Despite being under Israeli bombs, Gaza's Palestinians express solidarity with Lebanon

Despite experiencing an ongoing Israeli war since last October, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are following the news about the possibility that Israel may launch a large-scale military attack on Lebanon, with great concern about the safety of the population.  

Speaking with The New Arab, several Palestinians did not think Israel would risk expanding the war to Lebanon, especially due to how much stronger Hezbollah is compared to Hamas politically and militarily, as well as facing the risk for Israel to be further face international isolation.

However, other Palestinians do think that the general "Arab silence" may encourage Israel to expand its war, backed by the United States.

On Sunday, Israel's security cabinet authorised Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to decide on the "manner and timing" of a response to the rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israel and the United States blamed Lebanon's Hezbollah for Saturday's strike on Majdal Shams, a Syrian town in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah has denied playing a role in the raid. Various states and international organisations have called for an independent investigation over the incident that killed 12 children, and wounded many others. 

Saturday's strike has risked tipping a fragile stand-off on the border into a larger war, drawing international calls on both sides to show restraint.

There was no immediate indication of what action Israel may take, but the country's largest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted unnamed officials as saying the response would be "limited but significant".

"I fear that there will be an Arab-Israeli agreement on this war and that they will end any Arab resistance against Israel so that the US-Israeli project to create a new Middle East will succeed," Abdul Basit Abu Rahma, a Gaza-based Palestinian man, said to TNA.  "Despite all the massacres we are experiencing, we do not wish for another Arab country to be subjected to what we are facing and for us to see another destruction of a country that has always supported the Palestinian cause and the Palestinians." 

"But, I do not think that Israel will risk launching a war on Lebanon because it knows that Hezbollah possesses enough missiles and weapons to destroy Israel in return unless Arab and European countries support it in bombing Lebanon," he added. 

Nidal Salha from Gaza City voiced the same opinion. "Lebanon supported us throughout the war and we, in turn, will support the Lebanese in their war against Israel if it happens," he said to TNA, expressing his hope that Israel is only making threats without carrying them out. 

"No one wants war, but Israel is a violent state that only understands the language of war, killing, and destruction. Unfortunately, the United States supports it, so we cannot count on it to help Lebanon, especially in light of the complete Arab silence," Salha added.

For his part, Palestinian political expert Ahmed Rafiq Awad believes that Israel will likely launch a limited military operation in southern Lebanon according to a plan it had prepared in advance to curb Hezbollah.

"The military operation carried out by Israel in southern Lebanon is nothing but camouflage for a broader operation that it will work to implement sooner or later, especially since Israel has conveyed its intention to the United States," Awad told TNA. 

He opined that Israel benefited to the greatest extent from the ill-considered operation, and noting that question remain about what happened in Majdal Shams, especially since Hezbollah has never targeted civilians since 1982 and the fact that the town was very much anti-Israeli.  

"In light of the approval of the Israeli army of combat plans on the northern front, unfortunately, a comprehensive war scenario has become more likely," he remarked.