Alwaght- While the Palestinian groups are showing tolerance with Israeli regime, Tel Aviv government under the hardliners is seeking war. In the latest development, the Israeli forces brutally stormed the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and attacked the worshipers there. They threw tear gas inside a prayer hall and hit the praying people with baton. Part of the Al-Qabli prayer hall caught fire as a result of tear gas firing. Still, a number of Palestinian worshipers performed their prayer in the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the same time as the illegal storming of the holy place by settlers, but the occupation forces disrupted their prayers using force.
The Palestinian Red Crescent announced that 250 people were injured in the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque. Also, 400 Palestinians were arrested in this raid. The Gaza resistance groups, who have declared the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque as their red line, fired several rockets towards the occupied territories. The Israeli media reported that in the first wave of rocket fire towards Sderot and the settlements around Gaza, one of the resistance rockets hit a factory in the Israeli city on Gaza border.
Then, over 30 rockets were fired on Israeli cities from southern Lebanon. Hamas appears to have been behind the attack.
The Israeli warplanes overnight launched heavy airstrikes on Gaza. Israeli sources said the attacks targeted Hamas sites.
To discuss the new developments, Alwaght talked to Hassan Royvaran, an expert of West Asia affairs.
Alwaght: Despite the warnings by Palestinian resistance groups about Israeli warmongering, Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa have been intensified as world Quds Day draws closer. Hundreds of people were wounded in the raids. What is behind Tel Aviv leaders’ straining of the security situation at present?
Royvaran: What is currently going on in the occupied territories is the result of the rise to power of a radical and fascist government in Tel Aviv. The policies pursued by Minister of Internal Security Itmar Ben-Gvir and the danger that the Israeli regime feels from the West Bank side force it to show security and violent behavior. The attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque is not new and it happened in the past, but what has changed in the current situation compared to the past is the intensity and extent of these attacks carried out by Israeli extremists.
Alwaght: the Palestinian groups said that if the Israeli enemy continues its adventures, they will respond powerfully. They even launched several rockets into occupied territories. What do you think would be the Palestinian resistance response to these military movements? How likely do you see escalation in the West Bank?
Royvaran: Hamas and Islamic Jihad have threatened that such security behavior by the Israelis is not acceptable and if it continues, the resistance in Gaza will take action, and for this reason, I imagine that these contentious actions in Al-Aqsa Mosque can trigger a new war in the occupied territories.
Now Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is facing a political crisis and social divisions inside, and he is trying to create an external challenge to unite the deeply divided Israeli society against the Palestinians, and one of Netanyahu’s main goals is to escalate tensions in the West Bank. But for now, the resistance has limited itself to warnings and limited action, and does not want to play a role that serves the interests of Netanyahu and the radicals.
Alwaght: Having in mind that resistance groups have boosted their defense capabilities, and given the mutiny inside the Israeli military, do you think these confrontations work against Netanyahu?
Royvaran: Now there is a kind of deterrence between the resistance and the Israeli regime and the Israelis can no longer implement the hit and run policy and any action by the Israeli occupation will meet Palestinian response and this can complicate the conditions for Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister wants to get rid of internal crises by starting new conflicts, but the resistance is very powerful and the calculations of the resistance groups are such that they do not want to step into Tel Aviv trap. On the other hand, Netanyahu’s green light to Ben-Gvir and other hardliners in the cabinet to do some security moves does not derive from a position of power, but from weakness and desperation and from a push to maintain the coalition in the parliament to get rid of stalemates surrounding the cabinet. Therefore, despite the fact that the resistance groups have a strong military power, they intervene in a limited way and try to punish Netanyahu and the hardliners in a different way than to entering their game.
Alwaght: You said that Netanyahu tries to start war in the West Bank to unite internal ranks. Given the fact that the opposition are awaiting an opportunity to take Netanyahu down, do not you think that a war serves their goal? Or is there unity among the Israelis against the Palestinians?
Royvaran: Unfortunately, the Israeli society is united against the Palestinians. Though they are divided over government, the Israelis share thought against the Palestinians. Many Israelis are immigrants or the children of immigrants who came to the Palestinian lands decades ago with usurpation goal, and they consider the Palestinians as their enemy, and they consider the dispute with the Palestinians to be an existential one, because there is a land that both parties claim sovereignty over and there is a kind of hostility between the two sides. I do not think that among Netanyahu’s opposition, there are people who support the Palestinians. The overwhelming Israeli majority advocates occupation of the West Bank and support the settlement projects and want to completely occupy Al-Quds, and they do not differ with each other when it comes to these policies.
Alwaght: On the eve of Quds Day, how do you evaluate the West Bank developments at internal and external levels?
Royvaran: At present, the presence of resistance in Gaza and the West Bank has made the goal of liberation of Palestinian more realizable than any other time. So, resistance is a key variable in description of current equations. Another issue is that though the Israeli regime managed to gain influence in some Arab countries on the strength of Trump administration, still it is not in a good condition now because recent Iranian-Saudi détente agreement blocked its way of pursuing the normalization process and further influence in the region. In other words, Israeli regime is now highly weak and can only penetrate countries and sign security pacts with them at the time of differences and confrontations. But when understanding replaces confrontation, this regime can make no progress, and one of the reasons why Tel Aviv is unhappy with the Tehran-Riyadh rapprochement is that it no longer can implement its plans in the region. This year, consonance in the region and Muslim world is more than before and this restrains the Israeli adventures in Palestine.
