Israel’s conflict on Gaza has not ended with the pullback of its tanks or the falling silent of its warplanes. Tens of 1000’s have been killed, lots of of 1000’s of houses decreased to rubble, and a few two million individuals pushed from their houses. But the best hazard should lie forward, for Israel intends to proceed the conflict in one other kind, one which now not requires its military.
Within the vacuum left by Israel’s destruction, a grim new actuality is unfolding. Armed militias are rising, exploiting the collapse of social order and the deepening struggling of the individuals. These teams, which as soon as claimed the mantle of “resistance” to the occupier, are more and more turning their weapons inward. Moderately than working to assist the defence of the homeland, they’re looking for to impose management by way of violence, turning Palestinian ache right into a forex for factional and political acquire. Gaza, lengthy below siege, as soon as lived in suffocating isolation but remained largely protected inside its personal partitions. Individuals feared Israeli air assaults, not prison gangs or the gun of a neighbour. Right this moment, concern has multiplied, from the occupation and from inside.
The killing of journalist Saleh Aljafarawi in Gaza Metropolis’s Sabra neighbourhood stands as one of the crucial ominous indicators of this new part. The 28-year-old reporter, who had lengthy documented Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and confronted repeated loss of life threats for his work, was shot useless days after the ceasefire, not by Israeli troopers or drones however by Palestinian gunmen. His homicide uncovered the conflict’s continuation by different means: Israel has turned Palestinians in opposition to one another, spurring a cycle of concern and bloodshed that serves its occupation even within the absence of its troopers.
Israel’s logic right here is evident. It has lengthy relied on an previous colonial technique: Divide and rule. A society consumed by inner violence can not stand united in opposition to its occupier. By cynically fostering the rise of militias, Israel achieves two goals: Weakening Palestinian unity and decreasing the burden by itself military. It avoids direct prices and worldwide scrutiny, whereas Gaza continues to bleed from inside.
The armed gangs now spreading concern in Gaza aren’t defenders of the homeland however Israel’s collaborators, serving its occupation below a special identify. They had been empowered in the course of the conflict to behave the place Israel couldn’t all the time act overtly. But Israel’s historical past with Palestinians who serve its pursuits is evident: It makes use of them, then discards them. As soon as their function is fulfilled, collaborators are forged apart, disarmed or destroyed, left with neither honour nor safety. He who turns his gun on his personal individuals might imagine himself highly effective, however his destiny is all the time the identical: Rejection by his individuals, by historical past and even by the occupier who as soon as used him.
For Palestinians, the implications are nothing wanting catastrophic. Liberation can’t be constructed on concern. When resistance loses its ethical readability, when it turns into indistinguishable from oppression, it collapses in legitimacy. The Palestinian trigger has by no means been solely about survival; it has all the time been about dignity, justice and freedom. These values can not endure in a society the place residents concern not solely Israeli plane but in addition armed locals who now terrorise their streets, serving each their very own pursuits and the occupier’s. The area’s historical past bears witness: From Lebanon to Iraq, exterior powers have repeatedly exploited militias to fragment societies. As soon as unleashed, these forces hardly ever serve their individuals; their loyalties drift as an alternative in the direction of factional energy, private acquire or international patrons.
The duty earlier than Palestinians is each pressing and existential: To stop Gaza from sliding right into a land dominated by militias fairly than united below the banner of liberation. This requires a robust civilian will that refuses to legitimise such teams, political management that locations nationwide unity above factional curiosity, and worldwide consciousness that occupation destroys not solely by way of bombs and siege, but in addition by tearing aside the social cloth and turning society right into a battlefield of inner battle.
The individuals of Gaza have already proven extraordinary braveness and resilience. They’ve endured siege, relentless bombardment and mass displacement. They need to not now be requested to endure the humiliation of being dominated by armed gangs who serve their very own pursuits whereas claiming to behave for his or her individuals. The energy of the Palestinian wrestle has all the time rested on its ethical readability, a individuals demanding freedom in opposition to all odds. That readability should not be surrendered to those that change solidarity with concern and justice with domination.
Israel might hope to wage its conflict by proxy, imagining a Gaza the place its individuals combat one another as an alternative of resisting occupation. But Palestinians nonetheless have a selection. They will reject the trail of militias and affirm that their trigger is bigger than any faction and stronger than those that place energy above precept. The true hazard right this moment will not be solely Israeli air assaults however the erosion of the very essence of Palestinian nationalism: The conviction that liberation should belong to everybody and mustn’t ever come at the price of freedom or human dignity.
The views expressed on this article are the creator’s personal and don’t essentially replicate Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
