A year after the US and Zionist Israel launched a brutal genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, various Palestinian organizations continue to wave a valiant struggle to frustrate the attacks and attain complete freedom from occupation. The Palestinians’ weapons are armed resistance, mass movements in other countries supporting their struggle, linking with international courts, and other similar undertaking.

Armed resistance

In the past year, Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip have continuously staged attacks against invading Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). According to reports, at least 715 Israeli officials and soldiers, majority of whom were aboard armored vehicles such as tanks, have been killed in these attacks. These attacks are led by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas group, with the support of other armed groups in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank.

These operations are part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which began on October 7, 2023, against Israeli terrorism. It started with the firing of nearly 5,000 missiles targeting Israeli military bases and forces. According to Hamas, the attack was a defensive armed action in response to 75 years of suffering of their people.

The al-Qassam Brigades uses guerrilla tactics, combined with their mastery of the terrain and advanced military equipment including exploding drones and anti-tank missiles, to hit the Israeli occupying forces in the Gaza Strip.

In support and recognition for Palestine, groups like the Houthi in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and others have also launched armed attacks to weaken Israel’s military capabilities and stop the flow of military aid to the Zionist regime.

Stop the genocide

Amid Israel’s brutal bombing of the Gaza Strip, international support poured in to call for an end to the genocide and for the complete liberation of Palestine from occupation. Calls for a ceasefire to save civilians are relentless.

These includes massive rallies, such as the 300,000-strong demonstration in the United Kingdom in November 2023; student camps in at least 130 universities in the United States, France, Australia, Japan, and others; the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign against corporations supporting Israel’s genocide, and other forms of action.

In the Philippines, national democratic groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and the Philippines-Palestine Friendship Association have launched protests in support of Palestine and calls for an end to the US-Israel genocide there. On October 5, Bayan again launched a protest near the US embassy to commemmorate one year of the genocide in Gaza. Networks of organizations supporting Palestine have also been formed in many parts of the country. Some groups have also provided shelter and support to Filipinos and Gazans who were forced to move to to the Philippines from the Gaza Strip.

Even the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the primary judicial organ of the United Nations (UN), has repeatedly issued decisions calling for an end to the attacks and the “immediate withdrawal” of IDF forces from Palestinian territories.

The brutalities in Gaza have also pushed the UN Security Council to endorse a resolution on June 11 for the immediate implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza. The plan was initially pushed by the US and received 14 votes in the council with one abstention.

Hamas supports an immediate ceasefire but insists that it should lead to Israel’s permanent withdrawal from their land. In contrast, Zionist Israel strongly rejects such an agreement and instead continuous to intensify its attacks.