Cairo- The former Egyptian Consul General in Tel Aviv, Rifaat Al-Ansari, expected that the Israeli army would face fierce resistance in the aggression it launched on the Gaza Strip for the second month in a row, without being able to achieve the goals it announced at the beginning of the war, which were eliminating the Palestinian resistance and recovering civilian and military prisoners. From her grip.
Al-Ansari, who was Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Media and Press until his retirement in November 2009, said in an exclusive interview with Al-Jazeera Net that stopping the war depends on several things: Either Israel achieves its goals in the second phase of the military operation after its failure in… The first round, and either the resistance will suffer unbearable human losses, or the United States will change its position and support the world’s demands to stop the war.
The former diplomat stressed that Israel does not seek peace or the establishment of a Palestinian state, and that the fate of the resistance depends on several factors, foremost of which are: its steadfastness and ability to manage the battle, maneuver through its war on its territory, and rely on specific, painful and crushing strikes.
The following is the text of the interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net:
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Why did diplomatic efforts and international appeals fail to transform the temporary truce into a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip?
Israel, and behind it the United States of America, do not want any ceasefire until it achieves its goals of liberating all prisoners and eliminating Hamas and its leaders. The goal of the truce was not to reach a permanent ceasefire; Rather, it was to liberate the largest number of prisoners held by the resistance, and therefore it continued for 7 days after it was extended more than once, and it was supposed to reach 10 days, but Israel refused.
Israel does not want peace with the Palestinians, nor does it want a permanent solution to the Palestinian issue, and it will remain an occupying state. I still believe that the Israeli military operation will extend until the end of this December at the very least, and the pressure on Israel is military when the resistance inflicts human losses that it cannot bear. Israeli society, then the war may stop.
America is the one who has the decision to cease fire and end the war, but on the contrary, it supports it with all its might and fuels it with all kinds of weapons it has. It can end everything with a phone call, but it is too early for it to think about that. Israel and America do not care about international public opinion or the international community. Nor any international appeals or efforts to stop this war, or genocide if you wish.
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Did the absolute support for Israel at the beginning of Operation Flood turn into widespread condemnation, after the fall of thousands of martyrs, including civilians, children, and women?
Part of Europe’s absolute support for Israel turned into widespread condemnation, after images of human killing and cultural destruction of everything in the Gaza Strip spread, but it still enjoys unlimited support from the United States.
There was an agreement between the American administration and the European Union that the war would take its extent and time to achieve its goals, but the conclusion of this agreement began to break down in the part related to the European Union countries, which began to be unable to issue a consensus in opposing the civilian losses, and therefore individual countries began to issue such statements; Such as: Belgium and Spain.
International public opinion has a major role in putting pressure on Western governments, and countries that have not taken a position on the necessity of stopping the war may respond to these calls when the pressure of public opinion in their societies becomes stronger than the governments’ ability to bear it, then there will be pressure on Israel.
America considers what happened last October 7 to be a defeat for itself and its man in the region, despite the unparalleled military and intelligence support that Israel has surrounded it with. Therefore, this day was like a military slap in the face, and it is trying to restore its military and intelligence respect and honor.
America does not care about the deaths of thousands of civilians and sees them as collateral losses, and asks Israel to avoid any civilian casualties so that it can complete its political and military support, but opposition public opinion is developing and growing like a snowball little by little.
America demanded that Israel avoid greater civilian casualties with the start of the second phase of military operations to contain angry public opinion, but what happened was the opposite, due to overcrowding in the southern regions that Israel began bombing, as they became overcrowded three times their population. Due to displacement cases, the number of victims increased, but when the population was distributed throughout the territory of the Gaza Strip, the numbers were less than that.
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Does this mean that the mental image of Israel in the West has been affected?
Certainly, the mental image of Israel and Hamas alike has changed, with regard to Israel losing, on the political level, its stereotypical image of being a democratic state that defends itself, to a brutal criminal state that kills children, women and men indiscriminately and destroys everything.
On the military level, Israel lost its honor militarily and intelligence after the terrible defeat on October 7, and its military prestige fell forever, thanks to the resistance’s invasion not only of the Gaza Strip, but also to its ability to storm and seize security, military and intelligence headquarters, and confiscate everything. It contains security and military secrets and intelligence information.
As for Hamas, it has proven to Western public opinion that it is not as brutal as the Israeli media was promoting, by beheading children and raping women. Perhaps the scenes of the exchange of prisoners between the two sides are the greatest evidence of this, and they have turned into inspiring stories between the resistance fighters and the prisoners.
Hamas has succeeded in creating a mental image of its civility in dealing with prisoners, which has brought it the respect and appreciation of international public opinion, and has dealt with prisoners in accordance with humanitarian laws and rules, and this was clearly evident in the feelings of warmth that were present during the receiving and handing over of the prisoners and bidding them farewell to the Hamas resisters.
On the Israeli side, the scene was inhumane and expressed moral decadence rejected by the international community. The prisoners released in the West Bank were deprived of all their rights, and the Israeli forces even physically assaulted them and their families, preventing them from expressing their human feelings.
