Alwaght- Tensions have been on the rise in the occupied Palestinian territories in recent weeks. On the one hand, the Israeli regime, as usual, has mounted its pressures and attacks on the Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank and on the other hand the Palestinian youths have been launching attacks in response to the daily crimes by the Israeli forces, grabbing the calm from the Israelis.
On Friday, the Israeli forces raided the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, brutally attacking the worshipers inside, injuring 152 and arresting over 400 of them. These brutal attacks on the Muslims in Al-Aqsa Mosque have drawn a great wave of condemnation from the Muslim world.
Alwaght has talked to Hassan Hanizadeh, an Iranian expert of regional developments, shedding light on the recent clashes.
The Israelis attacked Al-Aqsa to take revenge for Palestinian attacks
Concerning the recent developments and intensified crisis in Gaza, West Bank, and the occupied territories, Hanizadeh believes that we need to regard a couple of important developments to understand the current situation.
During the last two weeks, painful events have taken place in the occupied territories. One is the joint meeting of the foreign ministers of the four Arab countries of Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco and the UAE with their Israeli and American counterparts in the occupied Negev. They ridiculously tied their hands together, pretending to form a military and security alliance in the face of Axis of Resistance.
This meeting prompted a response from the resistance groups in Palestine. Just at the time of the meeting, five attacks near southern Tel Aviv, namely around the second office of the Israeli prime minister, which usually hosts sensitive security meetings, were launched, killing a number of Israelis.
This showed that in response to the criminal actions against Palestinian resistance the Palestinian fighters have adopted a new mechanism of struggle, penetrating the heart of the occupied territories. The operations took place while the Israelis were on high alert. Following the assaults, Tel Aviv leaders, in order to take revenge on the Palestinians, ordered a raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque, which came out with formation of a new intifada with a different mechanism than in the past. The new intifada is not just about chanting slogans or holding demonstrations, but is fundamentally pragmatic and carrying out anti-Israeli attacks on the ground.
New round of intifada engulfing the whole occupied territories
Commenting on the drivers behind Israel stepping up its attacks on Gaza and West Bank, Mr Hanizadeh held that the Israelis attacked the worshipers on the pretext of celebrating the Jewish Passover by emphasizing the unfounded story of Solomon's Temple, which they argue is located under the Al-Aqsa Mosque, drawing reactions from the Palestinians. In the past, the main ignition areas of the intifada were Gaza and Eastern Al-Quds, but now they include the West Bank and even the Palestinians of 1948 territories. All these developments herald a big new intifada in the run-up to the Global Quds Day, marked annually on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.
New round of conflict between the Palestinian nation and the Israelis has already begun
Asked about prospects of a new war between the two sides with regard to a severe warning from Hamas to Tel Aviv concerning Al-Aqsa Mosque developments, Mr Hanizadeh said that we can suggest that war has already begun. The chain attacks by the Palestinians that target sensitive political sites in the Israeli regime are new war signs. The type of operations in the new situation is very different, and this has caused great concern to the Israeli officials, especially in the south of Tel Aviv. Therefore, if the Israeli aggression continues, it is highly likely that Hamas enters a broader war with Tel Aviv.
Israeli security at stake more than ever
About the roots of the violence, Mr Hanizadeh suggested that we should take into consideration that the outcome of violence is violence. Based on this principle, we can see that whenever the Israelis have resorted to violence, the resistance forces in Palestine have responded proportionately. This brings the Israeli regime face to face with a great security challenge. Not only have intensified attacks on the Palestinians not brought security to the Israeli regime but also shot up the threats.
Mercenary Arab regimes separated ways from the Palestinian nation
Concluding the interview, Mr Hanizadeh commented to way of reaction of the Arab states to recent developments in Al-Aqsa Mosque, saying that leaders of some Arab countries have essentially separated their way from the Palestinian cause compared to the past and embarked on normalization with Tel Aviv. This approach has decreased the Palestinian expectations from them to the lowest possible rate, reaching a point of full frustration with these regimes. The Arab League has changed to a Hebrew League, totally marginalizing the Palestinian cause.
