In the final moments before Yahya Sinwar ordered his desperate suicide attack on Israel on the morning of October 7, 2023, he may have wondered whether it was worth sacrificing his life and those of his fellow fighters, and potentially causing the deaths of 100,000 or 200,000 Palestinians, including children and women, to create an opportunity for 9 million Palestinians to achieve their rights, regain their dignity, and live in an independent homeland.
Sinwar may have wondered whether it would be better to save all these lives, avoid the destruction that would follow, and accept living under occupation as tenth-class citizens or being displaced worldwide, forever forgetting their homeland. The answer has become part of history, with all its good and bad. Sinwar knew that the homeland would not be restored through international resolutions, but through bloodshed and the sacrifice of lives.
Many things have changed in the Middle East since October 7. Both sides of the conflict have been deeply affected. For the Palestinians, the horrific catastrophe exceeded even the darkest imaginations, and it continues to unfold. Israel’s losses extend beyond the thousands of dead and wounded to the attack’s destabilizing effect on its sense of security and the gradual loss of its chances for international acceptance.
The once-assumed inevitability of Israel’s existence as a state with a Jewish majority, invincible financial and military power, and unmatched technological expertise - assets many countries, especially in the West, rely on - has been challenged. Foreign Policy magazine suggests it will take years to fully understand the depth of the October 7 attack’s impact on Israel’s very existence. Roger Cohen, a Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times correspondent for over 30 years, wrote, “Two years after Hamas’s assault, Israel is in turmoil.
The war in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians but has not secured the release of all Hamas hostages. The shock remains. The settlement movement may have crushed Palestinian hopes for statehood, but it has also impacted Israel’s plans and ambitions to expand beyond its current borders. The endless war has left Israel divided and more isolated than ever.”
On his recent visit to Israel, he found a country steeped in uncertainty. This was before the latest negotiations to release hostages and possibly end the war began. Since those talks started, tensions have risen within Israel. The country is at war not only with Hamas but also with itself. Israel’s longest war has become a challenge to its image and self-understanding. The Israeli military has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and caused such massive destruction in Gaza that many have described it as “genocide.” This, in turn, has fueled anti-Semitic sentiment in many parts of the world. Displacement and the search for a safe homeland have become integral to the intertwined destinies of Israelis and Palestinians. The Holocaust stands along with the Nakba of 1948, when around 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and lands during the war that “established” Israel.
The October 7 attack and the retaliatory war in Gaza have only deepened the antagonism between the two sides. Arab neighbors are now viewing Israel as a major threat following Netanyahu’s actions against Hezbollah in Lebanon and strikes on Iran’s nuclear program. Yet, in Israel, there is little sense of victory.
Israel has realized that Hamas, though its weakest enemy, is also its most stubborn. Hamas represents an ideology rather than just a group of fighters, making it difficult for Israel to defeat, as defeating an ideology is no simple task. After all this, someone known for extremely negative views on the tragedy described what happened in Gaza as “genocide,” only to quickly retract the statement and claim that Israel’s material losses from the war were merely “indicative.”
By Ahmad alsarraf email: [email protected]
