The Palestinian group Hamas’ offensive against Israel caused a wave of solidarity in the Arab world, especially on social media, where the hashtag ‘al-Aqsa flood’ was created to welcome the unprecedented attack on Israel.
During the first moments of the offensive, many Beirut citizens took to the streets to hand out cakes and dances, especially in the south of the Lebanese capital, a stronghold of Hezbollah, an Islamic fundamentalist political and paramilitary organization that was also at war with Israel. in 2006.
In the town of Saida, bordering Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, mosques have broadcast prayers and messages of support for the “Palestinian resistance,” while in Beirut, American university students have joined a rally in support of Hamas. he fights for “a just cause”.
In Damascus, the Syrian National Opera House has been lit up in Palestinian colors since Saturday and several lines of cars crisscross the city, waving Palestinian and Syrian flags and singing songs praising the “resistance” through loudspeakers.
Also in Syria, social networks are full of posts using the hashtag “Al-Aqsa Flood”, but other expressions such as “Palestine” or “Gaza is being bombed” have taken the top positions in the list of most published posts on the .(formerly Twitter).
Even in Egypt, several pro-regime talk show hosts, who were generally very hostile to Hamas, praised “the resistance of an oppressed people” and welcomed the “blow dealt to the theory of Israeli invincibility,” referring to massacre and kidnapping of hundreds of people. Israeli citizens are considered terrorists by the Islamic group by the European Union and the United States.
In this country, where demonstrations are banned, only a small parade was recorded on the grounds of the American University in Cairo, but as often happens in Arab countries, solidarity with the Palestinians rose in the stands of the stadium.
During an al-Ahly football match in Cairo, fans chanted “with our souls, with our blood, we sacrifice ourselves for you, Palestine.”
A major demonstration “in support of the Palestinian resistance” is planned in Tunisia on Thursday and on Monday students saluted the Palestinian flag at schools at the initiative of the Ministry of Education.
Several pro-Iranian groups also organized demonstrations of support in Baghdad, waving Palestinian flags.
As several Arab governments have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, two Gulf states that have normalized their relations with Israel, have stood out by condemning the taking of Israeli citizens as hostages.
Despite this, dozens of Bahraini residents demonstrate almost every day in support of the Hamas offensive, with their faces hidden behind a Palestinian ‘keffiya’ (a traditional scarf of the region that is wrapped and worn around the head), in the case of men, or by a ‘niqab’ (veil that shows only the eyes), in the case of women.
The Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli territory on Saturday, dubbed Operation ‘Storm al-Aqsa’, with the launch of thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen by land, sea and air.
In response to the surprise attack, Israel bombed several Hamas facilities in the Gaza Strip from the air, in an operation dubbed “Iron Swords”.
Israel declared all-out war and vowed to punish Hamas like never before, declaring it was “at war” against that Palestinian group.
Source: DN
