One year ago today, the terrorist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza, resulting in nearly 1,200 Israelis killed and hundreds of hostages taken. The impact of the attack has been felt across the Middle East and in the West. Protests and encampments blasting Israel’s military response to the terrorist attack occurred in cities around Europe and the United States while Israel has expanded their military offensive after effectively defeating Hamas in Gaza. The attack on Israel and the counteroffensive have led to several major results:
Gaza Invasion
Shortly after Hamas’s October 7th surprise attack, Israel launched aerial assaults into Gaza. A full-scale ground offensive into the region began just 20 days later. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ground invasion was the “second stage of the war, whose objectives are clear: to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and bring the hostages home.” From the onset of hostilities, Israel ordered the evacuation of large swaths of Gazan territory, leading to 80% of the Gaza Strip’s overall population being sent to southern Gaza. Over the course of the next few weeks, the Israeli military continued their push into Gaza until a 4-day ceasefire was agreed to, during which Hamas released hostages and Israel released Palestinian prisoners. Israel’s military experienced multiple attacks upon the ceasefire expiring but continued their offensive south. The Israeli Defense Forces eventually reached the town of Rafah in southern Gaza in May 2024. Israel’s military has repeatedly had to deal with Hamas using Gaza civilians as “human shields”, a tactic they deployed long before current hostilities.
Anti-Israel Protests and Antisemitic Crime
In major cities across the world and many college campuses in the United States, protests and encampments were set up objecting to Israel’s handling of the conflict and demanding a ceasefire. There have been instances of Jewish students harassed, threatened, and attacked on campus. Additionally, in the year since the attack, the number of antisemitic instances has tripled according to the Anti-Defamation League. In the weeks after Hamas’ attack, nearly 3 in 4 Jewish college students say they experienced or witnessed antisemitism on campus since the school year started.
War on Hezbollah
Following what the Israeli military considers a successful military operation in Gaza, attention turned toward Lebanon in the north, where Hezbollah controls much territory bordering northern Israel. A stunning surprise attack on Hezbollah’s network of terror operators and command leaders left up to 3,000 members of the terror group killed or injured. Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad devised a plan to booby-trap pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, leading to the near-simultaneous explosion of the devices on September 17 and 18 of this year.
The mission effectively marked the beginning of open hostilities with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Israel has issued evacuation warnings for much of the area while its ground forces move into Hezbollah-controlled territory. Iran, which funds Hezbollah, lobbed a largely unsuccessful missile attack on Israel in response to their incursions against Hezbollah. The war between Israel and Hezbollah continues.
Hostages Still Missing
On October 7th, 2023, Hamas took 250 hostages from Israel, including 40 from a music festival. Over the past year, Hamas has released some hostages after negotiations and Israel has rescued others during military operations in Gaza.
According to Israel, Hamas executed 6 hostages the day before the Israeli military reached them in Hamas’ network of tunnels.
97 hostages are still being held by Hamas, seven of which are Americans.
