Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semenov
[REGNUM] For the second year in a row, the world day of Al-Quds, as Jerusalem is called in the Islamic world, is celebrated under the explosions of bombs and shells. And this means that the Muslims of Gaza also fast during the second holy month of Ramadan under the strikes of the Israeli Air Force: Al-Quds Day is celebrated on the last Friday of Ramadan, this year it fell on March 28.
Hamas has called on Arab and Islamic leaders to shoulder historic responsibility as Israel commits what the Islamic resistance organization calls heinous crimes against Palestine.
"They must take decisive action to stop this war, lift the siege of Gaza and maintain peace for our people on their land," the statement said.
It also calls on preachers and Islamic scholars around the world to dedicate Friday as a global day of support for Palestine, Gaza, Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa, strengthening the resilience of the Palestinians and protecting their lands and holy places:
"Let the mass events, marches and sit-ins continue in the coming days until this aggression ends and the massacre and genocide stops."
In turn, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) Masoud Pezeshkian called on the people of the country to take part in the march dedicated to the International Day of Al-Quds and express their condemnation of the “Zionist regime,” as Israel is called in the IRI.
“I call on the people to take to the streets tomorrow (Friday – Ed.) and express their hatred of the Zionist regime,” the president said at a meeting of governors at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"The Zionist regime has committed the most murders in front of the world and then calls others terrorists. They talk about peace but commit such brutal crimes," the Iranian leader added.
A NEW STAGE OF WAR
Of course, the issue of international support for Palestine is now especially important not only for Hamas, but for all Palestinians, since the hope that peace could return to Gaza after the ceasefire came into effect on January 19 has not come true.
On March 18, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a new operation, codenamed "Power and Sword," unilaterally violating the agreement with Hamas, which was reached with the support of American and Qatari mediators.
Its goal is to finally resolve the Palestinian issue and, at the first stage, expel the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. After which it will be possible to proceed with the annexation of the West Bank (where military activity is also increasing) and the expulsion of the Palestinians from there.
The IDF's campaign last year was ineffective because of disagreements between political and military leaders over tactics and strategy, Amir Avivi, a former deputy commander of the army's Gaza unit, told The Washington Post.
It was also hampered by concerns from the previous US administration about high casualties among Palestinian civilians.
But he said the advent of the Donald Trump administration and changes in Israel's defense establishment have loosened those restrictions.
"Now we have new [IDF] leadership, support from the US, and we have enough ammunition, and we have completed our main operations in the north and can focus on Gaza, " Avivi said. "The plans are decisive. There will be a full-scale attack, and the IDF will not stop until Hamas is completely destroyed."
Indeed, the first day of the new military campaign was one of the bloodiest: more than 400 Palestinians were killed, including 263 women and children, adding to the more than 50,000 Gazans killed.
Not counting those trapped under the rubble and still missing, at least 100 civilians have been killed in Gaza every day since then.
At the same time as the military efforts against Hamas are being stepped up, the Israeli leadership is taking steps to move to the practical phase of expelling the Palestinians from Gaza.
Thus, on the evening of March 22, the security cabinet approved a proposal by Defense Minister Israel Katz to create an administration to facilitate the “voluntary movement of Gazans to a third country.”
Katz said the structure is being created "in line with the vision of US President Trump."
The administration will report to Katz and will be responsible for “preparing and ensuring the safe and controlled transit of Gazans for their voluntary departure to third countries, including ensuring the safety of their movement, establishing the route of movement,” and so on.
INVASION AND OCCUPATION ARE COMING
However, in order to move on to the practical implementation of the plan, it will first be necessary to reoccupy the sector and move 2.2 million people to a “humanitarian zone” along the Mediterranean coast, the Financial Times reports.
Officials note that Gaza will be ruled by the military, which would effectively mean its reoccupation.
Israel had already captured the enclave during the 1967 war and controlled it for nearly four decades until 2005.
The new and more aggressive tactics, Israeli experts say, will likely also include direct military control of humanitarian aid, targeting more civilian Hamas members and officials, and evacuating women, children and screened non-combatants from residential areas into "humanitarian bubbles" and locking in those who remain.
It is a more intense version of the tactics used last year in northern Gaza.
Such a plan does not seem so far-fetched at the moment, given that Hamas is left alone with its enemy.
The movement still has about 20,000 experienced fighters capable of putting up serious resistance, but the main problem is access to weapons and ammunition.
So far, only the Yemeni Houthis from the Ansar Allah movement are capable of providing real assistance to the Palestinians.
Despite being subjected to American bombing, the Houthis find the opportunity to launch their ballistic missiles and drones towards Israel almost every day.
While the military impact of such attacks is minimal, the psychological factor is important, allowing Palestinians to feel at least someone's support when air raid sirens force half of Israel's population to take refuge in bomb shelters.
But in any case, the current stage of the confrontation between Hamas and the IDF seems to be the most difficult for the Palestinians.
Israel can bring its full military might to bear on the Islamic resistance in Gaza. Previously, significant resources were diverted to the Lebanese front to contain Hezbollah; now all these forces can be used in Gaza.
