The Long Year: How Oct. 7 Changed the Middle East

Israel and Iran are more willing to accept risk and engage in conflict, but the ultimate goal of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack appears to have been thwarted.

Rachel Goldberg, mother of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, holds his photo near the border with the Gaza Strip in Nirim, Israel, on Aug. 29, 2024. Goldberg-Polin’s body was discovered in a tunnel in Gaza on Aug. 31, 2024, along with the bodies of five other hostages. All six were shot by Hamas before the arrival of Israeli forces. Amir Levy/Getty Images

One year after the devastating Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, the Middle East is a region changed.

The Hamas terrorist group lies crippled, with its control over Gaza likely never to be restored. The Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon is quickly being degraded by a precise Israeli ground and naval campaign. Iran, though more aggressive than ever, has failed to defeat Israel’s robust missile defense systems.