The Hamas attacks on Israel unleashed a wave of violence and retribution and a year of political turmoil.

The raids were the start of a remaking of the Middle East, which has also torn up regional and – in some cases – global alliances.

Relative peace

Before Oct 7 last year, Israel was tentatively enjoying the start of a new era of acceptance in the Middle East.

The 2020 Abraham Accords, brokered by Donald Trump, had established full diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, making them just the third Arab country after Egypt and Jordan, to fully recognise the Jewish state.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, the latter another signatory to the accords, permanently opened their airspace to Israeli planes flying to the gulf, boosting tourism and trade.

In September 2023, Haim Katz, Israel’s tourism minister, undertook a two-day visit to Riyadh, becoming the first cabinet member to formally visit Saudi Arabia.

For his part, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom’s de facto ruler, said the two countries were moving steadily closer to normalising relations, a potentially enormous geopolitical restructuring.

Elsewhere, there were agreements to move towards full diplomatic relations with Morocco and Sudan.