Israel caught off guard by Hamas' unprecedented and highly impactful assault - Jeremy Bowen

The recent operation launched by Hamas from Gaza has taken Israel by surprise and is the most ambitious attack the country has faced in decades. Hamas breached the border between Gaza and Israel in multiple places, leading to a serious cross-border attack. The timing of the attack, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of a major Middle East war, is significant and not lost on the Hamas leadership. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel is at war and promises to take a heavy toll on its enemies. Disturbing videos and photos of dead Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, are circulating on social media. Other videos showing Hamas militants capturing soldiers and civilians in Gaza have further provoked and alarmed Israelis. In response, Israel has launched airstrikes in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of many Palestinians. Plans for a ground operation are also being considered, but the presence of Israeli hostages in Gaza further complicates matters. There has been a growing risk of conflict between Palestinian armed groups and Israel, particularly in the West Bank, the occupied territory between Jerusalem and the Jordanian border. Confrontations and violence have been ongoing throughout the year, with armed Palestinians attacking Israeli soldiers and settlers. The Israeli army has conducted numerous raids, while armed settlers have taken matters into their own hands, retaliating against Palestinian villages. Extreme religious nationalists within Israel's right-wing government assert that the occupied territories belong entirely to the Jewish people. The complexity and coordination of the Hamas operation from Gaza have surprised many, including Israeli intelligence services. Recriminations have already started regarding the failure to anticipate this attack. The reasons behind the Hamas-Israel conflict go beyond recent events in Jerusalem. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been intensifying, even as it receives limited attention from international news organizations. Despite calls for a two-state solution, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has been largely ignored, and the prospect of two states coexisting peacefully seems increasingly empty. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has not been a priority for the Biden administration in the United States, as it focuses on securing guarantees for Saudi Arabia in exchange for rapprochement with Israel. The last attempt to revive a peace process, during the Obama administration, ultimately failed. At the core of the issue is the longstanding and unresolved conflict between Arabs and Jews over control of the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. These recent escalations once again highlight the fact that managing the conflict is insufficient, as it inevitably leads to violence and bloodshed.