In the Heart: «Palestine before October 7»
With all its arrogance and brazenness, Netanyahu stood amidst the ruins of what remained of Gaza, 60% of which is currently occupied, declaring that southern Israel had become safe and that Gaza would no longer pose a threat to their security. But was Gaza ever truly a danger to Israel?
Gaza was never a threat to anyone. It was one of the most beautiful Palestinian cities, where its residents lived in security and peace, and hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants worked in lucrative trades that supported them and their families in Gaza and even in occupied Palestine, until that fateful day arrived, changing their circumstances from one state to another.
Before October 7, there were Saudi-American arrangements aimed at resolving the two-state issue and achieving conditional Arab normalization with Israel. These arrangements were based on establishing a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital within the 1967 borders, in accordance with King Abdullah’s initiative in 2002, the return of refugees, and Israel’s withdrawal from the Golan Heights. Additionally, Saudi Arabia would have received a nuclear program, specialized weapons, and advanced aircraft, while eliminating Iran’s proxy forces. However, “Hamas” thwarted the two-state solution through this action, thereby pleasing both Israel and Iran, as the two-state solution is not in their interests.
Before October 7, 2023, no one within Israel dared to call for the occupation of the Gaza Strip and the displacement of its people, nor did anyone venture to demand the emptying of the West Bank of its residents. We had not heard such demands until after that date, which altered and will continue to alter the Palestinian map and the composition of its original population.
The catastrophic events of October 7 would not have occurred had “Hamas” not committed its major catastrophe in June 2007, when it separated Gaza from the Palestinian Authority, turning it into an emirate subordinate to and loyal to a regional entity hostile to Arabs and Palestine. This separation was a bloody, criminal act justified as a reaction to a political conflict with the Authority. The greatest loser was the Palestinian people, while the greatest winner was Israel, which could never have dreamed of receiving such a gift on a golden platter.
Israel is capable, and has been capable, of eliminating anyone whose tenure has expired or who has overstepped its boundaries. It killed Hassan Nasrallah in his bunker, Ismail Haniyeh in his apartment in Iran, and Ali Khamenei and his commanders while they were entrenched in their own strongholds. It killed many Iranian, Palestinian, and other leaders. So how could it struggle to eliminate the agent Naim Qassem and others like him?
Israel precisely identified and then destroyed Iran’s nuclear reactors, bombed its military bases and “Basij” headquarters thousands of kilometers away, and even reached and destroyed ports in Iran on the distant Caspian Sea. Could it really be that Israel was unable to locate the leaders of “Hamas” and the “Party of Satan” (Hezbollah), as well as their camp sites, which are located on its borders? Does this not raise many questions? Does it not fuel doubts about their persistent obstinacy, which Israel uses to justify occupying more of Lebanon and Gaza?
