Israel is at War: Hamas’ Barbaric Attack Merits Firm Response

by Eran Lahav, IDSF OCT 15/23

Israel is at war. This is not a slogan, this is the reality. This is a war on our home.

Unfortunately, Israel is accustomed to battles, wars and military operations – but what we saw this Saturday, October 7, 2023 – is completely different from what we have known until today.Israeli citizens were kidnapped, handcuffed as Kalashnikov canes were attached to their heads, to their bodies – elderly, children, women, entire families, soldiers, young people, party goers – who went like cattle to the slaughter and were kidnapped by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations.The murderous Hamas and Jihad terrorists, entered the kibbutzim and towns, occupied them without warning, murdered people in their homes, shot at people in the middle of a party, burned houses, looted property, separated children from their parents – a terrible massacre that reminded of dark days from immemorial times

At the time of writing these lines, the official number of those killed is 1,300 and about 2,900 wounded. This disaster is no less than a pogrom. 

“The Hamas organization bears full responsibility“ 

The surprise attack was launched at the same time as a barrage of thousands of rockets from Gaza toward cities all over Israel. Kibbutzim and towns in southern Israel were attacked and in some of them fighting is still taking place between the IDF forces and the invading terrorists. The number of Israeli abductees to Gaza is unknown, but so far it seems that there are over 130 abductees. 

The terrorist organization that seized power following the Israeli withdrawal, systematically eliminated every civilian infrastructure and turned the Strip into a terror fortress whose goal is the elimination of the Jewish state. 

The Hamas government is not legitimate. This is the government of an Islamist terrorist organization that has started a war with Israel on four different occasions since it took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. Any other country in the world would not have received a reprimand from the international community for refusing to tolerate a terrorist regime on its borders that is responsible for such a bloodshed. 

The Hamas organization bears full responsibility. This organization arms, finances and encourages other terrorist organizations under his auspices. 

The massacre led by the terrorist organizations from Gaza, which are supported by Iran, resulted in hundreds of dead and thousands of wounded. Dozens were kidnapped and held in Gaza, including women and babies, and entire Israeli Kibbutzim and towns were attacked and occupied. 

Hamas is Isis 

When Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists infiltrated Israeli towns and massacred their residents – as well as mass party participants – they committed, by any standard, war crimes that must be dealt with uncompromisingly. The organizations operated exactly like ISIS – using the same methods and even with the same Toyota vehicles armed with machine guns that the Islamic State organization used to capture large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014. Both the murders and the brutality they demonstrated in the Gaza Strip are reminiscent of ISIS, therefore the attitude towards them must be exactly as if ISIS had taken over the Strip, and if it is not stopped it may also take over Judea and Samaria – which this situation Israel, as well as the international community can’t afford it to happen. 

The terrorists of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad did not – on purpose – distinguish between soldiers and civilians, and even went as far as documenting it. In light of this, Israel has a right to eliminate these terrorist organizations in light of this criminal and barbaric act. 

The psychological warfare tactic of Hamas 

The shocking attack was very symbolic and took place close to the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, which to this day has been seen as the moment when Israel faced the greatest existential threat in its history. The timing is no accident, part of a psychological warfare tactic whose goal is to evoke past traumas among the Israeli public, and to mark the revival of the effort to destroy the Jewish state. 

In a situation like this, there is no proportionate response. Think about it: What should such a response look like? What proportionate response can be done to the deliberate slaughter of civilians and their kidnapping?  

The citizens of Israel are now entitled to a response that will restore deterrence and completely neutralize Hamas. 

Israel right to self-defense should be unquestionable. 

Senior researcher Eran Lahav is a researcher of terrorism specializing in global Jihad and Iranian proxies. He is the founder of the “Mabaterror” – a terrorism research and analysis Initiative, and he hosts the podcast “In the Crosshairs” on terrorism, the Arab world, security, and the Middle East.