International fact of the year: the war between Israel and Hamas

When Perola Gaz heard the “red alert” siren, which in Israel means quickly and without hesitation taking shelter in a “bunker,” she followed protocol, thinking it was a normal low-intensity attack coming from the Gaza Strip. After all, those who live in the Negev kibbutz in southern Israel, next to the Palestinian enclave, have long been accustomed to more or less brutal Hamas offensives. This, in the middle of the Jewish Sabbath, will be just one more. But on October 7 everything was completely different.

In the agricultural village of Beeri, the day was starting to become sunny. The persistence of the “red alert” regime and the unusual volley of rockets flying from the other side of the huge metal fence alerted residents. Chaos reigned in the kibbutz when machine gun fire and shouts in Arabic praising the greatness of Allah began to be heard too close to the houses. This was the case in Beeri and, as it later became known, throughout the southern part of Israeli territory.

In an unprecedented move since the Yom Kippur War, some 1,500 militants from the extremist group Hamas, whose political faction rules the Gaza Strip, dared to use explosives and bulldozers to blow up the metal fence that seals off the densely populated and impoverished Palestinian territory. The invasion of the State of Israel, whose right to exist Hamas does not recognize, was carried out by land, using pickup trucks and motorcycles. By air, on unusual motorized paragliders. And by sea, on improvised boats. The Jewish state had never seen anything like this and was apparently taken by surprise. As a result of the Palestinian attack, 1,300 people were killed, five thousand were injured and almost two and a half hundred were taken hostage. At the Supernova electronic music festival alone, whose defenseless crowd surprised even radical Islamists, more than 300 people were killed and dozens of hostages were taken.

While Brazilian Perola Gaz understands the risks of choosing to live – and almost die – near the Gaza Strip, she admits she never imagined “that such a massacre could happen.” Having survived the Hamas offensive with her two young granddaughters, with whom she remained at home in a bunker for 20 hours, expecting the worst, the former teacher admits she “came back to life” when a nightmare she never imagined finally ended.

Where was the “secret”?
If Hamas’s offensive—backed by logistics and weapons from Iran—surprised Gaza’s Israeli neighbors, an even greater surprise was the way in which it caught Israel’s sophisticated “intelligence” and well-trained and equipped troops normally on alert. readiness. zone of permanent conflict.

What then happened to Hamas infiltrating Israel and opening fire on communities and small towns near the Gaza Strip without resistance? There were several theories, some conspiratorial, to explain the failure of Israel’s defenses. During the war, the issue is put aside, but it will soon return to the agenda of Israel’s complex politics.

After the terrorist attacks of October 7, it was more than certain that the Jewish state, wounded by the numerous victims and its pride, would strike back in the Gaza Strip. Promising “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” by land, air and sea, the military quickly reduced northern Gaza to rubble, targeting Hamas infrastructure, namely the famous 500-kilometer-long network of tunnels that Israel says crossed hospitals , schools and mosques. The attacks forced them to retreat south, but Israel was soon bombing Khan Yunis as well. Within weeks, Israel had spread the war throughout Gaza, leaving the population between its sword and the wall that forms the border with Egypt.

The Gaza Strip is devastated
According to data provided by Hamas, more than 20,000 Palestinians have died in nearly three months of war, 70% of whom are women and children. It is unknown how many militants from the radical group were killed, but it is known that Gaza’s basic infrastructure, namely water and electricity, is not working. Hospitals operate inhumanely, without equipment or medicine. Humanitarian assistance is insignificant compared to the needs. Disease is on the rise, as is hunger, says the United Nations, which has called in vain for a ceasefire that goes beyond military pauses for humanitarian purposes. The move, which Israel says is aimed at destroying the brains of Hamas but which critics of the Jewish state call an operation to exterminate the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, has trapped thousands of innocent people.

International pressure is growing every day and is especially strong from Washington, where Joe Biden’s support for the Gaza massacre has come under fire in the streets precisely from Democratic voters. A poll conducted by The New York Times in mid-December found that the majority of the president’s intentions were to vote for Donald Trump. Biden’s declining popularity among Democrats – the biggest supporters of the Palestinian cause – has raised alarms about the current president’s re-nomination, and it would not be surprising if we subsequently see US support for Israeli violence in the Gaza Strip waning.

There are also growing signs in Europe of opposition to Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s offensive, backed by a comfortable “national unity” government created after October 7 as part of the ultra-Orthodox coalition in power. Despite this circumstance, Bibi continues to lose domestic influence in the fight against Hamas and few believe that he will be able to fulfill his mandate to the end. The deaths in the Gaza Strip at the hands of Jewish soldiers and Israeli hostages carrying white flags have fueled criticism of how the war was fought. And, above all, the lack of a post-war strategy in Gaza. In particular, regarding the government formula for the territory, which Israel has already stated that it refuses to hand over to the Palestinian Authority, which is in power in the West Bank. In fact, in addition to resolving the recent crisis, the agenda is again to create foundations that can lead to a complex understanding in the region. The two-state constitution of Israel and Palestine is, for example, a step forward for Joe Biden. French President Emmanuel Macron is tuned to the same tune, followed by many other world and even Arab leaders.

Hatred will make it difficult for Israelis and Palestinians to come to the negotiating table to discuss two states. But there is unlikely to be any other alternative for peace after the end of the Gaza conflict.