Ömer Faruk Birpınar
Following the Hamas operation that began on October 7, 2023, conflicts continued, with destructive impacts on Gaza and Israel’s airstrikes against Lebanon. Since the war started, more than 43,000 civilians have lost their lives, with bombings still ongoing. Media can only witness events from afar, as access to the region is impossible. In the midst of destruction, everyone is forgot about tomorrow and occupied too much with today.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had shared the operation plan with only a few of his key figures. On the evening before October 7, life had been continued normally in Israel and Gaza, but when thousands of rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel at 6.30 the next morning, it began to become clear that that day would be different. More than 1,200 Israelis lost their lives on October 7. Of the 250 people taken hostage by Hamas, some were later released, while some others were found dead.
Since that day, the Israel’s attacks has spread to Gaza, Lebanon, Israel’s northern border, Syria, and Yemen, leading to tens of thousands of deaths. For those who lost their lives, went missing, or were injured in Gaza, the concept of “the next day” lost its meaning. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has been busy issuing threats at the United Nations.
Decades of Violence
The armed conflict between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories is one of the longest-running conflicts in the modern history. Every year, every generation rewrites the same painful stories and bloody chapters. Sometimes peace agreements concluded, but they remain as mere pieces of paper. For Israel, sustaining this war has almost become a tradition.
In the surprise attack by Hamas and other armed groups on Israel on October 7, 2023, at least 1,200 people were killed, and over 200 people were taken hostage. However, it is essential to remember that the roots of this conflict are deep enough to fill volumes in the history books. One reason for the conflict is the discriminatory system of Israel imposes on Palestinians, supported by inhumane actions that worsen their living conditions and exclude them. The conflict’s roots go well beyond October 2023, grounded in a long history of human rights violations.
War-Weary Hamas
Since the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel has occupied Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip. Hamas was founded in 1987 and fights for the complete liberation of Palestinian lands. To achieve its goals, Hamas has, at times, resorted to political violence and has been held responsible for suicide bombings and rocket attacks on Israel. In 2017, Hamas adopted a new charter and put aside its anti-Semitic language and targeting Zionists instead of Jews. Hamas aims to establish a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
Israel’s Divide-and-Rule Strategy
Israel’s “divide and rule” strategy embodies the system Palestinians live under for decades. The system, which forces Palestinians into fragmented lives, keeps them separated across the different lands, under the different administrative divisions and different legal frameworks. Since 2002, Israel has prevented Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza from obtaining legal status in Israel or East Jerusalem through marriage, obstructing family unifications. Additionally, discriminatory property rules, home demolitions, and forced evictions strip Palestinians of their lands. The blockade on Gaza since 2007 has imposed severe travel restrictions, complicating access to healthcare; sometimes, even reaching a hospital requires approval of Israeli government. This unequal system is reinforced by a series of laws and policies aimed at isolating and controlling Palestinians.
In sum, the October 7 operation against Israel has came after decades of violence, dispossession, and illegal occupation directed at Palestinians.
The Countdown
In 2023, clashes between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad erupted in May. Hundreds of Palestinians were displaced due to the increasing settler attacks, and conflicts flared around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. By September 2023, tensions between Israel and Hamas escalated and as The Washington Post reported, both sides were on the brink of the war. On September 13, five Palestinians were killed at the border. Israel halted all exports from Gaza, claiming explosives were found in a shipment but claim denied by Hamas. The export ban had affected lives of thousands of families in Gaza. In response, Hamas heightened its alert level and conducted military exercises with other organizations. On September 29, an agreement had been reached through Qatar, the United Nations, and Egypt to open the closed crossings and ease tensions between Israel and Hamas. Egypt claimed it had warned Israel of a massive explosion a few days before the operation, but Israel denied claim.
A Secluded Plan
In 2023, Hamas, without being caught by Israeli intelligence, used Gaza Metro network as a secret communication way and planned Operation Al-Aqsa Flood out of sight. These specific plans were disclosed only briefly before the operation, leaving intelligence agencies unprepared and leading to a surprise attack.
