Hamas, a Palestinian militant organization, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, taking 251 hostages and over 1,200 lives. The fact that Israeli leadership allowed a terrorist attack leading to civilian casualties to justify enacting genocidal control over Palestine perfectly demonstrates that Israel never cared about Oct. 7 or civilian lives. Rather, the Israeli government only cared about completely wiping out Palestinians.
Many warnings were sent to the Israeli government. Days before the attack, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn of an assault on Israel. During the 40-minute phone call, Al Nahyan said that a “quake” would hit the region if Israel did not act on the Palestinian prisoner release deal. Similarly, former Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Sufian Abu Zaida also sent a warning weeks before the attack, where he recalled Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar warning there would be an earthquake by the end of September.
Despite multiple warnings, Netenyahu and other Israeli officials failed to protect their citizens. The neglect to enact safeguards seems extremely intentional; not just because they were warned but also because Israeli intelligence is one of the strongest in the world. The fact that this attack happened with no extra defense draws out all the telltale markings of an intentional sacrifice to serve a different, sinister purpose: an excuse to exterminate Palestine.
Hamas and its allies killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages on Oct. 7. The Hamas attack was a tragedy, but it does not provide an excuse for the Israeli government to enact an apartheid and genocidal control over the Palestinian people. While Israel has said that the resulting war is purely to bring back hostages and dismantle Hamas, their actions have almost exclusively displayed a killing spree of Palestinians. The Israeli attacks have included destruction of homes, invasions of mosques and churches, restricting food and medical supplies and subsequently shooting those that approach donated shipments from humanitarian organizations.
Israel has enacted a genocide. Israel knew about the Oct. 7 attack before it happened, while subsequently not sending warnings to the Palestinians or Iranians before their own attacks. But instead of caring about the citizens within its highly protected borders, Netanyahu decided to sacrifice his own so he could exterminate Palestinians. On Oct. 7, 1,200 lives were lost; throughout this genocide 74,382 Palestinians have been murdered and 175,416 injured or starved. The suffrage between the groups cannot be compared. Prioritizing Israeli lives over Palestinian natives is disgusting.