It has been four months since Hamas invaded Israel, sparking the war in the region. Questions and speculation regarding what actually happened on October 7 has created a gap in the ongoing narrative. 

There are numerous reasons why Hamas’s invasion of Israel was so deadly, the first is lack of preparation for an insurgent type of attack by Hamas. Regardless of the size or might of your military, it is very difficult to mobilize troops in the event of an insurgent invasion. 

“All militaries including Israel’s have a problem dealing with unconventional types of militaries,” said Dr. Jacek Lubecki, associate professor of political science at Georgia Southern.

The second factor was that Israel also relied too much on the passive defenses along the border with Gaza, which were a system of sensors and fences, according to the Washington Post.

“There were few hardened defenses because Israel did not expect some type of major conventional breaching of the security border followed by an attack against Israel,” said Lubecki.

The third factor that allowed Oct. 7 to be so deadly was Netanyahu’s lack of adequate troop allocation in Gaza. 

“A large part of Netanyahu’s agenda is to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank, so Israeli troops were not around Gaza, they were in the West Bank supporting that agenda,” said Lubecki. 

Benjamin Netanyahu received numerous warnings from Egyptian, U.S. and Israeli intelligence that some type of incursion was coming and did not adequately prepare, according to the New York Times. Netanyahu’s failure to act raises questions as to why he allowed it to happen. 

“Years from now books and documents will show the truth because apparently the Egyptian, U.S. and Israeli intelligence were actually warning the prime minister of the possibility of such incursion,” said Lubecki. 

When Hamas invaded Israel they kidnapped around 250 Israeli nationals as well as other foreigners. Following the end of the ceasefire in November 2023, Israel believes over 132 hostages still remain in Gaza, according to the AJC.

The IDF has continuously been fighting to destroy Hamas’s military infrastructure. The IDF has destroyed 17 of the 24 battalions Hamas has, according to Eylon Levy, an IDF spokesperson. 

Levy stated that the IDF is “Taking active steps to shield civilians from harm.”  

The number of Palestinian civilian deaths paint a different picture. 25,105 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to NPR.

From a geopolitical perspective, the hostages are Hamas’s last bargaining chip with Israel. Hamas’s goal is to bargain the hostages for a complete withdrawal of the IDF in Gaza and grant them complete control according to the Wall Street Journal.
Hamas’s peace plan has already been rejected by Netanyahu,

“We will not end the war before we complete all of its goals: the elimination of Hamas, the return of all our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” said Netanyahu 

In the peace plan Hamas calls for hostage exchanges, humanitarian aid, withdrawal from the region and Israel must rebuild infrastructure it destroyed according to Aljazeera. 

When analyzing geopolitics, one has to digest the information given at face value in addition to reading between the lines, understanding the full implications that every power play creates. 

One perspective makes the claim that Netanyahu benefits from the instability Hamas creates for the Palestinian people. 

“Part of the whole bargain so to speak, was the notion that Netanyahu especially embraced, that Hamas rule in Gaza actually serves Israeli interests because by dividing the Palestinian side into two sides, ” said Lubecki.

“It weakens the claim and through Hamas’s constant non-recognition of Israel and Hamas’s inability to appear as a legitimate actor, Israel could always say that there is not a credible Palestinian peace offer and that Palestinians are divided and at least part of the Palestinian society and state is just hostile to Israel so there is no peace to talk about so there is no two-state solution, so the only solution is permanent occupation of  Palestinian territories and blockade of Gaza which is the solution,” said Lubecki. 

By analyzing this perspective, it is clear that there is no good guy or bad guy in this situation. A symbiotic relationship has been created which perpetuates a cycle of instability for the Gazan people by eliminating the possibility of a two-state solution. 

Hamas thrives off the instability it creates in Gaza by dividing the people into pro-Hamas and anti-Hamas. In addition, the Israeli government justifies the brutal force it uses against the Gazan people under the blanket of denying Hamas any legitimacy because both sides condemn one another.

How this situation unfolded in the first place is because of the lack of a two-state solution for the Palestinian people. A three-part plan called the Biden Doctrine is in the works that will hopefully bring peace and stability into the region. The Biden Doctrine’s first part is to create a firm stand against Iran and their proxies. The second part calls for “Some form of U.S. recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” said Thomas L. Friedman. The third part aims to create an expanded U.S security alliance with Saudi Arabia. 

Peace must be achieved in the region but a two-state solution is unlikely without major intervention from the United States and the U.N.