In the months leading up to the operation, Hamas released videos showing its preparations for the attack. A video from December 2022 depicted Hamas members training for hostage-taking, while another showed them practicing paragliding. On September 12, Hamas posted a video of its fighters training to cross the border. After the operation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that Hamas had closely analyzed military bases and settlements near the border.
The Wall Street Journal suggested Iran was behind the operation, though U.S. officials and Iran denied the claims. After the operation, the IDF reported seizing over 10,000 weapons, including RPGs, mines, sniper rifles, and drones. According to Israeli sources, the documents and maps that captured, revealed that Hamas had planned attacks on Israeli towns, cities, and kibbutzs.
An Intelligence Agency Without Glasses for Good Vision
Reports indicate that Israeli officials had obtained detailed Hamas operation plans a year before October 7. The documents included information on operation plans, targets, and details of Israeli forces’ sizes and locations. Questions arose in the Israel about how Hamas had acquired all these details. The plan entailed a large-scale rocket attacks, using drones to disable surveillance cameras and automated weapons along the border, and a coordinated invasion involving Hamas members entering Israel via paragliders. The New York Times reported that Hamas executed this plan with surprising precision.
Israel’s military and intelligence leadership largely dismissed the plan, considering it beyond Hamas’s capabilities. An intelligence analyst had reported Hamas’s preparations, but senior officials ignored the warning. According to Haaretz, just hours before the operation, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet and IDF commanders discussed a potential threat to the Nova music festival, but the festival’s organizers were not warned.
A BBC investigation revealed that surveillance reports indicating a significant operation by Hamas against Israel were available, yet senior IDF officers repeatedly overlooked all these warnings. A Haaretz investigation indicated that failures within the IDF’s upper ranks, particularly their refusal to acknowledge Hamas’s preparations for operation, were among the primary causes of the October operation.
The War Begins
Hamas announced that it started the Operation Al-Aqsa on Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 6:30 a.m. Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed Deif spoke out, highlighting Israel’s 16-years blockade on Gaza, Israeli raids in West Bank cities, violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the support of Israeli soldiers for settlers’ violence, land seizures, home demolitions, and the prolonged arbitrary detentions of Palestinians, often leading to disease and death in prison. Deif criticized Israel’s indiffirence to international law, U.S.-Western support, and global silence, describing the operation as “drawing a line to end the last occupation in the world.” Shortly afterward, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh made a similar anouncement via television broadcast.
Palestinian Groups on High Alert
Besides Hamas, several Palestinian organizations supported the operation and partially participated. The National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Maoist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, confirmed their involvement in the operation and reported its three fighters killed in clashes with the IDF. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the West Bank-based apolitical group Lions Team also announced support for the operation, declaring the highest alert among their units and a general mobilization.
A “Good Morning” with 5,000 Rockets
In the opening phase of the October 7 operation, more than 5,000 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel within 20 minutes. Explosions were reported around Gaza, in the Sharon Plain, and in locations like Gedera, Herzliya, Tel Aviv, and Ashkelon. Air raid sirens were activated in Beersheba, Jerusalem, Rehovot, Rishon LeTsiyon, and Palmachim Air Base. Hamas called on Muslims worldwide to join the attack. In the evening, Hamas launched about 150 additional rockets toward Israel, and some explosions reported in Yavne, Givatayim, Bat Yam, Beit Dagan, Tel Aviv, and Rishon LeTsiyon.
Chaos Descending With Parachutes
In the first hours of the operation, approximately 6,000 Palestinians infiltrated into Israel from Gaza at 119 different points with trucks, motorcycles, bulldozers, boats, and motorized parachutes. Hamas took control of the police station in the town of Sderot and cut off the communication by disabling computer systems and this action resulted in delayed Israeli response to the operations.
Hamas members who infiltrated into Israel seized control of numerous settlements. Some Hamas fighters even wore action cameras during the operations and used the footage for propaganda.
Israel Shooting Its Own Civilians
An attack of the Operation took place at the Supernova Sukkot Festival near Re’im. Following rocket attack in the early morning hours, armed Hamas members surrounded the festival area with motorcycles, trucks, and paragliders. Many civilian casualties in festival area reportedly resulted from Israel’s panicked response to the besieging Hamas members.
