AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): As the clashes continue between Gaza-based resistant groups and the Israeli regime, now the depth of the occupied Palestinian territories is the target of missile barrages fired from Gaza.
In just the past six days, reports suggest, some 2,000 missiles were fired at the occupied cities. Meanwhile, in addition to proving the unviability of the Israeli air defenses, especially the expensive Iron Dome, the Palestinian forces in a dramatic development showcased a new missile with 250 kilometers of range and pinpoint accuracy. Targeting the Ramat airport in southern Israel in its debut, the new missile left the Israelis in a big shock and brought over the occupied territories a shadow of fear.
The new and unprecedented attack took place just hours after the transfer of international flights from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv to Ramon airport on the outskirts of Eilat. The consequences of this attack for the Israeli leaders have been so unbelievable and shocking that the regime's cabinet in a propagandistic show threatened with a ground operation. The Israeli army retreated from the Gaza Strip in 2005 following strong resistance of the Gazans to occupation. The retreat dealt a major blow to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon government and pushed it to collapse.
Now the question is: will Netanyahu launch a ground offensive on Gaza and thus end his political life?
There is no doubt that the developments in recent weeks in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the brutal Israeli attacks on Gaza are a function of the great political crisis that has engulfed the Israeli political scene and there is no short-term way out of it as Netanyahu insists on staying in power. The intensification of right-wing policy of pressure on the Palestinians in Al-Quds to cleanse the city of its identity and the violation of past commitments on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are all in line with Netanyahu's plans to thwart rivals in coalition making and the continuation of his premiership. Adopting such an approach in the last two years has inevitably led to tensions with resistance groups in Gaza, and Netanyahu is better aware than anyone that given the missile power of resistant groups, any full-scale war will only compound his crises. Although he has always concentrated on creating tensions with the Palestinians to cover up the domestic crises, Netanyahu at the same time has committed himself to controlled tensions with the Palestinians.
However, what happened in recent days took aback Netanyahu and other Israeli war hawks. The intensity of the attacks and the range of missiles used in this round of clashes by the Palestinians have upset the equations of the Israeli cabinet, leaving the threadbare and unrealizable claims about readiness for ground offensive invalid. Netanyahu knows that in the coming days he will face the critical question of how, despite all the previous slogans about having the power to contain Hamas, the resistant movement has been able to achieve missiles with a range of 250 kilometers that can reach literally any point in the occupied territories. The length from Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt to the highest point of the occupied territories bordering Lebanon is less than 250 kilometers. So, bragging about a ground offensive is mainly to win the public acceptance and support, especially that of the Netanyahu’s Likud party and the right-wingers who can be impressed by the criticism of the rivals about Netanyahu’s inefficiency in securing the occupied territories. If the rivals can persuade the public opinion, then Likud votes will drop even further in the next election.
Furthermore, the Israelis, seeing the Islamic world united to support the Palestinians in the recent Al-Quds and Gaza developments, know that any full-scale war on Gaza can unleash massive Muslim fury that can undo the trivial gain made by Netanyahu through advancing normalization with some Arab rulers.
But in the meantime the noteworthy issue is that the muscle flexing of the Palestinian groups and rise of anti-Israeli international atmosphere practically shattered Netanyahu plot, facing him with the dilemma of accepting a ceasefire with humiliation of defeat or going to a ground battle with Hamas which will definitely cause his collapse.
/129