‘Siege is broken’: Social media reacts to Palestinian operation against Israel

By Press TV Staff Writer

The unprecedented military operation by the Palestinian resistance movement against the apartheid Israeli regime, launched on Saturday morning, has shaken and exposed the fragility of the regime.

Images of marauding Israeli soldiers and settlers running for cover amid a wave of rocket attacks by the Gaza-based Hamas resistance group have been circulating widely on social media networks.

More than 300 Israelis have already been declared dead and many more continue to be in critical state. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers and settlers are also currently languishing in Palestinian custody.

Social media has been abuzz since Saturday with posts hailing the Al-Aqsa Storm operation, also known as the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, which was launched by Hamas in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Joseph Bahout, Director of Lebanon-based Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy & International Affairs (IFI), shared a video of Israeli settlers running frantically as rockets pounded the occupied territories.

“Scenes of Israeli settlers hectically fleeing surroundings of Gaza will surely become images haunting the debates to come; at least on the psycho-symbolic level, something has shifted in the balance of power with #Palestinian factions as of now,” he tweeted.

The images of panic-stricken Israeli settlers, who have illegally occupied Palestinian lands and homes, running for cover, were shared by many human rights activists and journalists on social media.

The panic was evident, not only on the faces of illegal settlers but also on the regime officials. Bel Trew, The Independent’s chief international correspondent, said the Israeli army told her that it was “the worst day” for them ever recorded as the death toll mounted.

Trew’s The Independent as well as other mainstream media outlets tried hard to vilify the Palestinian resistance groups for launching the attack on the occupied territories while shielding the occupier.

Chris Williamson, the former British lawmaker and host of Press TV’s weekly show Palestine Declassified, took to his X (Twitter) page to slam the “appallingly one-sided” coverage of the BBC network.

He reminded the Western media of key points, which include that the Israeli regime “is in breach of international law”, Palestinians are “fighting to liberate their homeland from 75 years of Israeli oppression and terrorism”, the Israel military and settlers are the “militant” and Palestinians are freedom fighters, armed struggle is legitimate under international law and the regime has been “abducting Palestinians for many years” with over 1,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails currently.

The video of Palestinians with bulldozers razing down the separation wall on the Gaza Strip border was widely shared by social media users, with some writing that “Gaza had broken the prison.”

“The siege is broken! I repeat the siege is broken,” wrote one user, adding that the Erez military checkpoint is officially open in both directions into and outside the Gaza Strip.

Nadi Abusaada, a historian and architect from Ramallah, shared a video of Palestinians in Gaza breaking down the separation wall erected by the Israeli regime, saying “colonialism stifles imagination.”

“Today, as Palestinians break down colonial barriers, they breathe life into the dream of an open, liberated geography, sharing a video of resistance fighters breaking the barriers set up by the regime,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Some Zionism apologists expressed concern over Palestinian resistance fighters holding Israeli settlers as prisoners, saying it was in breach of international human rights conventions.

Sharmine Narwani, a Beirut-based columnist with The Cradle, had a fitting answer for them.

“In case anyone feels sorry for Israeli settlers taking a Palestinian whacking today. Don’t,” Narwani wrote, sharing a screenshot of a New York Times story with the headline: ‘Israelis watch bombs drop on Gaza from front-row seats.”

Calling out the blatant hypocrisy of white men, Narwani in another tweet drew parallels between reactions when Israelis massacre Palestinians and when Palestinians retaliate.

When Israelis massacre Palestinians: “Mow down the terrorists, level Gaza, poor Israel, send weapons.” When Palestinians RETALIATE: “Come on now, talk with each other, violence is unhelpful, two wrongs don’t make a right, you are barbarians,” she wrote.

Dilly Hussain, a London-based journalist and columnist, shot back at Keir Starmer, Leader of the British Labour Party, who “condemned” what he called Palestinian “attacks on Israel.”

“I utterly condemn the 75 years of occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine and her citizens, he wrote. “There is no justification for this act of terror which is being perpetrated by those who seek to undermine any chance for future peace in the region.”

Hussain hastened to add that Palestinians “have a right to defend themselves,” echoing many others who reminded the world of who the occupier is and who the occupier is.

Mick Wallace, Member of the European Parliament, reacted strongly to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s tweet, in which she accused Hamas of attacking Israel.

“The vast majority of the people of Europe do not support the brutal Apartheid State of Israel  – The vast majority of the people of Europe support the people of Palestine who have been persecuted + terrorized by Israel for so many years – If only the EU was a real democracy,” he wrote.

Lowkey, a podcaster and music artist, provided a glimpse of the Israeli regime’s barbarism, sharing an image of the Al Amin Muhammad Mosque in Khan Yunis reduced to rubble.

Amer Zahr, a Dearborn-based Palestinian writer, said the regime has cut off electricity to Gaza.

“Just in case you’re one of those people that says, “Israel doesn’t occupy Gaza. Hamas is in control.” Occupation will always be met with justified resistance,” he wrote.

Gazan writer and analyst, Muhammad Shehada, shared the front page of The Mail with the headline ‘Don’t kill me,” showing a woman who was among those held by Palestinian fighters on Saturday.

“She wasn’t murdered, raped or abused. Footage showed her moments later safe in Gaza,” he wrote.

“Se was taken captive as a “bargaining chip” to free 1000s Palestinians whom Israel detains without charges, evidence or trial (aka administrative detention). Both violate int. law!”

Mohammed el-Kurd, a writer from occupied al-Quds, said much of what is currently unfolding in the occupied Palestinian territories “will be in future history books as an example of revolutionary struggle.”

“Waiting until the history books tell you what to celebrate is easy. It’s much harder to stand on the right side of history as it unfolds in real time,” he wrote, reminding the world which side Palestinians are on.

A social media user cited Malcolm X to explain what he thinks of the Palestinian struggle.

“If you are not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”