One Year Later: The ongoing genocide and the war Israel always wanted

A year ago Hamas fighters, along with other political factions of Palestinians, did the impossible and broke through the open air prison that is Gaza. We know that about 1,200 people died – mainly Israelis along with some foreign nationals from Asia that everyone’s forgotten about – and that Hamas and allied took about 250 people hostages back to Gaza – mainly Israelis, bu also other foreign nationals including U.S. residents.

We also know that a year ago, on October 7, 2023, Israel enacted the Hannibal Directive, “designed to prevent soldiers from being taken alive as prisoners of war – by killing many of its own civilians,” and that of the 1,200 killed last October hundreds were killed by Israeli forces.

There are a couple reasons Hamas did what it did. During his time as president Trump signed the Abraham Accords, which was designed to improve economic relations between Israel and Arab states WHILE intentionally ignoring and negating Palestinian sovereignty and the idea of a Palestinian state. Trump’s reversed long-standing policy and insulted international law by moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and his policies toward the Palestinians was to exclude them and ignore them.

President Biden has attempted to continue to strengthen the Abraham Accords, and specifically tried to get Saudi Arabia to join the accords. The Saudis are interested, but have refused – last summer, before, and over the last year – unless the Israelis recognize a a Palestinian state and Palestinian right to self-determination.

A second reason is that there are 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, and every one of them is a political prisoner. This number of prisoners is from June, 2024; a year ago it was still over 5,000 Palestinians. Hamas thought that by taking hostages, they’d having bargaining chips (people) to trade to get Palestinians out of prison. It’s been a successful method before.

We know that Hamas offered to free all 250 prisoners in exchange for the Israeli army not entering the Gaza Strip, and that they offered this on October 9 or 10 of last year. Reporting on this in The Times of Israel, Gideon Allon suggests that for months Netanyahu has rejected a peace deal because it’s politically detrimental to him.

Most Arab states are hesitant to say anything or maintain anything other than tepid peace deals the status quo with Israel, and the Saudis don’t say anything other than not joining the Abraham Accords. Non-state Arab groups have become involved with the Houthis in Yemen successfully blockading the Gulf of Aden leading to Red Sea, despite years of a civil war in Yemen, and Hezbollah in Lebanon began exchanging a small arms battle in Israel’s north.

That changed in the last month when Israel assassinated the leader of Hamas, who was was in Iran, paying respects to the sudden death of Iran’s president in an airplane crash. Assassinating enemies, during war or peace, is an extreme tactic. In September, 2024, Israel assassinated the leader of Hezbollah in a carpet bombing campaign of Beirut, and, a few month later assassinated the likely next leader of Hezbollah, also killed by a bomb.

In Israel’s bombing campaign against Lebanon in last month, Israel also bombed Syrian troops on the border of Lebanon and at the same time killed members of the Iranian army. It’s clear that Israel has also been using the Dahiya Doctrine, which calls for “massive, disproportionate force and the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

In response Iran has launched two measured attacks against Israel, using mostly drones to attack military bases and army structures.

Israel now has the war it has always wanted. It’s able to claim it’s under attack by all it’s enemies and it’s able to cry – incorrectly – that the world is anti-Semitic and that’s why it’s attacking Israel. Israel ha always wanted, especially under Netanyahu, a war with Iran.

Violence – physical and structural – against the Palestinians has been going on for a little more than a century.

A year after the most recent attack on Gaza began, it’s long past time to destroy the system of oppression and neglect the Palestinians face.