Gaza: A Human Matchstick
So wait, I too am waiting with you!
A young Ismail Haniyah, in those days still an ordinary Hamas cadre. May God accept him.
Short of a miracle, an Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and with it full-scale regional war, is now inevitable. Per Netanyahu’s repeated statements, an end to the Gaza Genocide is impossible, which means that Hizbullah will continue striking Israel’s northern borders. In turn, this means that Israel will eventually invade Lebanon and initiate its ‘final showdown’ with Hizbullah. The latter’s centrality to the Axis will force the participation of other Axis members. This was clear from the day that Kataib al-Qassam fighters broke the Gaza fence and made the great crossing into the ‘48 borders–but was it clear before that day? Was it Hamas’s intention to ignite regional war? I recently read one person’s case that it was.1 The analysis not only excoriates the West but Iran as well, for its perceived failures in aiding Gaza. Perhaps the writer is too unfair, but he is not alone in this view–I’ve spoken to several Gazans who have expressed similar sentiments. I will not blame them for their sense of betrayal. I note only that as of publication, Iran has yet to respond to the Israeli assassination of Ismail Haniyah, who was killed exactly two months ago today. The non-response likely contributed in part to the even more shocking assassination of Hassan Nasrallah. Every conceivable limit is being broken.
The following is a lightly edited translation from (now-suspended) Twitter user @lys46241454060, shared here with his permission.
With the dawn of that day and the sound of that first gunshot, everything in the Middle East changed forever. The martyrdom-seeker offered himself, his comrades, his loved ones and his people as a sacrifice to change the entire reality and future.
Why? Because he had no alternative, no cause, no hope except to become a human torch that will ignite the entire region ruled by Ashkenazi tyrants and Persian cunning foxes.
Hamas was victorious the moment it fired the first bullet, and they’re very well aware of how much this victory would cost. They know that they had committed suicide “in advance,” and that they, their members, and their families had no real future outside of it.
Sinwar saw that tens of thousands of both mujahidin and civilians are a small price to pay for setting the entire region on fire, making the Ashkenazis’ and Americans’ feet shake in fear of widespread havoc. And it doesn’t matter if Iran believes in this vision or not, whether Iran wanted it or not.
I’m willing to bet my life that what Iran most wishes for right now is to abandon the sinking ships named Gaza and Hamas. How much Iran wishes today to sever Hizbullah’s and the other militias’ ties to Hamas. In an already set precedent, they wish to shake hands with the “Great Satan” and share with them the “cake”–made of Gazan people's corpses. This is what we already know from history (e.g. Iraq), but this war is not like any of those from the past. This war drags Iran along, and soon all the red lines will be crossed, and the flames of war will reach places we have never imagined them to reach.
But let’s continue–someone has decided to burn the “cake” in advance. Someone decided to knock down the ladder of escalation and bear the human cost of the war so that it can engulf the entire world.
Sinwar–as that’s who we’re talking about–did not make this decision hoping for a victory. On the contrary. He knew that Hamas never had any hope for a quick victory over Israel. The difference in power is overwhelming. However, he understood what he had to do in order to drown the entire region with its regimes in chaos–which the enemy will unsuccessfully try to avoid. The more bloodshed, the more Sinwar realizes how right he was, and how high is the price that he has to pay.
What Gaza and its people have to do is not to win as a regular army does. Rather, all of Gaza, with both its armed fighters and wounded civilians, must become a matchstick that will burn as long as it needs to, to light the fire around it.
Gaza no longer has any role to play except to continue paying the price not only for its liberation, but also for the cowardice of Iran and of occupied Arab capitals with American bases. As for Sinwar, his danger to the regimes of the Gulf is already worth the consequences.
There is no hope or future for Palestine except by causing chaos in the entire world and in the region in particular. This war created dimensions that cannot be overlooked, it reached the farthest point from among the wars before it, and the price will continue to be paid by both sides.
I wrote this piece on 23 October, but decided not to publish it, rather to remain silent and watch the pain of besieged Gaza, writing nothing but words of consolation, praying that God will relieve its people. I made final revisions and published it at a time when I thought it to be the most beneficial. I mentioned that I am optimistic, and here is briefly why: The enemy has much to lose, while we consider life and death to be much the same.
There is nothing worse for an alienated Sunni Arab than living in humiliation or underground in fear. This is imposed on us by reality. That is why there is no hope for us if Gaza does not win or if we do not take revenge. Not only Israel and America but also Iran will pay–Iran will have to pay for being an opportunistic cardboard state, quick to defeat only the weak from among us.
True victory is for those who remain, not for those who prevail.
So be patient, people of Gaza, for you were the first and we will be the last. Hamas’s vision and people’s opinions do not matter anymore–the first bullet has been fired and the status of the regimes shattered.
Soon, soon you will see wonders
A fierce conflict and you will see–
In the heart of your abode, there shall be battles
{So wait, I too am waiting with you!} [Qur’an 9:52]