In the early hours of October 6th, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1400, abducting 199 people, and injuring thousands more.

Almost exactly 50 years after the Yom Kippur War–which was also a surprise attack against Israel–Hamas attacked Israel from air, land, and sea. The attacks began at the Nova Festival near the Gaza-Israel border. This festival gathered nearly 3,500 young Israelis to celebrate the end of the high holidays. The festivities were first interrupted by the booming of missiles, warning the people attending the festival to take cover. However, missiles weren’t the only danger. Hamas terrorists raided the festival, and, according to CNN, killed 260 people and abducted 100 more.
The land attacks were not limited to this festival. Hamas militants stormed into Israeli streets, homes, and Kibbutzim (intentional communities). Israeli officials have confirmed that 199 people have been captured by Hamas and are being held hostage in Gaza. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Israeli death total is up to 1,400 as of the time of this writing. The Hamas assault on Israel marks the most Jews killed in a singular period of time since the Holocaust.

The Atlantic cited video footage of abducted Israelis being taken to the Gaza Strip and paraded through it. According to the Atlantic, “Two widely circulated videos have sparked outrage because of the apparent sexual assaults they depict”. This display of capturing humans qualifies as terrorism. According to the United Nations Security Council, terrorist acts are “criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror.”

Hamas’s air attacks were thwarted by Israel’s most advanced defense system, The Iron Dome, an incredibly high-tech air defense system designed to shoot down incoming projectiles. It is equipped with a radar that detects rockets and shoots them down if they pose a threat. Since the surprise attack, Hamas has launched more than 4,500 rockets at Israel, most of which have been intercepted by the Iron Dome. Due to the sheer number of missiles, however, some of them have been able to bypass the Iron Dome, landing in Tel Aviv.

While this attack is related to the long-running feud between Israel and Palestine, there is a stark difference between Palestine and Hamas.

Although these terms are often used interchangeably, Hamas is a political group that has been deemed a terrorist organization by many countries across the globe, including the United States and the European Union. Contrarily, Palestinians are citizens of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (Gaza is immediately to Israel’s northwest while the West Bank borders Israel’s northeast). So, while Hamas is associated with Palestine, they are not the same thing. Hamas’s mission, according to article 32 of their covenant, is to equip themselves in “their future role in the fight against the warmongering Jews.”

Now, we, as the writers, would like to take an editorial aside to address that we recognize that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is nuanced and complex. We would also like to point out that there is a great deal of misinformation surrounding this conflict, and reliable news is hard to find, which can contribute to misunderstandings on both sides.

The Israel-Palestine conflict contains decades of political and human rights issues. Many people, for example, disagree with the policies of the Israeli government. That being said, this political disagreement does not excuse Hamas–a terrorist group’s–actions, and should not equate to accepting the murder of innocent Israelis. Indeed, under all circumstances the innocent death of any civilian is an injustice.

We also want to reiterate that the actions of Hamas do not reflect the desires of the Palestinian people. In fact, Hamas’s decision to launch a surprise attack has put millions of innocent Palestinian lives at risk, because of the conflict in Gaza that has followed. These terrorist attacks are also unlikely to lead to greater Palestinian freedoms and rights.

Hamas as a terrorist group is not interested in protecting human rights, or arriving at a political solution to the conflict. Hamas is attacking Israel for the purpose of killing all Jews–as article 7 in their covenant states, “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them.” Hamas murdering, raping, and torturing innocent Israeli civilians does nothing to end the territorial disputes between Palestine and Israel. It only adds to the decades-long cycle of innocent lives lost on both sides. This is a human rights issue, not a political issue.
May we all have sympathy for the people of Israel and Palestine.

עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו, הוּא יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם
עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל [וְעַל כָּל־יוֹשְׁבֵי תֵבֵל,
וְאִמְרוּ: אָמֵן.

(May the one who creates peace on high places bring peace to us and to all of Israel [and to all who dwell on earth.]