Early on the morning of 7 October an audacious and unprecedented military action by Palestinian Resistance forces, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, was launched from Gaza into the occupied territory of the Israeli state. The Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) and our Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI) Supporter Groups extend our unconditional support to the Palestinians in their struggle to liberate themselves from illegal occupation by any means necessary.
Zionist oppression, made possible by over a century of support from Britain and other imperialist states, has made this resistance inevitable. Since the Nakba in 1948 forced 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands to establish the state of Israel, further waves of colonisation and occupation have imposed brutal conditions on the Palestinian people. The 1967 war of colonisation by Israel established the current de facto borders of the Israeli state. Gaza remains an open air prison with the Zionist state imposing a land, sea and air blockade for 16 years and has been bombed and invaded several times during that period, killing thousands; regular blackouts, food insecurity and mass poverty are purposefully imposed by the occupiers.
Led by the military wing of Hamas, the Al-Aqsa Flood offensive is a massive blow to the racist Zionist state. The action began with the firing of thousands of rockets into Israeli-occupied territory as Palestinian fighters broke out of the border fences which enclose Gaza. Palestinian forces overwhelmed the local Israeli military and temporarily liberated a number of Israeli-occupied towns. Mohammed Deif, a senior Hamas military commander declared ‘In light of the continuing crimes against our people, in light of the occupation and its denial of international laws and resolutions, and in light of American and Western support, we’ve decided to put an end to all this’. The leaders of Hamas called on the people of Palestine and the Arab and Muslim world to rise up and support their action. In response, Resistance groups in the West Bank have launched a number of attacks on Israeli military and settler targets. Hezbollah launched rocket fire into the area known as Shebaa Farms, which is a historic part of Lebanon occupied by Israel since 1967.
Hamas’s actions, though unprecedented in scale, were not a total surprise as Zionist provocations and attacks by Settlers in the West Bank have been at an all-time high. In the first nine months of 2023 Israeli forces have killed at least 230 Palestinians, more than the total death toll of last year. In the first six months of this year, at least 1,148 Settler attacks against Palestinians were recorded, this almost equals the 1,187 attacks documented during the whole of 2022. Allied to this has been the escalating provocations of extremist religious Jews forcing entry into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. The offensive also throws sand in the gears of negotiations for rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, brokered by the US, which seeks to reverse the Saudi policy of refusing to recognise Israel since it was founded.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has declared that Israel is ‘at war’ and has launched airstrikes on Gaza threatening to ‘turn all Hamas hiding places into rubble.’ He told the people of Gaza to leave to prevent themselves being killed knowing full well that it is impossible for them to do so. Already around 500 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the airstrikes with residential blocks in Gaza City being destroyed. One of Israel’s first airstrikes was against the Indonesian Hospital in the north of Gaza. Electricity, water and fuel supplies into Gaza have also been cut off by Israel which constitutes a war crime.
Unsurprisingly Britain, the US and the EU have all condemned the military actions of the Palestinian Resistance. The US has announced it is sending an aircraft carrier and support group to the East Mediterranean along with arms and munitions for Israel. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with Netanyahu on 8 October where he offered Israel any support it needed ‘as Israel defends itself’. These nauseating expressions of support for the Zionist entity of Israel and the labelling of Palestinian forces fighting for national liberation as ‘terrorist’ are in direct contrast to the imperialist support for Ukraine and its ‘right to self-determination’. Showing just how much he is really interested in ‘democracy’ and the ‘right to self-determination’, Ukrainian President Zelensky joined in with his imperialist backers in supporting Israel and denouncing Palestinian resistance issuing a statement on X (Twitter) where he condemned Palestinians as ‘terrorists’ and declared that ‘Israel’s right to self-defence is unquestionable’. Meanwhile, public expressions of support for Palestine in Britain have been condemned by politicians and the media, with racist Home Secretary Suella Braverman declaring, ‘There must be zero tolerance for antisemitism or glorification of terrorism on the streets of Britain.’
Not to be outdone, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer reiterated his party’s unwavering historical support for Zionism and Israel, declaring ‘Labour stands firmly in support of Israel’s right to defend itself, rescue hostages and protect its citizens…The indiscriminate attacks from Hamas are unjustifiable and have set back the cause of peace.’ Jeremy Corbyn, still somehow looked upon by some as being a supporter of Palestinian rights, called for the Palestinian Resistance to end their struggle: ‘The unfolding events in Israel and Palestine are deeply alarming. We need an immediate ceasefire and urgent de-escalation’.
Communists and anti-imperialists stand with the Palestinian people and their Resistance movement.
Victory to the Palestinian Resistance! Boycott Israel!