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What is your assessment of the gains and losses of Israel and the Palestinian resistance militarily in the first round? What does Israel seek to achieve in the second round?
For about two months, Israel was unable to free a single hostage during the first round of its military operations. It failed to achieve its declared goals of liberating civilian and military prisoners without any truce with Hamas, and it failed miserably in eliminating the resistance and liquidating its leaders.
I expect the second military round to be more ferocious and destructive, more violent and lethal than the first round. Because it will try to achieve what it failed to do in the first round, in which Israel surrendered and complied with Hamas’ conditions, and then it still has before its eyes the two previous goals that were not achieved, which are the liberation of civilian and military prisoners, and the elimination of Hamas.
Israel also wants to restore its military image with which it has surrounded itself as the strongest and smartest army in the region, first before internal public opinion before international public opinion. Therefore, it is setting its sights on revenge against Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad al-Deif until it declares its victory.
There is no doubt that the massacres committed on a daily basis, represented by the bombing of hospitals, citizens’ homes, bakeries, water stations, and markets, are aimed at causing the largest possible number of victims for several reasons, foremost of which is: putting pressure on Hamas’s leaders and recognizing that it cannot risk the lives of the Gazan people any more. From this, and in order to push people to disbelieve in the resistance, and hold it responsible for the devastation, destruction, and killing in which they live.
The resistance’s steadfastness cannot continue indefinitely, but this depends on its economy in consuming its resources, whether energy or weapons and ammunition, its military tactics, and its ability to maneuver on the ground and exploit the land to its advantage in the face of Israel’s destructive policy.
As for the Israeli army’s statement that Hamas is superior to them in its knowledge of the region, and still possesses complex capabilities, this is nothing new, and its acknowledgment that the war will be long and will not be limited in time confirms the complexities of the military situation on the ground. Israel did not expect, at the beginning of the military operation, that the war would extend for two months. She expected to achieve her goals within a month at least.
It is not the Israeli army’s policy to admit its defeats. Its policy says that they are advancing, even if slowly, and that their losses are less than those of Hamas, and that they have goals and in order to achieve them, the progress may not be what Israeli public opinion desires, and that they are bearing losses, but these losses are equal to The value they will get when Hamas is defeated militarily and politically.
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Is Israel risking the lives of dozens of Israeli prisoners by intensifying air, land and sea bombardments? Do you think that the recovery of military prisoners will be similar to the exchange of civilians?
It is indeed risking the lives of all the prisoners held by the resistance, through its bloody military operations throughout the Gaza Strip without respite, but the issue of recovering military prisoners is completely different from what happened with civilian prisoners, for several reasons. The most important of which is that a large portion of these are not ordinary soldiers or officers, but rather of a special type who belong to powerful agencies. Such as: Shin Bet and Unit 8200 of the Military Intelligence “Aman”, and their price is high.
We all know what happened in the deal with the former captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit years ago, and how all Mossad and intelligence services failed to reach his place of detention for years. Because of the special unit that Hamas created for this purpose, Israel was ultimately forced to negotiate his release, and paid a heavy price that I believe it will not forget. So the issue of military prisoners is a different matter, and they number in the dozens, but Hamas has not revealed their number yet.
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How do you see the position of Egypt and the surrounding countries regarding displacement? Do you see a deal on this file, especially with the Egyptian movements in northern Sinai?
Moving the war to the south of the Gaza Strip, claiming that Hamas leaders are hiding in its cities, is a pretext for moving the war there and pursuing Hamas leaders, but also – in order to force civilians to move south towards the border with Egypt.
There are under-the-table discussions taking place to convince countries like Egypt to respond to the “human tragedy,” and they are approaching the issue from this standpoint, that it is not forced displacement but rather a humanitarian tragedy, and that the displacement will be temporary, and perhaps the residents of the Gaza Strip want a better life.
Egypt officially declared its position in all international meetings and forums and in its official statements on the issue of displacement, and repeated and emphasized that the displacement of Palestinians and its national security are a red line. Likewise, Jordan and all Arab countries declared their categorical rejection of forced displacement.
Israel today says that it does not aim for forced displacement, and the American administration explicitly declares that it is against forced displacement, and the European Union rejects forced displacement, but the media is one thing and the positions on the ground are another.
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Do you think Israel can emerge victorious in its war? Do you think it is able to achieve its goals?
Israel’s victory in the war can only be achieved by eliminating the movement’s leaders and recovering civilian and military prisoners without negotiations or new deals. No one can predict the end of this brutal war. Because the data on the ground is variable, and force alone does not always guarantee victory.
If we assume that Israel was able to achieve its goals and liberate its hostages, this does not mean eliminating the resistance. Because it is not Hamas, it is not jihad, it is not anything else; Resistance is a belief of the Palestinian people, and the belief cannot be uprooted from the hearts of this people. After this war, everyone will be a loser. Blood only brings blood, and it is impossible to imagine any real future after this war, the effects of which will extend for many years.