Devastating Hamas attacks on Israel shock wider world

THIS year has seen some of the deepest divisions in Israel over domestic policy in recent times, yet, foreign affairs have again come to the fore of the nation this past weekend with the devastating terror attacks by Hamas, which may ultimately come to be seen as Israel’s 9/11.

The attacks on Saturday (Oct 7) represent the worst intelligence failure in Tel Aviv since almost exactly 50 years ago with the Yom Kippur war. So this is a significant historical moment, and one of the few certainties now is that a big Israeli military counter-response – which started over the weekend – will build in days to come.

An intelligence review is also underway into how the terrorist group Hamas was able to plan and launch such a carefully coordinated assault on Israel, seemingly in total secrecy. This is so surprising because Israel’s surveillance of Palestinian society is highly sophisticated.