In fact, the plans revealed by the Financial Times envisage the IDF deploying several divisions to launch a second invasion of the enclave and take control of all territories previously held by Hamas.
A full-scale invasion and occupation would require up to five army divisions. And the IDF is now able to concentrate them against Hamas, something it could not previously do.
However, the deployment of such a group in Gaza could make other areas vulnerable.
While the Syrian and Lebanese fronts do not yet pose a threat to Israel, numerous risks still come from Iran, which has twice attacked Israeli territory with hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones in support of Hamas.
Tehran now appears weakened after Hezbollah retreated across the Litani River and the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Damascus. But its resources and capabilities, including continued support for Hamas, should hardly be underestimated.
"THE ONLY TRUE WAY"
“The Islamic Republic supports Palestine on the basis of Fiqh and Sharia,” the Iranian embassy in Moscow told Regnum.
According to the embassy, Imam Khomeini, as the inspirer of the Islamic Revolution, played a key role in supporting Palestine. He called for the unification of all Muslims in the struggle for the liberation of Al-Quds while still in exile, considering it an important religious aspect. It was he who, after the victory of the revolution, designated the last Friday of Ramadan as Al-Quds Day, and it is now celebrated throughout the Islamic world and beyond.
Let us recall that the problem of Palestine and, above all, the question of Jerusalem's belonging from the point of view of Islam is not only a national matter for the Palestinians. The liberation of Al-Quds - Jerusalem, which is the third holiest place of Islam along with Mecca and Medina from Israeli occupation is becoming the duty of all Muslims.
It is precisely on the basis of religious principles that the Islamic Republic considers it its duty to support the Palestinian resistance in the matter of returning Jerusalem to Muslims.
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic in Russia emphasized that Iran, which itself is under difficult conditions of sanctions and pressure from the new US administration, is the only country that has supported and continues to support the oppressed people of Palestine not only in words but also in deeds.
“Unlike many other Muslim states, such as Turkey, for example, from which one can hear only slogans.
The Iranian representative office also continues to believe that Hamas' armed struggle for the liberation of Palestine is the only correct path.
“Hamas understands that there is no other way to liberate its land except through resistance, even though the movement is paying a high price for the liberation of Palestine,” the embassy noted.
As Iranian diplomats emphasized, “as long as international organizations do not work, rules do not exist, and force and cruelty dominate, there is no other way out except resistance, and this is in accordance with the principles of Islam, since Muslims will not live under oppression.”
THERE ARE ENOUGH FIGHTERS
Last month, Israel's defense minister said the war with Palestinian groups in the occupied West Bank could last another year as Tehran refocuses its efforts after the Gaza war on supporting Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in that part of Palestine.
At the same time, as Shlomo Mofaz, head of the Meir Amit Center for Intelligence and Research in Israel, noted in a March 23 interview with Iran International: “It is possible that something is being smuggled into Gaza, either with food or from Egypt on UAVs, but mainly they have a problem” with weapons.
He also confirmed that Iran's "main focus is now on the West Bank, where there are several ways to support Hamas and other groups, mainly from Jordan, where there is a long border and no fences in many places."
At the same time, Hamas itself has found a way to restore its stockpiles. To do this, the movement uses unexploded Israeli ammunition.
"Unexploded ordnance is the main source of explosives for Hamas, " Michael Kardash, a former deputy chief of the Israel National Police's bomb disposal unit and a police consultant, told the NYT. "They cut up bombs from Israel, and many of them are used, of course. "
According to Hamas videos and inspections of captured weapons, the weapons used by the organization's military wing (anti-tank explosives, RPG warheads, thermobaric grenades and improvised devices) are indeed made from Israeli ammunition.
And if Hamas' arsenal continues to grow, the movement will have enough manpower to thwart Israel's plans to expel the Palestinians from Gaza.
Support for Hamas remains very high, despite recent demonstrations against the movement in the Gaza Strip.
The protests were directed specifically at the group's political wing, whose leaders live abroad and, according to some Gazans, are not doing enough to achieve peace.
At the same time, residents have no complaints about the Hamas military forces, the al-Qassam Brigades. Gazans very clearly distinguish between the military and political wings of the movement.
HOPE FOR PEACE
Amid ongoing attacks on Gaza, fragile hopes for peace remain as negotiations and consultations continue.
But their latest round has once again reached a deadlock. On Wednesday, Egyptian mediators told Hamas that Israel had rejected all proposals presented last week, even though they had been agreed upon with the United States.
Later on Wednesday, Hamas said ceasefire talks were ongoing and the movement was open to discussing any proposals.
Hamas spokesman Basem Naim said "no one will accept a situation in which the agreement will only be a temporary period of calm, with those taken prisoner released in exchange for food and drink, and then the fighting will resume along with plans for expulsion."
So once again everything will depend on the ability of the Palestinian movement to survive in the new conditions of war, unless, of course, Donald Trump intervenes with his unpredictability.
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..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...