By Jonathan Kuttab
This question is important because of the prevailing political and media narratives. These narratives claim that what Hamas did on that day, apart from being unprovoked, was so heinous and evil that it excused everything that happened next. This is allowing politicians to claim that the evil of Israel’s genocidal attacks were only a “response” and that blame should be laid squarely at the feet of Hamas. We hear frequently that Israel’s actions were an imperative needed to rid the world of the evil of Hamas.
Since so many of the myths perpetuated about 7 Oct have been debunked and proven untrue (40 decapitated babies, widespread systematic rapes and the burning of babies) it is important that we know what actually did happen.
My own observations and research on that question run contrary to the popular narrative. It is important to start with the qualification that I am a pacifist and do not think violence is ever the proper response. However, under international law, an oppressed people has the right to resort to armed struggle, provided it is aimed at combatants, not civilians. I personally do not believe violence is the proper or effective way for Palestinians to resist, and I must insist that nonviolence is our best method.
Civilians should have been released at once
Having said that, it needs to be stated that what happened on 7 Oct was first and foremost a brilliant military operation. On that day, the severely under-resourced forces of Hamas, using largely handheld weapons and homemade explosives, effectively penetrated the high tech walls and fences surrounding them. In more than 40 places, Hamas fighters simultaneously breached the fence, attacked and captured two or three army bases, killed more than 340 soldiers (by Israeli reports), captured over 40 additional soldiers, and took them to Gaza to use them for prisoner exchange. In addition, Hamas’s attacks caused the collapse of the entire Israeli security system surrounding Gaza, leaving its borders open for angry Palestinian mobs to attack the surrounding Israeli kibbutzim and communities.
In addition to the legal military actions, Hamas also attacked civilians at a music festival that was held about a mile from their enclave. They also overran a number of Israeli civilian settlements, killing residents, and captured about 200 civilians as hostages. Such attacks on civilians and the taking of civilian hostages is clearly contrary to international law and cannot be justified, particularly since among the hostages were elderly people and children who could not be considered combatants under any circumstances. These civilians should have been immediately released without any conditions. In addition, it must be noted, Hamas fired a barrage of primitive rockets at primarily civilian targets, which is also illegal under international law.
The stunned Israeli forces failed to provide protection to these communities or secure their borders. Instead, under the Hannibal Directive, in order to prevent the taking of hostages back into Gaza, they carried out numerous attacks, mostly by helicopters and tanks. These deadly attacks burned all vehicles moving back towards Gaza. Israel also carried out attacks in the kibbutzim where hostages were being held, killing both Palestinian attackers and Israeli hostages. These attacks killed so many people that the numbers of actual Israeli casualties had to be revised from 1400 to less than 1200, since many bodies had been burnt beyond recognition. It was later discovered that these victims were not in fact Israeli civilians or soldiers, but Palestinians. A recent report said that 28 Israeli helicopter gunships used up all their ammunition and had to return to reload that day.
Claims justifying the demonisation of Hamas
Every person killed on that day is a universe unto themselves and such deaths are truly to be mourned, whether soldiers or civilians. Their deaths were the direct results of Hamas’s attack, even if it was Israeli soldiers who actually killed them under the Hannibal Directive. Likewise, the terrifying experience of being captured and held captive for political reasons is never acceptable or justifiable anywhere, anytime.
However, I still believe these corrections to the popular narrative are necessary.
Although horrible and unspeakable, false narratives of exaggerated crimes by Hamas, and uncertainty about how many of the Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinian mobs or Israeli forces needs to be further investigated. This is especially true since the behaviour of Hamas has been viewed and condemned as barbaric, and is proclaimed to be integral to Hamas’s identity and character. These claims are aimed at justifying the demonisation of, and subsequent attempts to destroy, Hamas. Anything, including civilian structures, institutions, events and people alleged to be associated with Hamas in any way were thus proclaimed to be legitimate targets for destruction and annihilation.
What also happened on 7 Oct was the traumatic collapse of Israel’s vaunted security arrangements, its intelligence apparatus, its constant surveillance, its military doctrine and its deterrence. The attack triggered past traumas from centuries of antisemitic persecution and the Holocaust, evoking fears of the destruction of Jewish life in Palestine, akin to the destruction of the First and Second Temples. It also triggered fears akin to every settler-colonial movement of the “revolt of the natives.” All these fears and traumas were triggered by 7 Oct, and in many ways enabled the massive and totally disproportionate genocidal response. The Seventh of October was not viewed as another episode in the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, but as an existential event pertaining to the very survival of the state of Israel and the Jewish people as a whole.
Every Life, A Universe,
Jonathan Kuttab is a co-founder of the Palestinians human rights group al-Haq, and an international human rights lawyer