Hostages as Victims of Israeli Attacks
During the operation, about 70 Hamas members conducted a raid on the Kfar Aza kibbutz, located just three kilometers from the Gaza borderline, and took many hostages. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was too late to fix the situation. It took the IDF two days to control the kibbutz, which had more than 700 residents. By October 15, the exact number of Israelis killed was unknown in the kibbutz, but reports indicated that 52 people had died, with more than 20 missing.
Early in the attack, around 70 Hamas members conducted an operation in a kibbutz in Be’eri, and during operation at least 130 people died. Many homes were set on fire, and hostages were taken. There were also deaths due to friendly fire; an Israeli tank, in an attempt to rescue 14 hostages, fired at a house, killing 40 Hamas members and all but one hostage.
Other Operations in Southern Israel
A group of Hamas members carried out a raid on the Yahini moshav, resulting in the deaths of seven people, including a border policeman and an IDF captain from the Maglan unit. The community leader of the moshav was in Thailand at the time of attack and remotely directed the defense team of the moshav with 18 members. IDF units, including YAMAM and Sayeret, arrived at the scene and neutralized all Hamas members.
Around 90 Hamas fighters infiltrated the Ein HaShlosha kibbutz, destroyed and setted homes on fire. A clash lasted six hours between Hamas members and the security team and the lider of the team was killed during the conflict.
At 10:00 a.m., less than five hours after the operations began, clashes erupted at the Re’im military base. Hamas took control of the base and held several Israeli soldiers hostage, though the IDF regained control of the base later that day. The base was where the IDF conducted drone and surveillance operations. Hamas shared images of the Israeli soldiers they had killed at the base.
In Nir Am, 25-year-old security coordinator Inbal Rabin-Lieberman and his uncle Ami, along with a team of guards, killed several Hamas members who tried to infiltrate a nearby poultry farm.
Forty-seven people were killed in the town of Ofakim, the farthest point reached by Hamas’s intense operations on October 7. The town was largely home to working-class Jews. Hamas targeted older residential areas in the town where individual shelters were scarce, making their attacks more effective. During the operations, a few Qassam Brigade members also infiltrated the nearby Bedouin city of Rahat, northeast of Ofakim.
Hostages
Reports emerged shortly after the Hamas operation began that numerous people had been taken as hostages and transported to the Gaza Strip. Later that day, Hamas announced that it had taken enough Israeli hostages to negotiate a prisoner exchange, a claim confirmed by Israel. Up to the 50 hostages were taken in Be’eri, and after 18 hours of clash, the IDF rescued them. Hostages were also taken in Ofakim, where four police officers were killed in a conflict, but the IDF managed to rescue two Israeli hostages. Many of hostages were transported to Gaza, and as of October 16, Hamas stated that it held 250 hostages, half of whom were foreign nationals or held multiple citizenships. Some of the hostages were handed over to other Palestinian organization. Hamas aimed to use these hostages to halt Israeli attacks and secure the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Confusion in Israel
Following Palestinian breaches of the border around Gaza, Israel’s army took hours to dispatch troops for a counteroffensive. Helicopters, which were first sent from the north of Israel for support, arrived in Gaza an hour after the conflict started. Israel struggled to identify which posts and settlements had been seized and had difficulty distinguishing Palestinian fighters, its own soldiers, and civilians on the ground. Bombing of the Gaza Strip began at 9:45 a.m.
The Bloodiest Day in Israeli History
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) implemented the Hannibal Directive and ordered an attack at all costs to prevent Hamas members from returning to Gaza with the hostages. This order was widely implemented across border areas and led to friendly fire incidents and the deats of hostages in some cases.
During this period, helicopters and tanks targeted Hamas members along with civilians. The enforcement of the Hannibal Directive caused both military and civilian casualties.
On October 7, the total death toll reached 1,175, with over 3,400 people injured. A total of 247 people were taken hostages and transported to Gaza. The operations impacted a region of 4 million people, with 300,000 displaced.
This operation is considered the bloodiest day in Israel’s history.
