Gaza — As the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip enters its second year, the Palestinian resistance continues to ambush and strike occupation forces with remarkable precision — despite Israel’s use of every lethal weapon in its arsenal and its scorched-earth policy aimed at annihilating all armed resistance cells.
From the very first days of its aggression, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes — declared three central objectives:
- The elimination of Hamas, both politically and militarily.
- The recovery of Israeli captives held by the resistance.
- The reconfiguration of Gaza’s security and political reality to prevent any future threat to Israel.
Two years later, none of these goals has been achieved. Instead, the Israeli military has resorted to mass slaughter — killing tens of thousands of civilians, destroying hundreds of thousands of homes, and dismantling Gaza’s infrastructure — yet it has failed to subdue the will of the Palestinian resistance.
So how did the resistance manage to foil the occupation’s military ambitions?
Field Tactics: Learning from the Battlefield
A field commander within the Palestinian resistance told Al Jazeera Net that the armed factions adopted strategic measures to counter Israel’s onslaught, systematically ambushing soldiers and inflicting casualties inside Gaza. Drawing on lessons from battles across all provinces, he outlined the following key tactics:
- Absorbing the initial shock of Israel’s heavy aerial bombardment and early “fire belts,” which targeted entire neighbourhoods and roads to clear the path for ground incursions.
- Relying on pre-prepared defensive plans, covering all possible scenarios of Israeli operations within Gaza.
- Striking after Israeli forces settled in invaded areas — exploiting the enemy’s false sense of control.
- Executing precision ambushes designed to inflict maximum casualties among occupation troops.
- Using attack tunnels to surprise invading forces and quickly repairing damaged ones during the aggression.
- Rationing weapon usage, focusing firepower only where it delivers strategic impact to sustain a prolonged war.
- Exhausting the enemy in a war of attrition that Israel cannot decisively win.
- Upholding a fighting creed that rejects surrender entirely — resistance fighters continue combat until their final breath.
- Capitalising on intimate knowledge of Gaza’s terrain, even when the occupier turns cities into rubble.
- Documenting every battle to demoralise Israeli soldiers and showcase the bravery and steadfastness of Palestinian fighters.
Control and Endurance
According to political analyst Yasser Abu Hein, two years into the genocidal war on Gaza, it is evident that Israel has failed to realise its declared objectives. Despite the devastating losses inflicted on Palestinians and the destruction of resistance infrastructure — including the assassination of key leaders — the core goals remain unmet.
Abu Hein told Al Jazeera Net that Israel’s aims included dismantling the Palestinian resistance, displacing Gaza’s population, recovering captives, and erasing Gaza’s identity by detaching it from the broader Palestinian national project. Yet, upon careful examination, it becomes clear that Israel has failed decisively in nearly all these pursuits.
“As long as the resistance still stands and its leadership remains active despite the heavy toll,” Abu Hein said,
“it is proof that Israel’s ultimate goal — the complete eradication of the resistance and the detachment of Gaza from the Palestinian cause — has not been achieved.”
He further noted that Israel’s continued negotiations with Hamas and the resistance leadership underscore that key files remain unresolved. Despite the colossal human and material losses, the enduring capacity for resistance and resilience continues to block Israel from achieving a total victory.
Abu Hein described the resistance’s performance as legendary by every standard:
“It is unimaginable that a besieged movement — under blockade for over two decades, deprived of resources, funding, and arms — could wage such a sustained, large-scale war, inflicting significant losses on Israel and undermining its strategic designs for Gaza.”
He added that the resistance’s disciplined coordination, measured escalation, and precise battlefield control all signal a sophisticated and effective military performance that has successfully neutralised many of Israel’s objectives.
Gaza’s Traps
Field evidence confirms that the Palestinian resistance remains firmly entrenched in Gaza and has effectively thwarted Israel’s declared goals, said Rami Khreis, Director of the Palestinian Centre for Political Studies.
Khreis told Al Jazeera Net that the resistance maintains a strong presence on the ground, still holding Israeli captives and shattering the myth of the invincible Israeli army — both domestically and internationally.
Despite two years of relentless warfare, Khreis explained, the Israeli military has failed to alter Gaza’s security landscape. Settlers living near the enclave continue to live in constant fear as rockets persistently disrupt life across southern Israel, preventing any return to normalcy.
“Even under the most punishing strikes,” Khreis said,
“the resistance has demonstrated remarkable endurance against an advanced army supported by the United States and Western powers.”
He added that the resistance preserved its core structure and tactical abilities — including tunnels, explosive devices, and field operations — forcing Israel to bear heavy military and human losses.
Khreis acknowledged, however, that Israel succeeded in achieving unannounced objectives, namely large-scale destruction, mass civilian casualties, starvation, and forced displacement — tactics aimed at breaking the Palestinian spirit and undermining faith in the resistance.
The Illusion of “Absolute Victory”
Political writer Majed al-Zubda noted that after twenty-four months of unprecedented genocide and ethnic cleansing, it has become clear that Netanyahu’s government failed to secure the “absolute victory” it repeatedly promised.
Despite unleashing every weapon of death and destruction, Israel could not achieve its strategic goals.
Al-Zubda told Al Jazeera Net:
“Today, Israel resorts to political manipulation through the United States and its pressures, trying to extract from the Palestinian resistance what it failed to gain on the battlefield. The occupation army has fallen squarely into Gaza’s traps and now finds itself in a state of ongoing exhaustion.”
He pointed to the growing crisis within the Israeli military establishment, where voices are increasingly urging Netanyahu’s government to end the war and seek a political exit — a tacit admission of military failure.
A War Without Victory, A Resistance Without Defeat
After two years of unrelenting war, Gaza stands as both a tragedy and a testament: Israel’s machinery of destruction may devastate cities and claim countless lives, but it has failed to crush the spirit of a people anchored in faith, resistance, and hope.
The Palestinian resistance, against all odds, continues to rewrite the rules of confrontation — turning Gaza’s ruins into a symbol of defiance and transforming every wound into a declaration that submission is not an option.
