A year has passed since the genocide perpetrated by Israeli fascism in the Gaza Strip, and the world, including its states, political institutions, judicial bodies, and diplomatic entities, has been powerless to put an end to it. This war would not have continued for a full year without the immense support Israel received, first from the United States, and from several Western NATO countries, who bear significant responsibility for the killing of Palestinian children and women.
In this year of aggression, the Zionist occupation army achieved many results, after dropping about 85 tons of explosives on civilians—provided by the United States and several Western countries. These resulted in the killing of more than 41,000 martyrs, including 29,000 women and children, most of whom were targeted in refugee shelters (178 shelters were targeted) or in their homes. There were approximately 100,000 wounded, in addition to more than 10,000 missing. Thousands of martyrs and wounded were also from those working in the health, education, relief, media, and local and international organizations. Furthermore, over 80% of Gaza was destroyed.
In contrast, the goals set by Israeli terrorist leaders as the title of their aggression remained unattainable, including: eliminating resistance movements, especially Hamas, dismantling their infrastructure, freeing Israeli prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance, establishing a civilian authority responsive to Israel›s demands, mass displacement of the population, and imposing the annexation and resolution plan, the details of which were previously announced by several Israeli officials.
After a year of madness, killing, and destruction, it has become clear that Israel is experiencing confusion and failure, manifested in the contradiction between the military and political levels. Military leaders claim that they have no further actions left in Gaza, especially in the absence of a clear government plan for what Israel wants in the future. They claim that Palestinian resistance capabilities can no longer replicate what happened on October 7. On the political level, however, the enemy›s prime minister and his fascist government officials continue to offer justifications to prolong the war and remain in Gaza for as long as possible, whether through discussions of the need to stay in the northern region or fabricating new problems such as the Philadelphi and Netzarim routes, or the Rafah crossing. But on the ground, Palestinian resistance, despite suffering significant blows, remains strong and steadfast in defending its land and people. Israeli soldiers and positions have become daily targets for the resistance, which is gradually dragging the occupation army into a war of attrition. This has been complicated further by the successful ambushes set by the resistance against occupation tanks and equipment. Once again, it is clear that the Palestinian issue, in addition to being a national liberation struggle for self-determination, remains, as it always has, the key to regional stability and security, and the cornerstone of its strategic transformations.
A year after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, and regardless of how events in Gaza are described, which go beyond the terms of genocide or crimes against humanity in their brutality and fascism, Israeli fascist practices in the West Bank and Gaza reinforce one truth: the Palestinian people are dealing with fascist and exclusionary mindsets prevalent in large segments of Israeli Zionist society. These mindsets do not recognize Palestinian national rights, or the existence of a Palestinian people rooted in their land for thousands of years. Therefore, policies of killing, settlement construction, repeated incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, ongoing arrests, the siege of Gaza, annexation plans, displacement, normalization at the expense of the Palestinian people, and daily terrorism by the occupation army or settlers are all causes worthy of igniting a revolution every day.
The Zionist movement, with its fascist and extremist religious character, grounded in a racist and bloody intellectual and political heritage, no longer merely denies Palestinian national rights—it now seeks to deny the very existence of the Palestinian people. In this sick ideological environment, political life in Israel currently operates, and it is on this basis that Netanyahu’s government, before the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, engaged with the Palestinian people, particularly in the West Bank and Jerusalem. A simple glance at the number of Palestinian martyrs and wounded, and the growing number of settler attacks (in one month alone, there were 1,242 attacks by the occupation army and settlers in the West Bank alone), reveals how Zionism has translated its ideas into actions against Palestinians shortly before the October 7 operation.
That is why we repeatedly say that the October 7 operation cannot be viewed as an isolated event; it is the result of the occupation›s presence and its accumulated practices for over more than 76 years, and the result of international impotence and the double standards of major powers, which have repeatedly ignored the Palestinian people›s right to exercise their national rights on their own land. If this policy continues unchanged, the conflict will remain open in the region as long as the Palestinian people›s freedom remains captive to occupation and aggression.
Israel—its army, settlers, political forces, and elites—has grown more savage and arrogant. Its fascism has expanded to include Gaza, based on a declared agenda and another undeclared one. The first agenda aims to destroy the resistance and recover prisoners; the second seeks ethnic cleansing and the displacement of Palestinians from their homeland. While this agenda is not officially part of the government’s program, it is embedded in the plans of many forces within the Israeli government and is being implemented by various means. The annexation and resolution plan are being applied gradually and rests on three pillars: land confiscation (annexation), forcing Palestinians to choose between leaving, submitting to Israel’s demands, imprisonment, or death in case of resistance.
A year after the October 7 operation, anyone who thinks that the genocide perpetrated by Israeli fascism, with direct support from Western and NATO countries, can subdue the Palestinian people is delusional. The operations of killing, destruction, and starvation will not force Palestinians to raise the white flag. What has been confirmed after a year is that the Palestinian issue is not only a national liberation struggle but remains the key to regional stability and strategic transformations.
The results of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation can only be interpreted as confirming the view of Israel as a functional entity serving the interests of global imperialist and colonial powers, foremost the United States, which has waged genocide in Gaza from its first moment until now. Therefore, this war highlights not only the impotence of the international system in protecting peoples from brute force but also the urgent need for a new international system that is more balanced in addressing global issues and more responsive to the needs of various peoples, far from the logic of domination and colonialism in all its forms, old and new.
The experience of nearly 76 years of occupation in Palestine, and 57 years of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, has demonstrated the impossibility of coexisting with Israeli fascism and colonial projects in Palestine and the region, especially in the face of a sweeping racist and fascist tendency within Zionist society, which is growing more extreme, convinced it enjoys the support of major international powers. These powers provide not only military and security backing but also all forms of protection, preventing global states and institutions from playing their role in maintaining international peace and security. The direct title for our region remains resolving the Palestinian issue by recognizing the Palestinian people’s right to a sovereign, independent state on all its occupied lands, with Jerusalem as its capital, and ensuring the implementation of UN resolutions guaranteeing the return of all refugees to their homes from which they were expelled in 1948 through acts of killing and terrorism committed by Zionist militias.
The global political frameworks and popular movements of all forms must take an active role in contributing to the global effort to expose the Zionist movement’s alliance with some Western colonial forces and denounce its criminal practices, which affect all the world. The world is fed up with Israeli fascism, as reflected in dozens of international resolutions condemning Israel, none of which have been implemented, including the recent UN General Assembly resolution (September 2024) demanding that Israel end its «illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territories» within 12 months.
In the name of the «External Relations Department of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine,» we present this message on the anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, which was a natural response to the occupation and its terrorist practices against the Palestinian people for more than 76 years. We thank you for your support and positions in defense of our people›s right to self-determination and renew our call for continued action against aggression and occupation, aiming to expand the pressure on Western states and governments that support the occupation. We affirm that the Palestinian people today are left with a priority option: resistance in all its forms within the framework of the ongoing confrontation between the Israeli colonial project and the national Palestinian liberation project, which will inevitably triumph through the will and resilience of the Palestinian people and the support of freedom-loving people around the world.