Hidden goals behind Israel's latest Gaza assault

By Batool Subeiti

Israeli regime’s unprovoked aggression in the besieged Gaza Strip since Friday has claimed many innocent lives, including children. The blitzkrieg, firstly, is a direct message to Lebanon, that it is not interested in declaring war over the maritime borders, thereby conceding to Line 23 and Qana field that Lebanon demands full sovereignty over.

Secondly, the Zionist regime seeks to test the waters through this confrontation. The limited scope of the confrontation between the Tel Aviv regime and the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad (PIJ) implies that the aggression is not aimed at weakening the resistance, but to measure its reactions on different levels and sending underlying messages in the process.

The Zionist regime looks at the Palestinian resistance as an easy target within the resistance axis and has therefore sought calculated confrontation with it.

Through its fresh assault on Gaza, the regime is interested in examining the extent of unification of the regional resistance factions in decision making, logistical support, readiness to get involved if the battle escalates, willingness to expand the war, their stock of weapons, capabilities, and capacities to resist the aggressors.

This is also happening at a time when the Zionist regime will hold its fifth election in four years this November, thereby seeking to rally the settler population over a point of unity – that is usually attacks on Gaza.

The regime seeks to give an impression that it is ready to attack under any circumstances to ensure the ‘security’ of these illegal settlers, with Yair Lapid, Israeli premier stating on Friday that the regime has "zero tolerance" for retaliatory strikes from Gaza.

However, he also stressed in the same presser that there is no interest in a ‘broader battle’ with the Palestinian resistance movement, aware of the consequences.

More importantly, the Zionist regime is approaching the time to draw the maritime border with Lebanon, which could result in a war and speed up the destruction of the illegitimate entity, as made clear by the Secretary General of the Islamic resistance party in Lebanon, if the Lebanese interests are not guaranteed and secured.

The Zionist regime seeks to prevent war at all costs and that means it has no choice but to compromise, which surely won't go down well with the settler population and cost the incumbent rulers in Tel Aviv dearly in the upcoming elections. This small-scale attack was therefore launched to avoid a bigger war, and for the regime to grant itself some credit as well.

It is also important for the Zionist regime to reinforce the phobia of war in the dormant minds of the settler population so that the general opinion formed is aligned with the regime's decision to compromise on the maritime border, in order to prevent a full-scale war where the battlefront is opened beyond one Palestinian resistance group, the PIJ, and extends to the Lebanese resistance that possesses over 100,000 rockets.

The reason that the Zionist regime seeks compromise on the maritime border is that it knows the capabilities of the resistance movement are much stronger, which was clearly evident when they sent three unmanned aircraft (UAV) targeting the gas rings in July.

At the same time, the regime wants to push a false facade of its strength by launching an offensive attack on the resistance, while keeping it limited in scope. The head of Shin Bet reportedly told cabinet ministers overnight on Saturday that Tel Aviv “met most of the objectives it set at the outset of the operation in Gaza.” The statement, based on hogwash, was directed at the regime's vote bank among illegal settlers.

Through its latest aggression, the Zionist regime has also sought to send a message to the internal resistance in Palestine that the head of Islamic Jihad Ziyad al-Nakhalah is in Tehran while key commanders of the group are being assassinated, seeking to put an image of strength and fearlessness.

However, the bitter reality is that since the regime is seeking compromise, it wants to give itself false credit for its strategic strength and to woo the settler population ahead of the key election.

The bitter reality is that the regime is deceiving its population through false rhetoric, as they know the resistance won’t be dragged into the square they want.

Batool Subeiti is an Energy Engineer and political analyst based in London, UK.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)

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