From the Resistance of 2005 to the Al-Aqsa Flood: How Gaza Shattered the Myth of Israeli Invasion

In a powerful report published by The Palestine Chronicle, the so-called “myth of the invasion” was dismantled — asserting that the Israeli occupation has never succeeded in fully subjugating Gaza, despite decades of military occupation, siege, and repeated wars.

Translated by Sunna Files Website, the report clarifies: “To invade a land is to bring its people under complete control.” It stresses the critical distinction between invasion and occupation — the latter being a legal term defined by international law, especially under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The piece explains that when Israeli occupation forces were finally forced to redeploy from Gaza in 2005 — a direct result of unrelenting Palestinian resistance — the United Nations insisted unequivocally: Gaza remains occupied territory under international law.

This UN stance sharply contradicts Israel’s self-serving legal narrative, in which it classifies Gaza as a “hostile entity,” and therefore not legally occupied. This distortion, the report argues, stems from Israel’s failure to maintain its military grip over Gaza — a grip that began in 1967 and was continuously disrupted by steadfast Palestinian resistance, making military normalization or profitability unattainable. This stands in contrast to the illegal settlement projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Between 1967 and the early 1970s, under the command of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli military unleashed brutal repression in Gaza — employing excessive violence, widespread destruction, and ethnic cleansing. This coincided with the establishment of illegal settlements across the strip.

Despite these efforts, Israel never achieved its ultimate objective: to completely subdue the Palestinian people. Sharon’s infamous “Five Fingers” plan — as commander of Israel’s Southern Command — aimed to sever Gaza’s geographic unity in order to thwart the resistance. That too failed.

The report notes: “Sharon attempted this by dividing Gaza into ‘security zones,’ where major settlements were built and heavily fortified. Israel imposed military control over main roads and sealed most coastal access points.”

Yet even this failed to materialize. Full subjugation of Palestinians on both sides of the security zones proved impossible. What Israel did manage was to establish isolated settler blocs — the largest being Gush Katif near Gaza’s southwest border with Egypt, followed by northern settlements and the centrally located Netzarim colony.

“These settlements housed only a few thousand settlers but required a far greater number of soldiers to protect them, resembling militarized fortresses,” the report said. “Due to Gaza’s limited space — just 181 square miles — and intense local resistance, these settlements couldn’t expand, turning the project into a costly colonial burden.”

When Israeli forces evacuated the last illegal settlement in 2005, they withdrew under the cover of darkness. Thousands of Gazans pursued them to the very last soldier — a symbolic and dramatic moment that proved one thing beyond doubt: Gaza was never truly subdued.

Despite Israel’s retreat from major urban centers, the occupation persisted through “buffer zones” involving repeated incursions into Palestinian territory and an airtight blockade that trapped the majority of Gaza’s population.

The report further highlights how Israel’s control over Gaza’s airspace, coastal waters, and natural resources — particularly offshore gas fields — prompted the UN to maintain its classification of Gaza as occupied territory. Unsurprisingly, Israel rejected this legal reality.

Tel Aviv’s ongoing desire to control Gaza while designating it as perpetually hostile allows the Israeli military to justify frequent, devastating assaults on the besieged enclave.

This strategic cruelty is officially described in Israeli military doctrine as “mowing the grass” — a euphemism for periodically crippling Gaza’s resistance to prevent it from posing any long-term challenge or escaping its open-air prison.

But on October 7, 2023, the myth collapsed. The Al-Aqsa Flood operation struck at the heart of Israeli military doctrine. Young resistance fighters from Gaza breached the borders, seized control of parts of the so-called Gaza Envelope, and inflicted a shocking blow that defied the very foundation of Israel’s security narrative.

According to the report, Palestinians acknowledge the UN’s legal classification of Gaza as occupied land — but consider the 2005 withdrawal a direct result of their sustained resistance, which forced Israel’s military to retreat to border positions. The current failure of Israel’s war aims in Gaza, the report insists, has deep historical roots.

At the time of Israel’s withdrawal nearly 20 years ago, resistance fighters possessed only basic weapons. Today, the landscape has shifted dramatically. Recent estimates suggest that tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers have been killed or injured since the beginning of the war on Gaza — a testament to how drastically the equation has changed.

After two decades of failed attempts to subdue Gaza’s people, it is delusional to expect Israel to succeed now. Israel itself seems to grasp this, choosing instead to carry out a genocidal campaign aimed at making ethnic cleansing feasible — a fantasy rooted in the false hope that Gazans will eventually leave their homeland voluntarily.

The report concludes with unwavering clarity:

Gaza has never been conquered — and it never will be.
Under international law, it remains occupied land, regardless of Israeli redeployments. Sooner or later, another withdrawal will occur. And when it does, the relationship between Gaza and the occupier will shift permanently — bearing witness to the unbreakable spirit of the Palestinian people.