While indirect negotiations continue in Doha between Hamas and the Zionist entity to reach a new 60-day ceasefire agreement, the Palestinian resistance is intensifying its heroic operations against occupation soldiers across Gaza, inflicting further painful losses.
The latest of these was the Beit Hanoun operation, which resulted in the killing of five Zionist soldiers and the wounding of 14 others, though it is certain the real toll is much higher than what the occupation has admitted. This is evident from the fact that evacuation operations took five full hours, with landing sites prepared for evacuation helicopters at five hospitals, even though one hospital could have accommodated the announced number of wounded — a clear sign that the occupation conceals its true losses to soften the shock for its “people.”
What stands out is that this operation — described by Zionist circles as “exceptional” — took place in Beit Hanoun, in the north of the Strip, an area the occupation has invaded repeatedly, each time declaring it “cleansed,” only for the resistance to return and strike its soldiers anew, proving its deep roots in its land and its defiance of defeat.
The way the Beit Hanoun operation was carried out is the clearest response to those who claim the occupation is nearing final victory over the resistance or that its days are numbered. Here it is, adapting to the developments of the war, shifting into a true war of attrition, and still capable of delivering one painful blow after another to the enemy.
Just days ago, a single fighter in Khan Younis managed to reach an armoured personnel carrier containing seven soldiers. He threw an explosive device through its top hatch, incinerating them all. It took hours to extinguish the fire. Days later, another fighter approached a tank, attached a “Shawadh” explosive device to it, detonated it, and withdrew safely, even though he was in an open area under the enemy’s watch. This simply means that after 21 full months of fighting and genocidal war, the spirits of these courageous fighters have not weakened in the slightest. Instead, their faith, steadfastness, and resolve for revenge have only grown stronger, in honour of the tens of thousands of martyrs, including women, children, and civilians, whom the enemy has killed in cold blood through daily horrific massacres.
In contrast to this rare courage and high morale among the resistance fighters, the enemy’s newspapers continue to reveal daily the widespread discontent among occupation soldiers over the prolonged war and its unrelenting losses, and their desire to end it by any means. Just days ago, Haaretz published explosive testimonies from five reservists who agreed to reveal their names and photos. They described the conditions in Gaza as “exhausting” and “bitter,” confessing to the paper that they suffer from mounting fatigue, severe physical and psychological strain, and the constant fear that their turn will come to die in Gaza. One of them admitted that his hair had begun to fall out from extreme stress, especially after his entire unit was wiped out in a battle with the resistance, and he survived by a miracle. He concluded bluntly: “We are collapsing. It may seem strange to admit it, but it seems like a miracle that Hamas hasn’t exploited it even more!”
These harsh battlefield facts — marked by the resurgence and ferocity of the resistance in recent weeks — led Nahum Barnea, an analyst at Yedioth Ahronoth, to confirm that “Gideon’s Chariots are ending in a resounding failure. The Israeli army won’t admit it publicly, but the frustration is enormous.”
“Gideon’s Chariots” is the name given by the new Chief of Staff, Zamir, to his “operation” launched in Gaza since the war resumed on March 18. He aimed to accomplish what his predecessor, Halevi, failed to do — to eradicate Hamas and forcibly release the captives. Yet after nearly four months of fierce confrontations with the resistance, he faced Netanyahu. He admitted that he “cannot control two million Palestinians in Gaza,” and asked him to end the war and negotiate a prisoner exchange deal. Is this not a resounding admission of defeat — that the “David’s Stones” launched by the resistance have shattered his “Chariots”?
Therefore, when Hamas accepts the 60-day truce — even if it does not lead to an end to the war — it does so not out of weakness or defeat, but out of concern for ending the suffering of the people of Gaza, who for 21 full months have endured a total genocidal war, daily brutal massacres, continuous displacement, hellish starvation, and widespread destruction of their homes and infrastructure. Hamas accepts the truce to relieve them, to allow them to catch their breath, and in the hope of an end to the war. But if the enemy returns afterwards, so will they.
