Israel’s conflict on Gaza has not ended with the pullback of its tanks or the falling silent of its warplanes. Tens of hundreds have been killed, a whole bunch of hundreds of properties decreased to rubble, and a few two million folks pushed from their properties. 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 folks. These teams, which as soon as claimed the mantle of “resistance” to the occupier, are more and more turning their weapons inward. Somewhat than working to assist the defence of the homeland, they’re in search of to impose management via violence, turning Palestinian ache right into a forex for factional and political acquire. Gaza, lengthy underneath siege, as soon as lived in suffocating isolation but remained largely secure inside its personal partitions. Individuals feared Israeli air assaults, not felony gangs or the gun of a neighbour. At this time, worry has multiplied, from the occupation and from inside.
The killing of journalist Saleh Aljafarawi in Gaza Metropolis’s Sabra neighbourhood stands as probably the most ominous indicators of this new part. The 28-year-old reporter, who had lengthy documented Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and confronted repeated demise 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 worry 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’t stand united in opposition to its occupier. By cynically fostering the rise of militias, Israel achieves two goals: Weakening Palestinian unity and lowering the burden by itself military. It avoids direct prices and worldwide scrutiny, whereas Gaza continues to bleed from inside.
The armed gangs now spreading worry in Gaza aren’t defenders of the homeland however Israel’s collaborators, serving its occupation underneath a special title. 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 goal is fulfilled, collaborators are solid apart, disarmed or destroyed, left with neither honour nor safety. He who turns his gun on his personal folks might imagine himself highly effective, however his destiny is all the time the identical: Rejection by his folks, by historical past and even by the occupier who as soon as used him.
For Palestinians, the results are nothing wanting catastrophic. Liberation can’t be constructed on worry. 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’t endure in a society the place residents worry 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 folks; their loyalties drift as a substitute in the direction of factional energy, private acquire or overseas patrons.
The duty earlier than Palestinians is each pressing and existential: To stop Gaza from sliding right into a land dominated by militias somewhat than united underneath 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 via bombs and siege, but in addition by tearing aside the social cloth and turning society right into a battlefield of inner battle.
The folks 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 folks. The energy of the Palestinian wrestle has all the time rested on its ethical readability, a folks demanding freedom in opposition to all odds. That readability should not be surrendered to those that exchange solidarity with worry and justice with domination.
Israel could hope to wage its conflict by proxy, imagining a Gaza the place its folks combat one another as a substitute 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 immediately just isn’t 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 writer’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
