Decoding the Hamas attacks on Israel

Saturday, 07th of October 2023, marked one of the deadliest days in the history of mankind when Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade, the military wing of Hamas, launched a massive attack on the border towns of Israel. This attack was the deadliest ever attack in the history of Israel-Hamas conflict which has claimed over 500 lives so far. More than 1500 people have been wounded too. It all started when Hamas launched a barrage of over 5000 rockets over various cities of Israel followed by attack by its militia through land using vehicles, air using paramotors and sea using attack crafts. They blew off the highly fortified separation fence created by Israel at a cost of over $1 billion and entered in large numbers into the border towns to wreak havoc. It is a matter of surprise that they penetrated up to 15 miles deep in Israeli territory and attacked more than 22 different Israeli settlements within a span of two hours. 

They killed people, they destroyed the area, and they kidnapped people in large numbers. The entire attack was so synchronous that before anyone could think or assimilate the threat, the Hamas fighters were everywhere killing innocent Israeli people. A large number of Israeli citizens, senior military officers, and other uniformed people as well as tourists attending a music festival have been kidnapped and taken to the interiors of Gaza strip where Hamas built its strongholds over the last two decades. In addition to this, there is significant damage to the infrastructure in Israel and the impact of the attacks was so much that it compelled Israel to call back over 80,000 reservists in the service of the nation. The attacks have not yet stopped and even after 24 hours, the firing of rockets from the Gaza strip has continued. 

Although Hamas was born out of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood after the “First Intifada”, it could not grow more due to strong influence of Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) leader “Yassar Arafat”, and his militia organisation “Fateh”, who was prominently fighting for Palestinians. But the death of Arafat in 2004 created a vacuum in the Palestinian leadership. Hamas took advantage of it and started growing fast. They won 2006 Palestinian elections and the very next year, militarily defeated Fateh to impose their total control over the Gaza strip. 

Hamas has been a synonym of intense Sunni radicalism and violence right from its inception and has been carrying out large scale rocket attacks, suicide bombings, kidnapping of Israeli people and its soldiers, guerilla attacks on Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and other types of asymmetric warfare against Israel. Its particular aim is to annihilate Israel and establish a radical Sunni Islamic country over the entire area. Hamas enjoys direct support of almost all Islamic countries and has a very close collaboration with Hezbollah of Lebanon, Militia groups of Syria and the Quds force of Iran while being actively funded by Qatar. Hezbollah even went a step further and launched a rocket attack on the very next day on the disputed areas in Golan Heights and stated that it did so to show its solidarity with Hamas.

The most significant take away of these attacks is the total intelligence failure. Israel is known to have one of the most potent intelligence agencies in the world called “Mossad”. The planning of such kinds of attacks needs several months and resources from all over the world. A barrage of over 5000 rockets in just 20 minutes is possible only when they have more than 500 launching positions spread all over the Gaza strip which is relatively a very small area of 141 Square miles. Not only this, a three-pronged attack by Sea, land and air with absolute synchronisation would have required multiple rehearsals and practice over several months. How all this remained hidden from the eyes of not only Mossad but other western agencies including CIA and MI-6 is a tough question. Remember, the total border length between Israel and Gaza Strip is just 37 miles and how Hamas fooled all the intelligence agencies of the world is a matter of concern. Mossad also claimed to have a large human intelligence network in the Gaza strip which totally failed to provide any early warning of the attacks and caught every Israeli by surprise. 

One of the most significant diplomatic developments in this scenario is the international reactions. Nearly all of the countries have expressed their solidarity with Israel and condemned this attack. Even the Islamic Countries who have always been favouring Hamas in the past are either silent or are trying to diffuse the situation by neutral means. No one is actively supporting Hamas unlike other times and that may prove to be an opportunity for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was facing stiff political opposition in his home turf. Amidst the political instability in Israel, Netanyahu will now use this moment to portray himself as a saviour of Israel and crush Hamas which he was unable to do earlier due to international pressures. He has already cut off entire electricity, water and other essential supplies to the Gaza strip and the entire area is plunged into darkness. The Israeli Air force is launching massive attacks over the Gaza settlements day and night and land forces are clearing the area one by one. Under normal circumstances, these actions would have been termed anti-humanitarian but in the aftermath of Hamas attacks, it will be well justified by the international community. 

The world is with Israel now and its actions will now be termed as a counter reaction to the terrorist attack launched by Hamas. It will not only provide political stability to the Netanyahu government but also give him an opportunity to annihilate its decades-long enemy Hamas. Israel will now have an upper hand and will not hesitate to target Hamas leadership located in other countries. What lies in the future is a question but certainly the attacks have raised a long list of burning questions for any country facing cross border-terror threats. India too cannot remain untouched from this. 

The author is a veteran of the Armed Forces. He is a known Defence Strategist with keen interests in international affairs, maritime security, terrorism and internal security.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own and do not reflect those of DNA.)