Every evening in a windowless building in Tan Son Nhut, American officials monitored the map of South Vietnam, reporting with conviction that the blue zones, controlled by the US and its allies, were expanding, while the pink zones, controlled by communist forces, were receding. It was a familiar and repeated illusion, part of the propaganda that hoped to mask the reality of the ill-fated war. Today, this experience is coming back as a warning to Israel and Palestine. After the start of the operation in Gaza, the old strategies of “free-fire zones” and the transfer of the population to “protected villages” are returning as part of efforts to control and quell Hamas resistance.
As in Vietnam, governments here aim to “take the fish out of the water”, isolating and destroying militants by dividing the civilian population.
Between 1964 and 1966, two million Vietnamese were displaced to these “protected villages,” surrounded by barbed wire and trenches, where they were offered basic conditions but under strict military control. Even today, in Gaza, authorities promise supplies and aid to the displaced, but the reality is painful: war and hatred are destroying all hope. As in Vietnam, Hamas militants remain hidden in underground tunnels, ready to strike again, showing that military tactics of isolation are not a permanent solution. History shows that wars have no real winners and that violence only breeds more violence. In the end, in both Vietnam and Gaza, ordinary people pay the highest price.