The attack in southern Israel this weekend by Hamas and other militant Palestinian factions from Gaza has delivered another shock to a fragile global order. Even as Israeli forces retook lost territory and unearthed horrific war crimes committed against Israeli civilians, Israel was already launching airstrikes on targets in Gaza whose brutal impact is in turn being felt mainly by Palestinian civilians. In the first hours and days of the carnage unfolding in southern Israel and Gaza, much of the focus was on developments on the battlefield. Widespread support for a punitive land offensive into Gaza to crush Hamas will forge a degree of unity, at least temporarily. Faced with such a grim social context, it is difficult to imagine how both societies can escape the radicalization cycles in which they have become trapped.

Source: The North Africa Journal October 11, 2023 14:13 UTC