• The discourse is shifting around Palestinians as the genocide continues. The British News Outlet declares, “Israel is losing the war against Hamas.”
• Are we witnessing a change in tides for Gaza? Thousands of Israeli troops are being pulled out of the Gaza strip, and the Iranian warship Alborz enters the Red Sea.
As the death toll almost hits 22,000 Palestinians, pro-Palestinians’ outlook may feel hopeless with the insouciant response of the international community. Many are fearful of what this New Year could bring for our brothers and sisters in Palestine.
However, as the Western world celebrates the start of 2024, we enter a completely different international political system than this time last year. At the beginning of 2023, many communities were not even aware of Palestinian suffering or the history of the Palestinian state. Now, the Palestinian plight is in the thoughts of billions and at the forefront of current affairs.
In 2024, Israel’s international reputation will continue to dramatically decrease. Not only does the Global South strongly align with the Palestinian cause, but on December 29, 2023, South Africa launched a case with the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of crimes of genocide against Palestinians. Alongside this, millions continue to mobilize across the world with boycotts and protests calling for a free Palestine, with numbers that have not been seen since the illegal US-Coalition invasion of Iraq.
Even Israel’s greatest allies, Western Europe and the USA, are shaken by the brutality of Israel’s indiscrimate bombardment and the high civilian death toll. The US urges Israel to do more to protect civilians and increase humanitarian aid.
A popular British newspaper, The Guardian, published an article on December 21, 2023: “Israel is losing the war against Hamas, but Netanyahu and his government will never admit it.” This journal article explores how Israel’s attacks “are doing more and more harm to Israel’s long-term security. Not only does Israel risk becoming a pariah state, even among its allies, but it will also fuel a generation of radical opposition from a reconstituted Hamas or its inevitable successor.”
The rhetoric that Israel could lose is slowly being realized, which is also predicted by the non-profit Center for Strategic and International Studies and other strategic analysts.
Israel itself estimates that it has only eliminated 15% of the Hamas’ fighting ability and has failed to assassinate the group’s senior leadership. It is shocking that only tens of thousands of unskilled armed civilians are now a match for one of the world’s most powerful and intelligent military forces.
This is further shown as Israel fails to advance in the Khan Younis area despite its efforts between December 24 and 30, and the IDF now announces the withdrawal of thousands of troops from the front lines in Gaza in January 2024.
Israel is situated in a precarious position with a lack of clarity on their goals except the “elimination of Hamas” and an unstable economic, political, and military situation. In Israel, tourism has halted, construction is paralyzed, and production at the Tamar natural gas field has stopped, costing $200 million a month.
If their genocide of Palestinians continues for “months” into 2024, as Netanyahu predicts, this could lead to the destabilization of Israel.
Regionally, the outlook for Israel is bleak with dire Arab-Israeli relations, where the continued mass destruction of Palestinians could ignite a Middle Eastern conflict. Iran remains poised as tensions escalate; Iran’s Alborz warship is reported to have entered the Red Sea on January 1, 2024.
Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, states: “I think every day that this goes on [referring to Gaza], you get closer to regional expansion of this whole mess.”
Overall, the Guardian predicts Israel cannot win this war as “Hamas, or at least Hamas’ ideas, cannot be defeated by military force.”
Israel indeed should be fearful of the Palestinians as Mu’adh ibn Jabal reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no veil between it and Allah.”
We pray that Allah answers the duas of the Palestinians, grants Martyrdom to all those who lost their lives in 2023 and grant a free Palestine in 2024 Insha’Allah.
