Alwaght- On the second anniversary of the Gaza war, West Asia developments are undergoing a fresh trend.
In the first view, although a large number of people of Gaza have been killed, injured, or displaced and the main leaders of Hamas have been killed, the popular resistance of Gaza remains vigorously standing and the Israeli regime had failed to free its prisoners using military force.
On the other hand, in the second year of the war, the regime did not content itself with widespread atrocities and the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians. It moved to escalate the crisis by attacking other countries in the region, including waging a 12-day war against Iran and launching an attack on Qatar.
Meanwhile, on the eve of the second anniversary of Hamas's Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, a global wave of support for Palestine has swept across all world, and a growing number of countries, including even some in the West, have moved toward formally recognizing a Palestinian state.
Alwaght spoke with Jafar Ghanadbashi, an expert on West Asian affairs, asking him questions about the balance of power in Palestine and the regional and international landscape concerning the Palestinian cause on the second anniversary of the war.
Alwaght: What fundamental changes has the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm brought to the equation of resistance?
Ghanadbashi: The Operation Al-Aqsa Storm had brought key changes to the structure of resistance and to the military struggle and helped strengthen the Palestinian resistance bonds with other fronts and reflect the activities of the Axis of Resistance.
Palestinian popular resistance against the occupying regime has entered a new phase. Previously characterized by a direct, sword-against-sword conflict, the recent struggle has seen as a victory of blood over the sword. The blood of martyrs has been transformed into a potent weapon, effectively dismantling the Israeli propaganda narrative.
Furthermore, the conflict has dramatically expanded. Once confined to the occupied territories as a struggle between Palestinian resistance and the occupying regime, the past two years have seen other fronts—from Yemen to Lebanon and Iraq—stand alongside Palestinian groups. This has been accompanied by a significant increase in operational coordination among these factions.
Hamas, in particular, has proven adept at leveraging the symbolic power of martyrdom to achieve strategic gains against Israel. The recent battles have also dealt severe blows to the structure of the Zionist regime's army, reportedly grounding its capabilities for the first time. The conflict has struck a heavy blow to the regime's social and economic foundations, a development that Palestinian fighters are using to bolster their morale.
Alwaght: Strategically, what was the achievement of the Palestinian resistance in the past two years?
Ghanadbashi: In strategic terms, we can suggest that Gaza war has squeezed the Israeli regime in a passive situation and on the other side put resistance in the best possible conditions for recognition of the Palestinian rights. If the Palestinian cause had been buried before the war, the ground would have been prepared for displacement of the Palestinians and elimination of Hamas, but the situation went differently with this war.
The Palestinian cause has now become a central global issue. Resistance groups have gained significant popular support and have successfully forced the Israeli regime into a low posture across political, social, and media fronts.
In this conflict, Palestinian factions severely degraded Israel's deterrence capability. Despite sustaining heavy financial and human losses, they inflicted fundamental strategic problems on the occupying power. This compelled the regime to repeatedly shift its tactics and overhaul its strategy for confronting the resistance— efforts that have largely failed.
Consequently, Israel is now widely viewed as the most hated regime in the world. Prominent figures like Benjamin Netanyahu are facing pursuit by international judicial bodies over the genocide in Gaza—a development bearing witness to Hamas's success in becoming the most effective force within the Axis of Resistance.
Another achievement is the failure of the Israeli military to advance its stated objectives. The situation has demonstrated that neither false propaganda nor military force can achieve its goals, such as the destruction of Hamas. Despite their powerful military and financial backing, the Israeli-Western alliance has proven unable to achieve its aims. They have neither destroyed Hamas nor succeeded in fully re-occupying Gaza.
Alwaght: One of the features of Gaza war is it being a war of attrition and continuation of resistance to occupation and genocide under full blockade. What do you think are the factors that have helped resistance factions prevail?
Ghanadbashi: The factor behind the sustainability of the resistance forces should be sought in the cultural view and the Islamic teachings. The people of Gaza, with indescribable patience and resilience, have contributed to resistance groups' endurance. This war has forged a bond between the people and their fighters, a bond that distinguishes it from other global movements. In this conflict, it was the civilians of Gaza who, through immense personal sacrifice—enduring widespread famine and giving their own lives and those of their children—bore the brunt of the enemy's atrocities with maintaining their unwavering support for the resistance factions, directly strengthening the combat capabilities of Hamas and other groups.
Alwaght: Over the past two years, we have seen ond of the broadest waves of global solidarity with Palestine. Can we suggest that the global pro-Palestinian movement has now become a sustainable social movement, or is it still periodic and out of emotion?
Ghanadbashi: We are witnessing the world's biggest campaign of support to the Palestinian cause and this has become a sustainable movement and cannot be regarded as periodic and emotional. It can even impact the allies of the West in the region and with the expansion of liberation movements in other part of the world help leave big influences.
This global wave of solidarity forced Western governments, bowing to public outrage, to react strongly to Israeli atrocities and alter their strategic approach towards this regime. The conflict has proven that the West's advanced weaponry and powerful intelligence agencies are ineffective at containing and suppressing Islamic movements. It has successfully challenged the deterrence capabilities of Tel Aviv and its allies.
Alwaght: Do the Israeli losses in Gaza reflect the army's structural weaknesses or the political and intelligence mistakes?
Ghanadbashi: The failures of the Zionist military stem not only from structural weaknesses but also from a cascade of political and intelligence miscalculations, reflecting deeper flaws in its governance and worldview. These factors combined to create a comprehensive vulnerability.
A key structural flaw was the dysfunctional coordination between different military branches, which led to disagreements over war strategy in Gaza. Compounding this were grave political mistakes in dealing with regional nations, most notably the inflammatory move to attack Qatar and revive the idea of a Greater Israel amidst already high tensions, a gambit that backfired and caused numerous challenges to the regime.
Furthermore, a critical intelligence blind spot left them unable to predict Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. Despite inflicting heavy casualties on Palestinian groups, the Israeli regime suffered a decisive defeat in the intelligence arena. This failure allowed the Palestinian people to successfully thwart the enemy's primary objectives.
Alwaght: Given the US and allies' plots, especially Trump's plan that eyes an end to the role of resistance group in the future of Palestine, how do you see the Palestinian future in the light of these developments? Will we see emergence of a new strategy?
Ghanadbashi: Despite American conspiracies, current indicators point to a clear and widening path for the resistance. The most compelling evidence is the growing domino effect of international recognition for a Palestinian state. Simultaneously, the humanitarian flotilla movement, like the Sumud Flotilla, is pushing to break the Gaza blockade. Additionally, the Israeli regime's palpable failure to contain the resistance stands as a powerful testament to enduring vitality of the Palestinian resistance.
Despite military and intelligence losses, after two years, Trump's plan for ceasefire in Gaza highlights the points and objectives Israel stated in the beginning of war, something showing that Tel Aviv and Washington are still at the square one. Two years ago, they stressed on release of the Israeli prisoners and the same insistence is made now in Trump's initiative. Hamas obliteration and disarmament are also the biggest aims of the Israeli regime when the war started and now they are pressing for this unrealized demand.
So, the Palestinian resistance has now transformed into the biggest regional movement and given support offered from all nations, a bright future awaits the Palestinian people and resistance.
