“We have made tremendous progress, but there are still missions we must carry out, and we intend to complete them,” declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the memorial ceremonies for October 7.

Three years after Hamas’s attack on southern Israel—the deadliest in the country’s history—with Israeli fire still raging in the martyred, blood-stained Gaza or in devastated southern Lebanon—and with the deadlocked war in Iran now in its eighth month—Netanyahu speaks only of wars.

“All those who took part in the attack against us, all those who held our hostages, are living on borrowed time,” he said of Hamas.

He pledged to continue attacks against Hezbollah in order to “create an opportunity for peace” with Lebanon. “As for Iran, we will not allow the Ayatollah regime in Tehran to threaten our very existence.”

It was a campaign-style speech ahead of the October 27 parliamentary elections, with the Israeli prime minister presenting himself as the guarantor of national security, while fighting for his political (and legal, in his corruption trial) survival.

His statements echo his recent speech before a nearly empty hall at the 81st UN General Assembly, where he defended his country’s military action as “a battle against the barbarians,” speaking of a “war on seven fronts: Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq, militias in Syria, Palestinian terrorists in Judea and Samaria”—that is, the West Bank, which is occupied, undergoing intensified settlement activity, and mired in violence perpetrated by extremist settlers.

On its third anniversary, October 7 finds Israel in ever-greater international isolation and the Middle East in a fluid realignment amid the clang of weapons.

Meanwhile, questions within Israel are mounting.

Did Netanyahu know about October 7?

“The Israeli Right wants October 7 to last forever,” writes Yoana Gonen, a columnist for Haaretz.

“Warnings against a ‘return to the rhetoric of October 6’ have turned unity into a shield for Netanyahu, silenced calls for accountability, and shielded the policies that led to disaster.”

Three years later, the wars have not made Israel safer, while the question of whether—and exactly what—Benjamin Netanyahu knew before Hamas’s deadly attack is the most explosive issue of the current election campaign.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, had warned the Israeli prime minister by phone of an imminent major Hamas operation, a few days before October 7.

The American magazine *The Atlantic* reported that the head of Egypt’s intelligence service, Abbas Kamel, had traveled to Israel on September 26, 2023, conveying a similar warning to Israeli officials.

The Israeli prime minister speaks of “lies” and is taking legal action against journalists.

He maintains that he never personally received any briefing and places the blame on top security officials.

However, he stubbornly refuses to establish an independent investigative committee, turning a deaf ear to criticism from the opposition and the demands of public opinion.

A recent survey by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) shows that 75% of Israelis support a commission of inquiry into the events of October 7.

This support cuts across political lines, with 52% of voters for the parties in the governing coalition expressing the same view.

Now, questions are also being raised about security protocols in connection with the case of the alleged attempted terrorist attack on the Flydubai flight, following Haaretz’s revelation that Israel had received the passenger and crew list for flight FZ1073 in advance.

“Scorched Earth”

“Although I do not wish to place the blame on any single leader, it is clear that the war [in Gaza] could have ended a year earlier than it did, with the same agreement to release all the hostages,” said retired Israeli Major General Nitzan Alon, former chief negotiator for the 251 hostages, retired Israeli Major General Nitzan Alon, former chief negotiator for the 251 hostages held by Hamas following the October 7, 2023, attack.

In retaliation for the 1,195 deaths on that “Black Saturday” (including 828 civilians, among them 36 children and 71 foreigners) and to secure the release of the hostages, Israel launched two years of devastating war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 74,000 Palestinians, the overwhelming majority of whom were civilians.

Thousands more are estimated to be buried under tons of rubble, in an enclave where nearly the entire population has been displaced and is experiencing a spiraling humanitarian crisis.

A UN fact-finding mission, international organizations, Israeli human rights groups, academics, and experts in international law are speaking out about genocide.

Even after the ceasefire imposed by the U.S. last October, Israeli attacks have not stopped, resulting in an additional 1,430 Palestinian deaths.

The implementation of the second phase of Trump’s peace plan has been tragically delayed, amid the war in Iran and now in the run-up to the Israeli elections and the November 3 midterm elections in the U.S.

Hamas has not been disarmed.

Israel has expanded its occupation to 70% of the Gaza Strip, while the situation in the occupied West Bank is explosive.

Since October 7, 2023, at least 1,200 Palestinians have been killed there—including in occupied East Jerusalem—by attacks carried out by the Israeli army and Jewish settlers.

Meanwhile, Palestinian parliamentary elections—the first in two decades—are scheduled for November 28.

The Middle East in Turmoil

Three years later, the wars have not made Israel any safer, nor have they healed the collective trauma of October 7.

The Middle East is in a state of perpetual instability, having transformed from a region of contained tensions into a multi-front regional conflict.

The war launched jointly by the U.S. and Israel against Iran has strengthened the hardliners in Tehran and is putting pressure on the Gulf states, the energy market, and the global economy, with the Houthi rebels in Yemen now having entered the “game.”

The “Axis of Resistance” has not been dismantled.

Hezbollah, though weakened, maintains a strong “presence” in Lebanon.

Hamas remains dominant in the Gaza Strip.

Despite the belated recognition of the State of Palestine by Western countries and the imposition of sanctions on trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the prospect of a two-state solution seems more distant than ever.

In a fluid geopolitical landscape, Israel has extended its occupation to Syrian territories as well.

Tensions and mutual threats between Tel Aviv and Ankara have escalated.

Now added to the mix is the defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and nuclear-armed Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the Americans have just completed their military withdrawal from Iraq and are reassessing the future of their bases in the Middle East, which have sustained serious damage from Iranian missiles and drones.

“We must pave the political path toward lasting peace throughout the region,” said outgoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said on the occasion of the third anniversary of October 7.

“May this not be just another year of mourning, but also an expression of renewed determination to build a different future,” he emphasized.

The suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza “must end—now,” he stressed, and Hamas’s “atrocities” “must never be repeated.”

Source: In.gr