Worthless—not worth the ink used to sign them
En el mismo instante en que diplomáticos firmaban en Washington los Acuerdos de Abraham —un reordenamiento histórico de las alianzas en Oriente Medio—, dos cohetes cruzaron la frontera de Gaza hacia Israel, recordando al mundo que los acuerdos entre gobiernos no silencian los conflictos que los preceden. Uno fue interceptado por el sistema Cúpula de Hierro; el otro alcanzó Ashdod, dejando dos heridos leves. El gesto armado, cuidadosamente sincronizado, expresaba lo que las palabras palestinas también proclamaban: que la normalización entre Israel, los Emiratos Árabes Unidos y Baréin era percibida no como un avance hacia la paz, sino como una fractura en la solidaridad árabe que durante décadas había sostenido, al menos en teoría, la causa palestina.
- Mientras líderes firmaban acuerdos históricos en la Casa Blanca, cohetes lanzados desde Gaza irrumpieron en las ciudades israelíes de Ashkelon y Ashdod, convirtiendo un momento diplomático en una escena de sirenas y refugios.
- El sistema Cúpula de Hierro neutralizó uno de los proyectiles, pero el segundo impactó en Ashdod, hiriendo levemente a dos personas y demostrando que la frontera sigue siendo un umbral de tensión permanente.
- Ninguna facción palestina reclamó de inmediato la autoría, pero el mensaje era inequívoco: los Acuerdos de Abraham, al normalizar relaciones con Israel sin resolver la cuestión palestina, eran vistos como una traición a décadas de consenso árabe.
- Hamas calificó los acuerdos de papel sin valor, mientras estallaban pequeñas manifestaciones en Cisjordania y Gaza, y líderes palestinos denunciaban el pacto como un golpe a la unidad que los estados árabes habían prometido mantener.
- El episodio señala una nueva fase de tensión: los avances diplomáticos en la región no disuelven los conflictos subyacentes, y la exclusión palestina de estas negociaciones augura una escalada en lugar de una distensión.
El 15 de septiembre, mientras diplomáticos se reunían en Washington para firmar los Acuerdos de Abraham —que normalizaban las relaciones entre Israel, los Emiratos Árabes Unidos y Baréin—, dos cohetes fueron lanzados desde Gaza hacia territorio israelí. La sincronía no era casual: era una declaración.
El sistema de defensa Cúpula de Hierro interceptó uno de los proyectiles. El segundo cayó sobre Ashdod, dejando dos heridos leves. Las sirenas de alerta resonaron en Ashkelon y Ashdod, ciudades fronterizas con Gaza, mientras los residentes buscaban refugio. El ataque fue breve, pero su significado era amplio.
Para los palestinos, los acuerdos firmados en la Casa Blanca representaban algo más que un cambio diplomático: eran una ruptura de la Iniciativa de Paz Árabe, que durante décadas había condicionado cualquier normalización con Israel a un acuerdo previo sobre la cuestión palestina. Al establecer lazos formales sin esperar una solución al conflicto, los Emiratos y Baréin rompían ese frente común.
Hazem Qasem, portavoz de Hamas, desdeñó los acuerdos como documentos sin valor y reafirmó que la lucha palestina continuaría. En Cisjordania y Gaza, pequeñas manifestaciones expresaron el rechazo popular. La condena fue unánime entre las facciones palestinas, que calificaron los pactos de traición.
Los cohetes causaron daños menores, pero su eco fue profundo: mientras una sala en Washington celebraba un nuevo orden regional, a pocos cientos de kilómetros de distancia ese orden era rechazado como una afrenta. Los Acuerdos de Abraham abrieron una nueva etapa diplomática en Oriente Medio, pero también dejaron al descubierto cuánto del conflicto central permanece sin resolver.
On the afternoon of September 15th, as diplomats gathered in Washington to formalize a historic shift in Middle Eastern alliances, two rockets crossed the border from Gaza into Israel. The timing was not accidental. While officials signed the Abraham Accords—agreements that would normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain—armed groups in Gaza launched their own statement of defiance.
The Iron Dome air defense system intercepted one of the rockets before it could reach its target. The second struck the coastal city of Ashdod, leaving two people with minor injuries. Air raid sirens wailed across the Israeli towns of Ashkelon and Ashdod, both situated along the Gaza frontier, as residents sought shelter. The attack was swift, contained, and unmistakably timed to underscore Palestinian rejection of what was unfolding thousands of miles away.
No Palestinian militia immediately claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, but the message was clear enough. In Gaza's eyes, the Abraham Accords represented something far worse than a diplomatic agreement—they were a rupture in Arab solidarity. For decades, the Arab Peace Initiative had held that normalization with Israel would come only after a peace settlement with the Palestinians. Now, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were breaking ranks, establishing formal ties with Israel without waiting for Palestinian statehood or a resolution to the occupation.
Hazem Qasem, a spokesman for Hamas, the Islamist movement that governs Gaza, responded with contempt. The normalization agreements, he said, were worthless—not worth the ink used to sign them. He vowed that Palestinians would continue their struggle until they secured their full rights. Across Palestinian territories, the condemnation was swift and unequivocal. Factions and political leadership denounced the accords as a betrayal, a blow to the unity that Arab states had long claimed to maintain on the Palestinian question.
Small demonstrations erupted in the West Bank and Gaza in rejection of the agreements, which had been signed in a formal White House ceremony orchestrated by the Trump administration. The contrast was stark: one room in Washington celebrating a new regional order, another world—just a few hundred miles away—rejecting it as a fundamental betrayal. The rocket fire, though it caused only minor injuries, was a reminder that diplomatic breakthroughs in the Middle East do not erase the underlying conflicts that define the region. For Palestinians, the Abraham Accords represented a fracturing of the Arab consensus that had, at least in theory, stood behind their cause. The rockets were a response not just to Israeli actions, but to the actions of fellow Arab states.
Citas Notables
The normalization agreements between the UAE and Bahrain with Israel are not worth the ink with which they were written, and our people will continue insisting on the struggle until they fully win their rights.— Hazem Qasem, Hamas spokesman
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did the timing of these rockets matter so much? They could have been fired any day.
Because timing is the entire argument. When you fire rockets the moment your own Arab allies are signing away their leverage with Israel, you're saying: this is what your betrayal looks like. You're forcing the world to see them together.
Did Hamas actually order the attack, or was it a spontaneous response?
No one claimed it. That's telling in itself. It could have been Hamas, it could have been another faction. The ambiguity lets everyone in Gaza say yes, this is us, without anyone having to formally own the escalation.
What did the Abraham Accords actually change on the ground for ordinary Palestinians?
Immediately? The rockets and the injuries. Longer term, it meant Arab states were no longer withholding recognition from Israel as leverage for Palestinian demands. That's a fundamental shift in the negotiating landscape.
Were people in Gaza surprised by the UAE and Bahrain's decision?
Disappointed, not surprised. The Arab Peace Initiative had been the official position for years, but everyone knew it was weakening. Still, seeing it formally abandoned, seeing Arab states move first—that was different. That was real.
What happens next?
That's the question no one can answer yet. You have a new diplomatic architecture in the region, but the underlying conflict is still there. The rockets suggest it's not going away quietly.