The unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, which killed some 1,200 Israelis, has exposed chinks in Israel’s security model, brought the Palestine issue back to the fore of West Asia’s geopolitical cauldron and triggered a massive military response from Israel.
Ever since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, there were several conflicts between Israel and the group, in which thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Israelis were killed. But this time, given the magnitude of Israel’s losses, it is going to be different. What is unfolding now is the most serious conflict between the two sides ever since Hamas was born.
It is an irony that Hamas, whose founding members were encouraged by Israel in the 1970s and 1980s against Yasser Arafat’s secular national movement, has turned out to be Israel’s biggest rival in the Palestinian territories.
Will West Asia be the same ever again?
Read more: What is Hamas, the Palestinian militant group?
What are Israel’s options after the Hamas attack? | Analysis
Presentation and script: Sonikka Loganathan
Guest: Stanly Johny
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