The killing of five Al Jazeera journalists on Sunday, followed by the Israeli army’s immediate statement taking responsibility, illustrates the next stage in its plan for Gaza: deliberate murder aimed at silencing Palestinian documentation of Israeli war crimes and military occupation.
This action reflects the implementation of the Israeli cabinet’s decision to occupy Gaza. Amid mounting international pressure and deep political and social divisions within Israeli society, it underscores how the Netanyahu administration has crossed a point of no return.
It does so in full knowledge that the wheels of history have begun turning against Israel, in light of the atrocities committed during the past two years of genocide.
Precisely because of this, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to rewrite the rules of the game – both in Israeli politics and on the international stage – by relying on violent suppression of all forms of resistance, with his primary objective being the eradication of Palestinian national aspirations, at any cost.
While sharp and justified criticism has been voiced within pro-Palestinian circles over western recognition of a Palestinian state – given the past support, whether active or passive, of these same states for the genocide in Gaza – Netanyahu understands that such recognition holds potential diplomatic leverage.
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The decision itself is neither inherently good nor bad; like any tool in a statesman’s arsenal, its value depends on how the Palestinian leadership chooses to use it.
But 22 months into the Gaza genocide, the only politically significant statement from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was to disgracefully insult Hamas by calling them “dogs” – all while maintaining security coordination with Israel and ignoring its aggressive moves to cripple the PA economically and bring about its collapse.
Recognising a Palestinian state
The future is dynamic and unpredictable. There is no guarantee that the current leadership, or the status quo in PA-Israel relations, will remain.
Should France follow through on its vow to recognise a Palestinian state, it would be forced to acknowledge that Netanyahu’s forthcoming seizure of Gaza amounts to an invasion of a sovereign state. Paris would thus be compelled to take economic and diplomatic measures.
Even if such steps were not taken under the current Palestinian leadership, recognition would remain a tool for a future leaderships to use.
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Equally important is the debate within movements supporting the Palestinian cause, amid justified criticism of western and Arab states for attempting to avoid a just solution by reverting to the two-state framework. Such criticisms are valid, especially given that the international community’s imagined geography between the river and the sea, and the way political and economic institutions function, are utterly disconnected from reality.
The power imbalance is absolute: the Palestinian economy is structurally dependent on Israel; settlements have been deliberately scattered across the occupied West Bank to block territorial contiguity; and Palestinians live under a patchwork of political statuses, all dependent on Israeli-controlled institutions.
For Netanyahu, however, the calculus goes beyond his own political survival … he knows the war will exact a price that he, many of his allies, and much of Israeli society are willing to pay
For this reason, I believe there is little point in wasting time debating “solutions”. At this historical juncture, such discussions are metaphysical exercises, detached from the absence of any viable Palestinian political project – whether for two states or one. What is needed now is direct resistance to Israeli policies in both the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Israel is clearly serious about its plans for population transfer, full control over Gaza, and political and social engineering in the occupied West Bank. It is also likely planning to change the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque, while granting itself license to use disproportionate and unprecedented force.
Some will point to Israel’s limitations, including the opposition of its own security chiefs to the Gaza invasion on the grounds that occupation will always breed Palestinian resistance. In addition, Israeli economists warn that such an occupation would cost billions of shekels and place immense strain on Israel’s economy.
Dismantling national aspirations
For Netanyahu, however, the calculus goes beyond his own political survival or defeating Hamas. His goal is to dismantle the very idea of Palestinian national aspirations – and he knows the war will exact a price that he, many of his allies, and much of Israeli society are willing to pay.
Indeed, Israel faces troop shortages, declining morale, dissent among hostage families, and a societal crisis that reflects deeper fractures within Zionism – especially over the willingness to sacrifice hostages for the sake of war aims. Yet none of these challenges have produced a mass protest movement to stop the war.
The only significant protests are for the release of hostages; there is no Israeli political or social force mobilising against the genocide. Worse still, Israeli sentiment now oscillates between existential fear – shaped by the events of the past two years – and the belief that military force is the only path to security. Netanyahu understands this: at the decisive moment, there will be broad mobilisation for the war effort.
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It is possible that growing international pressure aims to create legal and diplomatic barriers against the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank – and perhaps even to generate economic leverage over Israel and its business sector. But this also opens political maneuvering space for Palestinians to fight not just to stop the genocide, but also to push for national liberation.
Nothing is deterministic. But it is our duty to use every political tool available to halt Israel’s near-term plans. Sadly, the international arena has shown that states – both western and Arab alike – are willing to ignore public opinion and support genocide if it serves their own national economic or security goals.
This is the world we live in. And in this world, we must build grassroots coalitions, and use the recognition of a Palestinian state not as an inherently good or bad thing, but as a tool to prevent the transfer of Palestinians from their land and the erasure of the Palestinian cause.
Otherwise, the deliberate slaughter of five Al Jazeera journalists will only mark the start of a horrifying new phase of the conflict, in which Israel can deliberately silence all documentation of its crimes – and the world simply stands by.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
