There is breaking news every hour when it comes to the evolving situation in Israel. We learn more about how the Israeli government is responding to the attacks, how the United States is responding, and what this means for the broader geopolitical situation.
These developments are rapidly taking us forward, and into new narratives about what happens next. But it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the horrors that happened—a series of terror attacks against Israeli civilians that’s been rightly labelled as their 9/11.
While we continue to have breaking news about official responses, we also learn more details about the true extent and nature of what Hamas did in those initial assaults.
The cruelty and depravity of the attacks must be understood by all and not forgotten. This was the targeted butchering of hundreds, including children. This time was very different from past flareups in the region.
Take the story of Yoni Asher’s family. The Israeli appeared on MSNBC over the weekend to relay how his wife and two young daughters were taken captive by Hamas terrorists. The family was visiting with relatives close to the Gaza border when Hamas stormed the house.
Asher received a call from his wife telling him they were in the house. Their daughters, aged 2 and 4, were in hiding, but the attackers found them. Asher and his wife were then disconnected. His worst fears were confirmed when he saw social media videos of his family being driven in a truck to Gaza to be held hostage.
Asher hasn’t heard from them again. He just wants his family back. He’s not alone. Hamas took over 150 hostages, many of them families and children. They’ve already executed several hostages and threaten to kill more depending on how Israel retaliates. That’s not a military operation. It’s terrorism.
The depravity and inhumanity of the operation was likewise in display during the attack on a music festival.
Over 250 partiers were killed at the all-night Supernova music festival, after Hamas paragliders flew into the event as the sun rose. Video evidence shows how the brutal killings took place over the course of several hours as terrorists chased people around the venue, killing Israelis and visitors from other countries attending the party. Hamas has also taken hostages from the event.
The killings at the festival went on for so long that a father who received a distressed phone call from his daughter during the beginning of the attack was able to drive from another part of the country to attempt to rescue his daughter all while the attack was still going on. She made it home safe but he is now missing, feared to be captured or killed.
We have learned these attacks weren’t spontaneous but planned over the course of a year. This means they long considered the brutality of what they were going to do and could have had second thoughts—but they didn’t, they went ahead with it.
Whatever you think of the situation in the Middle East, this time more than ever before there is no defending or justifying what happened and the tactics that were used.
It looks like some people who might have otherwise been more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause are now feeling the same way. A prime example is Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, a stalwart of the Canadian left. Chow initially posted a “both sides” style statement showing equal concern for all parties. She then deleted it and instead came down hard on a planned rally in support of Hamas that was held on Oct. 9. “Glorifying this weekend’s indiscriminate violence, including murder and kidnapping of women and children, by Hamas against Israeli civilians is deplorable,” Chow wrote.
The rally was in support of Hamas, was how Chow described it. Some participants may dispute that characterization, saying their show of support was for the Palestinian people and cause more broadly. But the whole point is that you can’t take to the streets in support of Palestine mere days after what occurred without at the very least appearing to be downplaying or rationalizing these atrocities.
This is why, as the news progresses, it’s important we don’t lose sight of the sheer horror of what happened.
