War is returning to Gaza, and this time Hamas is calling the shots with an unprecedented land, sea and air operation. In the first 24 hours of clashes, more than 400 people died, more than 1,000 were injured, Hamas overcame all barriers to invade and at least conquer enemy territory 57 prisonersAccording to relevant media, more than 2,000 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, some of which reached Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Fighting in towns bordering Gaza lasted for hours in a scenario unprecedented in the conflict.
The Islamist commander-in-chief Abu Khaled Al-DeifHe was responsible for announcing the start of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, proclaiming that it was a movement born in Gaza that “will spread in the West Bank and abroad, in every place where ours people and our nation are present”. . Al-Deif at all times referred to the need to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the great symbol that continues to unite all Palestinians regardless of their political differences and which has recently been the scene of fierce clashes with Israeli security forces. Ismael Haniye, political leader of the movement, confirmed the intention to “expand the operation to the West Bank” and stressed that “our goal is clear: the liberation of our country.”
After five hours, Israel responded by announcing the start of Operation Iron Swords and the planes began to bombard the Gaza Strip hard. Benjamin Netanyahu appeared before the nation to declare a “state of war.” General Ghassan Allian, military liaison to Palestinians in the occupied territories, said: “Hamas has opened the gates of hell, it has made its decision and now it will pay the price.”
In the first hours of the bombings, the Strip’s medical service increased the death toll to 190 and two large towers were reduced to rubble. Neighbors interviewed in Gaza confirmed the severity of the “worst bombings we have ever suffered.”
Experts in the region such as Avi Issacharoff described the event as “Israel’s authentic September 11th, and if this does not lead to a large-scale ground operation, it will be the end of the current government,” the Walla! portal reported. In previous operations, incursions into the Gaza Strip by land have always been measured heavily in terms of the high costs it can entail in terms of casualties among troops.
security breach
For the first time since the Islamists took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and began the blockade, the brigades’ elite units are attacking Al Qassam, Hamas’ armed wing, They managed to overcome all sophisticated barriers and surveillance systems and reached a dozen neighboring Israeli cities and a military base, sowing chaos and death among the neighbors. Hamas’s tactical move surprised Israeli forces accustomed to taking the initiative in offensives against Gaza, and the networks were filled with videos of Palestinian drone attacks on tanks and military vehicles, of bulldozers destroying the security fence, of militiamen, who crossed the border on paragliders, and by vans and motorcycles, and the return to the Strip with soldiers and captured civilians.
An apocalyptic scenario for a country that has been building a security system for more than a decade with a multi-million dollar investment that collapsed at the moment of truth. Cameras, state-of-the-art sensors, armed turrets, surveillance drones… nothing could prevent Israel’s worst security disaster in recent years.
This “colossal failure” of security, according to analyst David Horovitz in “The Times of Israel,” left a country in shock wondering: “Where are the army, the intelligence services and the police?” Many questions that Netanyahu and his government could not answer in the first few hours. When asked how such enemy infiltration was possible, army spokesman Colonel Richard Hecht simply replied: “That’s a good question” and made no further comments.
Israeli reservists are on their way to a military base in Tel Aviv (afp).
In the military operations in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2019 and 2021, there was always a previous escalation or a specific event that led to the explosion. On this occasion, Israel thought it had succeeded in deterring Hamas, but the opposite happened. During Israeli attacks on Islamic Jihad in recent years, including the targeted assassinations of its leaders, Hamas remained on the sidelines and did not fire a single rocket, but this was not out of deterrence but because it was waiting for the right time. And that moment came at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 7, a date that will go down in the history of the conflict.
Prisoner exchange
Each of the offensives always ended with a negotiation in which both parties reached an agreement that was only a parenthesis until the next battle. In the last negotiations, Hamas used the bodies of two soldiers and two living civilians as bargaining chips, but now it is keeping dozens of living civilians and soldiers. On previous occasions, the Islamists have always called for an end to the blockade but achieved only minor concessions on Israel’s iron-fisted control of a strip that has been choked by land, sea and air.
For Israel, the application of the principle of prisoner repatriation is essential. The Capture, kidnapping or preservation The remains of members of the Israeli security forces have become a powerful weapon in the hands of groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, which in return have secured the release of thousands of prisoners. The Gilad Shalit case was the last of these and led to the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. Now the Islamists have dozens of prisoners and this is becoming a weapon of incalculable pressure on Netanyahu.
unity government
The Israeli prime minister called for national unity and the opposition responded immediately. Yair Lapid offered to put aside political differences to form one Government of national unity and face the state of emergency together. Lapid warned: “The State of Israel is at war.” It will not be easy and it will not be short. It has strategic consequences that we have not seen for many years. “There is a serious risk of a multi-front war.”