We republish below an unofficial translation of the following article from the Brazilian New Democratic newspaper A Nova Democracia, originally published on October 9, 2024.
The history of conflicts between the Palestinian resistance and the State of Israel is marked by disparity of forces and resources. However, it is precisely in this context of asymmetry that the just war of the Palestinian people reveals its strategic superiority over the Zionist forces. Military success is not measured in numbers of soldiers and military power, but also in the capacity for adaptation, revolutionary patience and effective knowledge of the terrain and combat tactics. And, mainly, in the correctness of the line that leads to the war and the decision of heroic men and women, with simple shoes and clothes, but with a courage tempered in 70 years of resistance to colonial occupation.
The Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-tung, who led the anti-imperialist struggle in China against Japan and developed military theoretical writings studied by the Palestinians, states that “every just and revolutionary war is endowed with tremendous power and can transform many things or pave the way for their transformation.” By the way, isn’t the essence of this statement reflected in the political-military operations and mobilizations of the Palestinian resistance? Even in the face of an enemy with a large contingent and military power, Palestinian organizations have been able to unbalance Israel’s reactionary forces, transforming the apparent disadvantage into a fertile field for prolonged struggle and organized resistance.
The Palestinian Guerrilla War
A revolutionary war is necessarily a protracted war. To convert weak forces into strong ones and inferior apparatuses into superior ones, it is necessary to act with initiative, flexibility, and planning. In the Palestinian context, the people’s war adapts to the type of struggle waged by the military guerrilla organizations of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for Palestine Liberation in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as by Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Gaza, Palestinian fighters face enemy encirclement by applying familiar guerrilla tactics to confuse, disorient and exhaust Zionist forces.
One of the most notable events was the ambush of the al-Qassam Brigade in the Shejaiya neighborhood of northern Gaza, where at least 10 officers and a battalion commander of the Golani Brigade were killed. The battle, which lasted more than three hours, highlighted the cunning of al-Qassam fighters, who disguised themselves in Israel Defense Force (IDF) uniforms and used M16 rifles, luring soldiers into a building packed with explosives. Shejaiya is to the Palestinians of Gaza what Yenan is to the Chinese: the proud and heroic base of support that illustrates to the world the Palestinian steel forge.
In addition, the resistance forces use high-impact explosive devices for sabotage, rocket fire, ambushes, and, brilliantly, tunnel warfare as a method to achieve tactical superiority. These tunnels, affectionately called the “Gaza metro,” stretch tens of kilometers under Gaza and Israel, allowing fighters to move with agility, preserving their forces and avoiding detection.
The Resistance forces have been trained and demonstrate that Israel does not have (and naturally could not have) full knowledge of the Hamas forces. On June 24, the al-Qassam Brigades carried out an audacious attack against an Ovik-type armored personnel carrier, hit by an ATGM-type guided missile. The weapons of Chinese origin, with unprecedented technology for the organization, resulted in the destruction of the vehicle. From when this weaponry is in Gaza and what others the resistance may have in its arsenal, are unknowns that haunt Israeli commanders.
Both Shujaiya to the north and Rafah to the south were exemplary responses of the Palestinian Resistance to Israel’s web of lies. Both localities were considered controlled by Zionist troops, who claimed that they had decimated Hamas forces.
In Palestine, ambushes and rapid attacks against Israeli patrols and checkpoints are essential tactics that go beyond merely neutralizing enemy forces; they have as a strategic target the capture of weapons and ammunition, thus strengthening the operational capacity of the resistance. An example of this is the development of the al-Yassin 105mm, the first anti-armor missile of the al-Qassam Brigades, which emerged during the al-Aqsa Flood operation.
This missile represents a significant milestone in the evolution of the arsenal of the Palestinian resistance, symbolizing adaptation and innovation in the face of a militarily superior adversary. The al-Yassin 105mm not only demonstrates the technical skill of the fighters, but also reflects a successful strategy of utilizing captured resources to increase effectiveness in the field. These are the fruits of the engineering of the Gaza war.
The Role of the People in the Resistance
The time factor in the people’s war, and its prolonged character, favor the popular forces. However, the Palestinian resistance understands that the attrition of Israeli forces depends on the constant mobilization of the masses, creating a state of protracted war in which these masses, even if unarmed, are constantly mobilized to defend their just cause.
The mobilization of the masses is the backbone of the resistance, providing logistical support, information and resources to the armed organizations. Since the beginning of the conflict, Palestinian communities have organized themselves in protests, demonstrations and actions against the State of Israel, demonstrating the organic link between the masses and the Palestinian resistance.
This explains how Hamas, considered non-existent in the West Bank before October 7, 2023, gained the trust of the Palestinian masses and saw its popularity increase to 73%. This mobilization is evident in the Palestinian refugee camps in Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem, where Hamas has managed to develop its forces, becoming bastions of resistance in the West Bank. The authority of the Resistance is recognized by the masses, who see in the organizations of armed struggle not only a military fighting machine against Israel, but those who legitimately carry out its principles. The Palestinian armed struggle and the mobilization of the masses are intertwined in a symbiotic relationship: one can only exist with the other.
The Future of Palestine: Developing the Revolutionary War to Final Victory
The Palestinian resistance has demonstrated impressive unity and cohesion among its components. The launch of al-Aqsa Flood itself was a joint operation between several Palestinian forces operating in Gaza and gestating this transcendental feat for 2 years. In the field of war, fighting in a cohesive and united way is a sign of health for the Palestinian guerrilla forces, something that is not observed in the Zionist forces. There are thousands of joint actions orchestrated and undertaken inside and outside Gaza.
The announcement of Yahya Sinwar as the new leader of the Hamas Political Bureau, following the criminal assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in the capital of Iran, was seen as a great example of this unity. Sinwar is widely recognized by the Palestinian masses as a firm and loyal defender of the armed struggle, guaranteeing the principles and interests of the Palestinian people.
Internationalist solidarity, especially the military solidarity of Hezbollah, Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq and the Ansarallah Movement, are great contributions in the historical epic developed by the Palestinian people. The Israeli army is forced to respond to a protracted war of attrition and every day that the Zionist aggression continues, the collapse of Israel will be shortened.
The Palestinian Resistance, on all its fronts, paves the way to liberate the lands of its people from the clutches of Zionism. The Palestinian armed struggle is at the center of the international debate and proves to everyone that the people’s war can triumph and become a powerful engine of liberation for the oppressed.
In short, the Palestinian people, especially the National Resistance and Hamas, which today plays the role of vanguard and point of unification, have learned from the experience of the international proletariat the following principle: imperialism, and also Zionism, is a paper tiger. And, with it, they learned from the international proletariat the great truth that the masses of the people can triumph as long as they have their own armed forces, that they carry on guerrilla warfare that is inextricably linked to the broadest masses, all of whom are mobilized for the sake of the patriotic war, and that they make the liberated areas real bastions in which everything, absolutely everything, is a function of the people’s war. The Palestinian Resistance, in short, has learned to apply the forms and spirit of the people’s war: in doing so, it not only transforms the liberation struggle of Palestine forever, giving it the chance to win, but also launches, to the whole globe, the powerful slogan that, with these universal principles, duly applied to every reality, all oppressed classes and peoples can also triumph.
Photo: Hamas military organization, al-Qassam Brigades, destroys a Zionist tank on October 7, 2023. Getty Images.
