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# Israel’s Gaza conundrum
- URL: https://otherwise.ghost.io/israels-gaza-conundrum-234/
- Published: 2025-08-10T13:57:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-17T13:43:53.000Z
- Author: Khaled Salih
- Tags: Podcast, #Migrated-1792244264359, #Import 2026-10-17 14:38

By Khaled Salih

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d6/2c/d62cdd13-a476-41c5-8f2c-29270c99d95d/content/images/2026/10/4257366c-a2e7-4a61-b888-f9dd94b920c3_1024x1024-heic.jpg)

> “The most regrettable thing in this situation is not that the attack was large, but rather that the attack was not large enough to capture 3,500 prisoners \[hostages\] instead of the number of prisoners, which is approximately 250-350.” \[p. 23\]  
>  
> *— Ahmed Abu Suhayb* 
>  
> *Senior commander in Hamas’s missile force in Gaza*

**Imagine this**

You start a war against a country.

That is what happened on 7 October 2023.

On that day, thousands of armed members of Hamas and other terrorist organisations launched simultaneous and coordinated attacks against civilian communities and military bases in southern Israel. This assault was described as unprecedented in its scale, the multiplicity of attack sites, the number of victims, and the extreme brutality of the acts committed. Prior to and during the infiltration, Hamas launched over 500 rockets into Israel, serving partly to mask their entry and create chaos and fear. The attack was underpinned by an extreme ideology rooted in explicit genocidal intent and the fundamental dehumanisation of the Jewish people. Documents and religious rulings recovered from Hamas operatives indicated that they were instructed to act with extreme brutality against Jews, soldiers, and civilians, with one ruling stating it was permissible to kill or take everyone (including children, women, and the elderly) as hostages.

During the attack, more than 1,200 people were brutally murdered, and many others were injured. A defining feature of the atrocities was the widespread and heinous acts of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV). This sexual violence occurred across at least six different locations: the Nova music festival, Route 232, Nahal Oz military base, and Kibbutzim Re’im, Nir Oz, and Kfar Aza. Most victims of these sexual assaults were murdered during or immediately after the attacks, leading to their permanent silencing. Clear patterns of sexual violence emerged, including victims found partially or fully naked with their hands tied, often to structures like trees or poles; evidence of gang rapes followed by execution; genital mutilation; and public humiliation. Specific acts documented included attempted rape, sexual assault, forced sexual acts, forced nudity, verbal and physical sexual harassment, and threats of forced marriage. Accounts from morgue attendants described bodies with objects inserted into their private parts and signs of shooting or other mutilations in the genitalia area. Visual evidence included footage depicting sexual humiliation and assault, such as the dead body of Shani Louk being paraded in Gaza, almost fully naked, surrounded by cheering terrorists. Intercepted communications also included a Hamas terrorist referring to a female captive as a “sabaya,” a term associated with sexual slavery. The sexual violence also continued in captivity, with released hostages reporting forced nudity, physical and verbal sexual harassment, sexual assaults, and threats of forced marriage. Additionally, Hamas terrorists actively tried to destroy crime scenes and victims’ bodies, with numerous sites and bodies deliberately burned. \[Dinah Project\]

Then **imagine** a devastating war as a consequence of your actions: The level of destruction in Gaza as a direct consequence of the attack on October 7, 2023, is unprecedented in recent history. Vast destruction of buildings, infrastructure, cultural sites, farmland, and the natural environment. The sheer scale has rendered much of the Gaza Strip uninhabitable and has resulted in long-term humanitarian, social, economic, psychological, and reconstructive challenges.

After all of that calamity, **imagine** you write a book in Arabic in Gaza in order to assess your own ideology, actions, and the reaction of your enemy. What would you regret? That you started the war? That you underestimated the strength of your enemy? The suffering of your people as a result of your adventure? So far, I have not seen any proper discussion among Palestinians about these issues. Recently, I came across a post on Substack (thank you, Alex Stein) about a book that should have covered all these issues. That book in Arabic is written by a senior commander in Hamas’s missile force in Gaza, signed on December 14, 2024, and published in January 2025.

**Imagine** you are an Israeli decision-maker on the war in Gaza and see only one regret from a military commander in Gaza.

> “The most regrettable thing in this situation is not that the attack was large, but rather that the attack was not large enough to capture 3,500 prisoners \[hostages\] instead of the number of prisoners, which is approximately 250-350.”

Such a statement, stripped of any reflection on the devastation inflicted upon both peoples, starkly illuminates the uncompromising mindset that continues to drive the conflict. It underscores that, for key Hamas leaders, the October 7th assault was not a tragic miscalculation but an incomplete success, to be measured only in terms of enemy casualties and hostages taken. For Israel’s decision-makers and opinion-makers, this chilling absence of remorse reinforces the view that Gaza is not merely a territorial or political challenge, but a persistent and existential threat rooted in ideology and history, a reality shaped by decades of conflict, failed peace efforts, and the unresolved consequences of the 2005 disengagement.

There is an intricate and often painful relationship between Israel and Gaza, particularly since the 2005 disengagement and its lasting consequences, culminating in the October 7th attacks. It highlights how the disengagement, driven by a deep disillusionment after the First and Second Intifadas, was a pragmatic attempt to address demographic concerns and avoid imposed peace, yet it inadvertently fostered a betrayal of security due to an over-reliance on technology. The text also explores the profound ideological trauma it caused for the religious Zionist right and frames Gaza as a persistent, existential threat to Israel, drawing parallels between Hamas and historical adversaries. Finally, it delves into the post-October 7th debate over re-occupying Gaza City, presenting both religious and *halachic* justifications for an obligatory war against Hamas, alongside moral limitations on warfare and significant warnings about the potential catastrophic consequences of re-occupation without national unity or considering military fatigue.