Hamas attack on Israel: An act of terrorism

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The Hamas, Palestine militants, like Pakistan sponsored Kashmiri terrorists, launched a surprise attack on Israel, breaching security barriers and a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza, at dawn during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah on 7 October morning. Hamas fired a huge barrage of rockets into southern Israel with sirens heard as far away as Tel Aviv and Beersheba. The smart fence was breached at 29 points, according to the Israel Defence Forces. Though there were Israeli guard towers positioned every 500 feet along the perimeter of the wall at some points, the fighters appeared to encounter little resistance.

The smart fence is a 20ft-high, razor wire-topped metal fence with an underground concrete barrier that runs for 65 km along the Gaza Strip. Completed in 2021, it is equipped with cutting-edge surveillance technology to prevent underground and overground attacks. It required more than 140,000 tonnes of iron and steel, according to Reuters, and the installation of hundreds of cameras, radars and sensors. Access near the fence on the Gaza side was limited to farmers on foot. On the Israeli side, observation towers and sand dunes were put in place to monitor threats and slow intruders. Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, mastermind the ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ missile attack on Israel. So there is no difference between the Pakistan-sponsored terrorists and the Hamas of Palestine.

The Hamas gunmen had only one common purpose of shooting anyone they encountered: pedestrians, people at a bus stop, motorists and motorcyclists. Bodies in pools of blood lay about. Cars were pockmarked with bullet holes or crumpled after crashing into barriers once their drivers were shot. The stunned Israelis watched in horror as fighters easily bypassed one of the world’s most advanced security systems. This is, of course, the biggest intelligence failure in Israel’s history. Hamas’s stabbing and shooting civilians and slitting their throats cannot, however, reasonably be described as a justifiable form of fighting repression; nor have such means been used historically by any national liberation movement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not make any mistake by promptly condemning the terrorist attacks in Israel and he also conveyed that the people of India stand in solidarity with Israel in this difficult hour. He reiterated that India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

The Hamas terrorists did not distinguish between civilians and army or police. They killed both with equal cold-bloodedness. Killing civilians is indefensible, whether done by Hamas or Israel. Killing civilians is a humanitarian issue. It is the duty not to target innocent people regardless of what they believe. The terrorism is a big challenge for the world. The terrorism, wherever it may be, for whatever reason, in whatever form, is against humanity. The terrorism in all its forms and manifestations regardless of motivations behind such acts, and wherever, whenever and by whomever committed should be condemned, there cannot be any exception or justification for any act of terrorism. It is also necessary to recognise that the menace of terrorism cannot be and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group. No country should justify and glorify terrorism, and should never follow double standards. The world must unite to fight against the terrorists.

India has been the victim of terrorism for many decades. It may be recalled the 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as ’India’s 9/11', the mayhem in Mumbai which was orchestrated by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), a Pakistani terror group with ties to Pakistani intelligence. Over four terrifying days, 10 gunmen besieged India’s financial capital. They assaulted two hotels, a restaurant, a hospital, a railway station, and a Jewish community centre. They mowed down people in a busy railway station. They killed 164 people.

The Indian Parliament was attacked by the Pakistani terrorists on 13 December 2001. The attack was carried out by five armed assailants and resulted in the deaths of six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel, and a gardener. The entire five attackers were killed by security forces. The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) – two militant groups operating from Pakistan perpetrated the attack.

September 11, 2001 saw a terror attack in the U.S., carried out by 19 members of the Al-Qaeda group led by Osama bin Laden, killed nearly 3,000 people, including all 19 terrorists. The 9/11 attacks killed over 2,600 people at the World Trade Centre in New York City, while 125 were reported to be dead at the Pentagon and 256 passengers died on the planes.

We may recall that India is the first country in the world which raised the question of terrorism in various world forums including the United Nations Assembly and called upon the countries to unite against the terrorist attacks. India is persistently pursuing the same policy in the case of Israel-Palestine conflict, insisting on the unity among all nations.

The United States and the European Union issued statements condemning Hamas’ terrorist actions and expressing support for Israel. United States President Joe Biden has spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas, while the Secretary of State is working with senior Palestinian and Israeli and regional leaders. The United States also remains intensely engaged with officials from Israel, Egypt and Qatar to establish conditions for a sustainable calm.

While China has taken a different stand, it did not condemn the Hamas’s attack on Israel. China has repeatedly called for Israel’s unconditional withdrawal from Palestinian territories. China did not mention the Palestinian militant group Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip. Because the prolonged chaos in the Middle East benefits China’s strategic interests in its competition with the West, just as China can exploit the Russia-Ukraine conflict to disrupt Western nations and drain the resources of the democratic world.

Pakistan, the epicentre of terrorism, it is quite expected that it will support the Hamas militant group. Pakistan is typically a harsh critic of Israel, with which it has no diplomatic relations, and a defender of Palestinian rights. The countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia have pointedly blamed the conflict on Israeli policy.

The world must understand that the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul on the eve of the twentieth anniversary of 9/11 as a historic benchmark and a turning point, which called for a greater focus on the humanitarian dimension and the unfolding catastrophe. All must work together to ensure that Afghanistan cannot ever, ever again be a base for terrorists.

Despite differences, Saudi Arabia and some other Muslim countries such as Egypt have increased efforts to stabilize ties with Israel. Even some Arab states that have not declared official ties with Israel are welcoming visits from Israeli ministers, academics, and athletic teams; forging business relationships in the security sector; and opening their airspace to commercial flights to and from Israel. In other words, they are laying the groundwork for broader normalization in the future. But China and Pakistan, despite fast-changing political circumstances, fail to realize that the world is changing and changing for a better world, a world where everybody could live in peace.