Hamas: A Legitimate Act of Resistance
One of Hamas leaders Halid Meşal praised the operation, describing it as a legitimate act of resistance against the Israeli occupation. He emphasized that they understood the consequences of the October 7 operation and stated that the quest for freedom requires Palestinians to make sacrifices. Senior Hamas member Halil el-Hayya described the action not just as a confrontation but as a necessary move to change the entire equation and bring the Palestinian cause back to the forefront.
Hamas’ media advisor Tahir el-Nunu expressed hope that the state of war with Israel would become permanent on all fronts, emphasizing that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was just the beginning and that more would follow.
Hamas denied that it had killed children during the operation, rejecting claims made by certain Western media, which it argued were based on a pro-Israel narrative.
In January 2024, Hamas published a report titled “Our Narrative,” acknowledging some mistakes but denying that it had intentionally targeted civilians. It justified its operations as a natural reaction against Israel’s conspiracies targeting the Palestinian people.
Abbas: Hamas Actions Do Not Represent Palestinians
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated that “Hamas’s actions do not represent the Palestinian people.”
On October 30, Palestinian Christian official Hanan Ashrawi described the operations as an act of resistance against the IDF.
On May 16, 2024, Abbas said that Hamas’s unilateral military action on October 7 had given legitimacy to Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip. In response, Hamas expressed disappointment over Abbas’s remarks, arguing that the operation had elevated the Palestinian cause and provided strategic gains.
Arab politicians in Israel condemned the Hamas operation.
Palestinian Support for Hamas
Following the operations, Hamas’s popularity surged. A survey conducted on November 14 by the Ramallah-based Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) found that Palestinians in the West Bank supported the operation. In Gaza, the level of support was lower. Only 10 percent of respondents believed that Hamas had committed war crimes.
Israel Prepares for War
Israel stated that Hamas had made a serious mistake by initiating the operation. The IDF declared a state of readiness for war, promising that “Israel will prevail.” It announced the deployment of reserve soldiers not only in Gaza but also along the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syrian borders. Residents in areas near Gaza were asked to stay in their homes, while civilians in southern and central Israel were advised to remain close to shelters. Roads around Gaza were closed.
After the operation, Israel ramped up preparations for a potential conflict. Netanyahu held an emergency meeting with security officials. Southern Israel was closed off to civilian movement, and counter-terrorism units were deployed in the area. Four additional battalions were stationed in the region while existing 31 battalions were reinforced.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated that the country was facing a very challenging period. While Ben Gurion and Ramon airports remained operational, many airlines canceled flights to Israel. Israel Railways suspended services in some regions and replaced certain routes with temporary bus services. Additionally, cruise ships removed Ashdod and Haifa ports from their itineraries.
Confessions Under Torture
Following the operation, more than 600 Palestinians were arrested in Israel. Videos showed some Palestinians bloodied and writhing in pain. Released Palestinian detainees reported being severely beaten and, at times, asked to testify by pointing a gun at their face. The United Nations and human rights organizations verified Israel’s systematic use of torture. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International stated that confessions in recordings released by the Israeli military were obtained under torture, a practice violating international law and fundamental human rights.
A Wave of Condemnation
At least 44 countries condemned Hamas, labeling its actions as terrorism. Contrary to the joint statement of the USA, the UK, France, Italy and Germany; Arab and Muslim countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Iran and Iraq cited the reason for the operation as Israel’s occupation policy towards the Palestinians.
Legal and human rights experts called for the release of all hostages taken by Hamas.
Lies and Truths
After the initial Hamas operation, Israeli soldiers, members of the IDF, and first responders from ZAKA reported seeing the decapitated bodies of babies in Kfar Aza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken referred to photos reportedly shown to him by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mentioning “a baby full of bullets, beheaded soldiers, young people burned alive.” He added, “I could go on, but this is horrifying misery.” U.S. President Biden also claimed to have seen evidence of children being beheaded. But, investigations found no confirmation of these claims. The White House later clarified that Biden’s statement was based only on media reports. NBC News refuted reports of “40 beheaded babies,” adding that such claims largely originated from Israeli soldiers.
Haaretz reported that some stories had been circulated by Israeli search and rescue groups and military officers, concluding, “these stories are false.” Ultimately, the claims of beheaded babies were debunked.
