On 7 October 2023, Palestinian militant group
Hamas launched a massive attack on Israeli territory, killing 1405 people
including over 300 soldiers according to the Israeli state, although a month
later the death toll miraculously came down to 1200. The Israeli state has
responded by bombing the Gaza Strip, in which Hamas has its headquarters and
over 2.3 million civilians have their homes, starving inhabitants of food,
water, medicines and fuel. But why did this happen? And what can be done about
it? On these questions, there is no agreement whatsoever.
Who is to blame?
In its editorial of 8 October 2023, the Israeli paper Haaretz was unequivocal in assigning responsibility for the death and destruction resulting from the Hamas ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’:
The disaster that befell Israel on the holiday of Simchat Torah is the clear responsibility of one person: Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister… completely failed to identify the dangers he was consciously leading Israel into when establishing a government of annexation and dispossession, when appointing Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir to key positions, while embracing a foreign policy that openly ignored the existence and rights of Palestinians…