Alwaght- On the eve of the third year of the Gaza war, the US and Israel still talk about lofty dreams despite their defeats in battle against the resistance groups.
The US President Donald Trump on Sunday once again claimed "something special" is about to take place in the region, adding "we have a real chance for greatness in the Middle East."
Though Trump did not reveal details of his surprise for the region, since Palestine and especially the Gaza war is the main global focus, many observers think that the new Trump plan centers on Gaza.
This new version, the potential details of which have been recently presented by some Western officials and media, is connected to a temporary halt of the war in Gaza, pushing Hamas aside from the political arena, and even appointing a Western figure for the temporary administration of Gaza.
Within the same framework, some reports have pointed to the potential role of Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister, as a 'temporary ruler' of Gaza—a plan that is intended to rebuild the strip and manage its transition, thereby paving the way for new scenarios by the Israeli regime and the US.
Al-Qassam's back-to-back blows to Israel
Despite the fact that by presenting new initiatives Trump and Netanyahu try to forge achievements against the Palestinian resistance, the field developments in recent weeks have unveiled other realities.
Meanwhile, as Trump spoke with grandiose rhetoric about a new plan for the future of Palestine, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, unveiled a series of their operations against Israeli occupation soldiers carried out over the past weeks.
According to an Al-Qassam statement, in response to the crimes of the Israeli army on Sunday, three operations were carried out in Gaza City. In the first operation, Hamas fighters targeted Israeli soldiers who had taken shelter in a house using an anti-personnel rocket, resulting in a number of casualties. In the second operation, they targeted a n Israeli armored personnel carrier in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in southern Gaza City with a tandem rocket. In the third operation, an Al-Qassam sniper killed a soldier in the Al-Tuffah area in eastern Gaza City.
Al-Qassam's surprises were not limited to this. The brigades also released a video showcasing part of their successes over the past month. These operations, conducted in August, are considered the biggest blow to the occupation forces in the past two years.
What gives added significance and meaning to Sunday's operations and the release of the video of recent successes is their timing with Trump's statements. Through this psychological warfare, the Palestinian resistance reminded Trump and Netanyahu that the initiative and the battlefield have not yet been lost by the resistance factions, and as the saying goes, "don't count your chickens before they hatch." The message of these operations was clear: any plan for Gaza that does not include the presence and role of the resistance will be fundamentally invalid.
Hamas is alive and powerful
Over the past two years, Netanyahu and his allies have claimed that by assassination of Hamas leaders and field commanders and also destruction of the infrastructure of Gaza and this movement, they have pushed Hamas to the brink of obliteration. However, the reality on the ground has proven otherwise. Not only has Hamas not been eliminated, but it has also continued to powerfully sustain its existence through field operations and firing rockets into the occupied territories. The continuation of the resistance factions' regular operations shows that its infrastructure, despite the heavy military pressure from their occupying enemy, remains intact and has retained the ability to plan and execute complex operations.
This reality has even been emphasized on the international level. For instance, Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, recently in unprecedented remarks addressed to Trump and Netanyahu, emphasized that although Israel has managed to assassinate some senior Hamas leaders and this is considered a major achievement, Hamas still has as many ready fighters as it did on the first day.
Such statements from the leader of a Western country show that even Tel Aviv's closest allies do not believe that the project of destroying Hamas is feasible. In reality, the effort to eliminate Hamas has not only been unsuccessful but has also led to the strengthening of the discourse of resistance in the region.
Israeli media, contrary to the official claims of Tel Aviv, have also admitted that the number of Hamas forces has not only not decreased but has even increased compared to the beginning of the war. Some reports speak of tens of thousands of fighters within the military structure of this movement who are fully prepared to continue the war. This increase in forces demonstrates Hamas's capacity to recruit and organize new individuals even under siege and war conditions.
On the other words, a war that was impair this resistance movement has provided a chance of its boost. This point is what makes thd recent Al-Qassam operations in Gaza City meaningful since they were launched directly in response to the US and Israeli push to isolate Hamas from the military and political stages.
Past experiences with similar plans, such as the "deal of the Century," have shown that without considering the realities on the ground and the will of the Palestinian people, no external initiative will be able to change the equations. What is happening today in Gaza bears witness to this very fact.
Although Western and Israeli leaders speak of new scenarios at negotiation tables or international podiums, the resistance upsets their calculations through its field actions.
Therefore, the recent operations by Al-Qassam are, on one hand, a message to Trump and Netanyahu that the fate of Gaza is not decided in Washington and Tel Aviv, and on the other hand, a message to the Palestinian people that the resistance is still alive and capable.
Meanwhile, Washington and Tel Aviv are preparing for a Gaza without Hamas and the freedom of all Israeli prisoners while after two years, and despite having advanced equipment, they have so far failed to obtain any information about the hiding places of the prisoners. This issue shows that Hamas also has the upper hand in the intelligence arena.
Thus, this situation poses a fundamental question for Western leaders: If Hamas and other resistance groups are not being eliminated and their removal is impossible, what alternative remains to resolve the Gaza crisis?
Historical experiences have shown that whenever a popular movement is suppressed by external pressure, it eventually returns, sooner or later, with even greater power. In the case of Palestine, the deep historical and social roots of the resistance have eliminated any possibility of its complete eradication. Therefore, unilateral plans like the one Trump refers to as an "unprecedented event" are, in practice, nothing more than political fantasy.
Hamas’s coffin for "Riviera of the Middle East"
Earlier, Trump was seeking to expel the Palestinians from their land and seize the Gaza Strip so that, in his dream, he could turn the coastal enclave into "Riviera of the Middle East", but it seems that he now has walked back from this plan and even agreed for the Palestinians to stay. This shift is a product of the realities on the ground of Gaza, where the hard push to break the Palestinian resistance and its will for liberation has gone nowhere so far.
The operations of Al-Qassam in Gaza must also be evaluated within this same framework. These operations have not only dealt a serious military blow to the Israeli army but have also carried an important political message that the resistance still holds the field initiative and can change the equations at the most critical moments. Hamas seeks to prove that it still possesses deterrence power and that any political deal without its presence and role will be futile.
Overall, it can be said that Trump's remarks about an unprecedented event in West Asia are deeply disconnected from the realities on the ground in Gaza. Although he tries to position himself at the center of public attention with his flashy plans, the developments on the ground show that the resistance remains the decisive factor.
On the opposite side, Tel Aviv has failed to tip the scales despite all these attacks and assassinations and even worse it has given rise to new challenges. So, Gaza future is to be written by the White House or Tel Aviv, but by the free will of the Palestinian people.
