Gaza residents changed the equation

The residents of Gaza, through their blood and their sacrifice, have changed the equation. They have torn off all the masks and put a mirror in front of the world. This blood, the Palestinian blood, has exposed the lie of human rights to the nations.

The British Foreign Minister was forced to stand and say things we’ve never heard from any Arab foreign minister – things we never even imagined hearing. This is Britain, the country of the Balfour Declaration, the one that laid the foundation for the creation of this entity. And it is precisely from there that a voice has arisen saying: We can no longer remain silent, there must be an end to what is happening, the war must stop, Netanyahu must stop this crime – a position that is not at all simple, especially given that the West is the one providing Israel with protection and cover-up for these crimes all along.

Recently, Spain is also threatening sanctions against Israel. According to AFP, with the threat from Britain, France, and Canada, the Spanish foreign minister is also calling to consider sanctions on Israel to “force” it to stop its assault on Gaza: “It has no objective.”

This is a dramatic event. When Britain, France, and Germany – especially Germany, which is Israel’s second-largest arms supplier after the United States – halt arms sales, this is not routine. All Merkava tank engines are made in Germany. When arms supplies to Israel are stopped, it’s a very unusual step. When parliament members stand up and say it’s not enough, that diplomatic and economic ties should be cut, and sanctions imposed on Israeli leaders – that’s hugely significant.

The emerging international situation today could serve as a basis for solid ideological and political positions. Until now, the West saw Israel as its forward outpost for protecting its interests. But now, it’s clear that this war—despite all the destruction and death it brings—is not achieving its goals. Israel has not succeeded in toppling Hamas or other centers of regional resistance.

A prominent example is the confrontation between Yemen and the United States, which has led to deterioration and an American withdrawal. The U.S. is starting to distance itself from the Israeli front, knowing Yemen will not detach from the Gaza front. This is an extraordinary historic shift, and its consequences are already evident. We’re witnessing the beginning of a turnaround in Western attitudes toward Israel: even public opinion in Israel is struggling to defend it, and the army has stopped fighting with enthusiasm. This is a profound change born from the blood of Gaza’s residents and the Palestinian people.

Three points arise from this:

1. Israeli public opinion: Under the pressure of the missiles from Yemen, which reach almost every point in Israel, Yemen is sending a message: your country cannot guarantee your security. Your lives are filled with fear and threat. At first, 97% of Israelis supported the war, but this support has eroded, and now most of the public opposes it.

2. The army has lost its fighting spirit: There aren’t enough soldiers or officers. There’s a severe shortage; the reserve system is insufficient—one third is serving and complaining. They’ve been emmered in war for a year and a half, and to release them, replacements must be found. Half of the potential candidates refuse to serve. The result: about 75,000 soldiers will be absent from the military system.

3. If Israel had a chance to win—most Israelis would support it, celebrating over the ruins of Gaza and the blood of its residents. But the situation is different.

Despite the repression by world governments, the streets are turbulent and support Gaza and Palestine. The world’s patience with Israel is running out. Once the ceasefire between the U.S. and Yemen was signed, the interpretation is that the U.S. also stopped supporting Israel by military pressure on Yemen, without requiring Yemen to stop its fire or its actions against Israel, in order to exert pressure for a deal in Gaza.

Illustration: Ahmed Khalaf

Israel has exhausted all the time the world has given it, and now it appears as a complete failure. It insists on continuing a war with no horizon, while its public, army, and allies no longer support it.

Hamas—though it doesn’t destroy or kill like Israel—continues with a strategy of attrition, absorbing Israeli blows, with the people of Gaza standing by its side. The reason: Israel offers no political alternative. It seeks to topple Hamas, resettle the area, and eliminate any chance for a solution—even the very existence of a Palestinian state. That’s why Gaza’s residents see no alternative but Hamas and their weapons.

The gamble on buying time to avoid a deal is over. The countdown has begun.

Israel faces a tough reality: public opinion is shifting, the army is crumbling, and global opinion has become a powerful political force, already forcing several governments to halt arms sales to Israel. Growing voices are calling for sanctions, cutting ties, and boycotting Israel.

The Arab world has yet to raise its voice—due to its conditions under American imperialist control—but these excuses are no longer accepted.

This is much bigger than Netanyahu’s war—it’s about the very existence of the entire Zionist project in this land. Netanyahu draws his power from the war: if it stops and Hamas keeps its weapons, it means Israel failed to remove the threat. And that could bring a new threat anywhere under Israeli military control—it’s only a matter of time.

Israel faces an existential challenge. It’s not about the number of casualties or the destruction. Victory is about removing the threat—and that hasn’t been achieved, not in Lebanon and not in Gaza.

Gaza’s residents return to the ruins—while Israelis aren’t returning to their homes in the South or the North. This is a strategic failure for Israel, which is losing its political weight in the world. The West arms and funds it, but avoids getting directly involved—Israel is the gate, the resource, the arm of the West to impose an authoritarian colonial order.

Israel’s failure to control Gaza is a failure of the Zionist-Israeli vision as the local representative of Western colonialism.

Now, cracks are appearing everywhere—in society, the army, politics, the economy, and in world public opinion. Can all this be repaired? There’s no guarantee.

The Palestinians have been wounded physically—but physical wounds can heal. Israel has been wounded in spirit—and that kind of wound is more destructive in the long run, leaving scars along the way that can’t always be healed.

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Majd Asadi is a Palestinian artist who insists on the hope of tomorrow.