Palestinian Hamas conducted an unprecedented act of war against Israel on Saturday, October 7, at dawn, and on the first day of a new conflict, it emerged victorious. It achieved all its operational goals in just a few hours. Now, it awaits the Israeli response, which is expected to be massive. For the first time since 1948 and the establishment of the State of Israel, Palestinian commandos – dozens according to the army, 200 to 300 according to a police officer – stormed villages, towns, and a military division headquarters on the outskirts of the enclave, seizing a police station. Fighting was still going on at 9 p.m. in 22 locations, as Hamas fighters barricaded themselves with hostages.
Although meticulously planned, this assault came as a total surprise: Hamas, taking the long view, inflicted its worst failure on Israeli intelligence since the Yom Kippur War, 50 years ago almost to the day. Hamas deployed its men after dawn prayers, breaching the barrier that encircles Gaza at several points, using small motorized gliders. A commando reached the village of Nizim by sea.
"This is the most serious terrorist attack in Israel's history," according to Eyal Hulata, a former national security advisor. Whether an attack or a military operation, Hamas makes no distinction between the two. Its men wreaked carnage without distinguishing between civilian and military targets: At least 150 Israelis have been killed and almost 900 wounded. As the day progressed, videos broadcast almost live showed Israeli defenses collapse.
One militiaman filmed himself on Facebook using an Israeli woman's phone as he held her hostage in her home, along with her family. Another filmed armored vehicles, trophies seized in an Israeli military base that appeared partly deserted. One by one, cars returned triumphantly to Gaza, through the high-tech "security fence" in which Israel has invested billions of euros, since the 1990s. The breaking of this rampart resonates deeply with Gazans, who have been subjected to a near-total blockade since 2007 by Israel, with the help of Egypt.
In Gaza, militants pulled a terrified young Israeli hostage from the trunk of an armored car; others threw a young man to the ground who appeared to be unconscious, and a crowd immediately rushed to his body. Hamas claimed to have captured soldiers and officers. Then there was an elderly Israeli woman, driven into the enclave on the back of an electric buggy, perhaps senile and clearly unaware of the danger. She smiled at the crowd as they applauded her capture.
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