation in the fighting in Gaza in 2008. In his message, he called for a ceasefire and the liberation of Israeli prisoners, saying that “there is no military resolution to the battle of Gaza, and instead of Israel deliberately transferring the conflict, there must be A political path that guarantees an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

Fayman says that while it will take some time before we get a complete picture of what is happening on the ground in Gaza, the statements of senior Israeli officials and the extent of the destruction in the Strip are already raising doubts that the army is acting on the same principle it has used in previous operations, the so-called “suburb” doctrine. .

He pointed out that "the suburb is a doctrine formulated around the Second Lebanon War, and its main point revolves around the disproportionate attack on civilian buildings and infrastructure." He explains, "If this is the prevailing principle in the war on Gaza, then the massive bombings that occurred in recent weeks were also used deliberately to damage the property and infrastructure of innocent civilians."

He referred to what he called the “combat rounds doctrine,” saying that it “does not aim for decisiveness but rather to deter, that is, postponing the next round of combat that will inevitably come, and it appears that the Israeli government today is choosing raids and bombardments with greater intensity than it chose to do in previous rounds.” He added, “Even the army spokesman made it clear that the focus is on damage and not on accuracy in hitting targets.”

Fayman noted that the right-wing government is exploiting the conditions of war, as voices are being raised for the occupation of Gaza and the re-settlement of Gush Katif, which was evacuated in 2005. “These voices reflect the systematic policies of right-wing governments towards the Palestinian issue, which have brought Israel to this reality. The war on Gaza has brought the Palestinian issue back to the forefront, and now enjoys the support of world public opinion, which Israel lost.”

Diplomatic failure

In a reading of the course of the war on Gaza, and the rising voices opposing it, even from the largest countries and leaders supporting Israel, Avi Issacharoff, an analyst for Arab and Palestinian affairs at Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, says that what is happening “are signs of relative achievements of the military level in the field, in exchange for a miserable failure of Israeli diplomacy and propaganda.” "Globally."

Issakharov says, “Despite additional deaths among the Israeli army forces during the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, it must be noted that what began as the greatest military failure Israel has ever known, turned into a relatively successful military step, but at the same time, no we can ignore the failure of Israeli propaganda and the victory of Palestinian propaganda in the international arena.”

He added, "What is transforming before our eyes is considered one of the greatest political nightmares we have ever known. Most of the world sees us Israelis as terrorists, while Yahya Sinwar and the leaders of Hamas become freedom fighters, and they enjoy respect all over the world, including American and British public opinion" and, of course, the Arab countries.

The American position

From a military point of view, security and military issues expert Yossi Melman believes that “the good intention of the United States to support Israel in the war on Gaza will end soon.” Accordingly, he said in an assessment of the position of the Israeli newspaper “Haaretz” that “Israel must use this intention and exploit it now to free the detainees before it is too late.” "It's time."

Melman adds, "If Israel wants to continue operating with full force against Hamas, it must also understand that it is not subject to a blank check from the administration of President Joe Biden, who is entering an election year and a period of discouraging opinion polls against Donald Trump."

The security expert believes that the War Council should be more sensitive to American sensitivities, especially with regard to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and that the government should take advantage of the American position in support of the exchange deal negotiations and rapid action that leads to the release of prisoners.

Melman explained that even without requests or pressure from the United States, Israel must have a supreme interest in releasing the prisoners as quickly as possible, and exploit every crack and opportunity to achieve this, “even if Hamas is demanding not only a humanitarian truce, but also the release of Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Source: Al Jazeera