Tue 4-February-2025

From the womb of suffering: Gaza celebrates its resilience and victory

Thursday 16-January-2025

GAZA, (PIC)

“Gaza without war,” “a sky free of bombers,” “houses and tents safe from shelling,” “a city enveloped in tranquility,” “movement without barriers,” and “minarets resonating with the calls of joy”—these were wishes that, due to the criminal aggression, the prolonged war, and the betrayal of kin, turned into illusions for many. Yet today, they have become a reality—albeit not yet fully implemented. In just hours, the wounded city will begin to heal its wounds, gather its scattered pieces, and release its pent-up tears from the sorrows of the past, moving towards the spaciousness of relief and victory.

As soon as the announcement of a ceasefire agreement, reached on Wednesday evening, was made public, the streets of Gaza, devastated and afflicted, filled with jubilant and celebratory crowds eager to close this painful chapter. Shouts, chants, and Palestinian folkloric songs echoed through the air as Gazans united in joy, as if they were witnessing a high-level artistic performance. This celebration, spontaneous and simple, invites historians and intellectuals to reconsider the concepts of “victory” and “defeat” according to the steadfast and proud Gazan belief.

Officially, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced on Wednesday evening the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement between Palestinian resistance factions and Israel in the Gaza Strip after 15 months of war during which the occupation committed acts of genocide and thousands of massacres, met with fierce resistance until the last breath. He clarified that work would continue to complete the implementation aspects of the agreement, preparing for its commencement starting next Sunday. He noted that the three countries (Qatar, the United States, and Egypt) would work together to ensure adherence to and full implementation of the agreement.

Joy amidst the wounds
Amidst the dim lights (due to power outages in most areas of the Strip), on the rubble of destroyed buildings (from the criminal Israeli bombardment), and above the ruins of lost memories (after the absence of their people—martyrs, missing, displaced, and prisoners), the people of Gaza emerged in a celebration unlike any other, a holiday unmatched by the arrival of any crescent moon, and joy that stumbles over words in its expression. They declared to the whole world that Gaza endures, its people are the enduring ones, and that the enemy returns to where it came from, dragging the tails of disappointment and shame.

While the Israeli aggression continues to kill civilians even after the announcement of the agreement, with violent bombardments during the night resulting in dozens of martyrs and wounded, Gaza, “unyielding to defeat,” showed no despair to please its enemy or grant it an illusory victory. Instead, it insisted that its night be a declaration of its strength through its steadfastness and resilience, challenging the bombardment in its skies, confident that they would prevail, proud of their land and repelling the invaders.

Gaza that does not break
There, where Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, the Beit Lahiya project, and the Nuseirat camp are located, the eyes of the displaced and refugees in the southern Gaza Strip are counting the days by their breaths, not by hours and minutes. The souls of those who have lost their loved ones as martyrs yearn to lay bouquets of flowers on their graves and whisper to them what the moments of farewell, interrupted by enemy bombs, could not contain. Others do not know where their martyrs are buried and do not know under which rubble they might find them. Yet, despite its heartbreaking tragedy, this represents a breath of spirit for the returnees; collecting the remains of their martyrs is enough to heal their wounds so they can return to their posts once again.

The people of Gaza understand the reality of their battle and the hefty price it demands, which comes with more martyrs, wounded, prisoners, and displaced individuals. However, they take pride in their victory over an enemy that could not break them despite the unlimited support from its American and Western allies. The enemy has not achieved any of its declared goals or its devilish plans; the resistance has not ended, nor have its prisoners been liberated, nor has it established a new reality on its terms in the Strip, nor has it succeeded in displacing the rightful owners of the land. Instead, it comes to them on its knees—just as Abu Ubaida promised—asking for its prisoners in a deal that can only be made with the approval of the resistance and the steadfast people.

The people of Gaza also express their joy in the face of the extreme right-wing in the Israeli government, which has sought with all its might to exterminate the Palestinians, burn the land, and occupy the Strip. Yet, it has been broken by the steadfastness of mothers who have given their sons to the forefront of the battle against the invading soldiers, and by an elderly man who refused to leave his land unless he dies a martyr in its soil. It has been broken by a fighter who did not lay down his (primitive) weapon despite hunger, siege, and the loss of comrades. The people of Gaza express their joy at this humiliating defeat for those who threatened them with every woe and calamity, for they have reaped nothing but shame and disgrace that represent a nail in the coffin of their illegitimate state.

Provocation of war criminals
From the heart of the crushed Strip, the ululations rise to provoke the head of the right-wing in Israel and the Minister of Finance and head of the Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, who was a despicable fuel for this war and sought with all his might to keep its fires burning. Today, he screams from the depths of his heart in his first statement after the announcement of the agreement that it is “a bad and dangerous agreement for Israel’s national security.”

In an official statement, the extremist minister confirmed that his party strongly opposes the agreement, indicating that the deal “undermines the achievements made during the war, which were paid for by the lives of the heroes of this people, and will cost us many lives in the future,” as he put it. This was echoed by the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth in response to the agreement, stating, “Netanyahu has failed politically, and his army has failed militarily after 15 months of war.”

City of heroes
“Place the sword against the sword… we are the men of Muhammad Deif,” “Greetings to Al-Qassam… Izz al-Din,” with such chants, the celebrating Gazans today affirm their commitment to the path of resistance and their pride in the heroic leaders who have provided the most magnificent examples in sacrifice and devotion, led by the martyr leaders: Ismail Haneyya, Yahya Sinwar, and Saleh al-Arouri, as well as the current leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades (Abu Khaled) Muhammad Deif. They declare that their leaders are part of them, that they only act for the goals of their people, that they express only their will, and that they live only for their cause until they die for it on the path to liberating Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa and vanquishing the occupation.

Gaza rejoices as it has produced heroes who have not left the battlefield since they entrenched themselves in their positions—heroes who humiliated the enemy and forced it to come to them humbly, seeking to be extricated from the mire of a city that exposed its secrets and revealed the disgrace of its beleaguered army. They returned thousands of its soldiers in coffins after they came to Gaza with arrogance, thinking it would be an easy conquest. Yet, its fighters picked off their officers, clashed with their troops, blew up their vehicles, seized their reconnaissance aircraft, and detonated explosive devices against their infantry and armored tanks, setting lethal traps that left them either dead or maimed. The people of Gaza rejoice that this resistant vanguard is the fruit of their planting, the harvest of their sowing, and the apple of their eye, and they are right to feel this way, for it is with such as them that dignity and pride are found.

On the outskirts and edges of their cities, the steadfast people of Gaza await their great joy; the return of their missing prisoners from the occupation jails, some of whom have spent months and others years there. And now they are on the verge of coming home, carrying with them the honor of steadfastness in the face of the usurped land, the dignity of their resistance against the occupying force, and the pride of having paid the price of their lives and being away from their families. Meanwhile, the hearts of Gazans swell with the sight of the returning Israeli captives, crying from shame and humiliation; they carry with them nothing but the disgrace of killing women and children and do not raise the flags of victory promised to them by Netanyahu. Wherever they turn their faces toward Gaza, their eyes turn back to them in despair due to the crimes they have committed against those who are now celebrating their downfall.

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