Written by: Dr. Sabir Abu Maryam
Secretary General Palestine Foundation Pakistan
(Palestine Foundation Information Center), October 7, 2023, became a day in Israel’s military and intelligence history that dealt a severe blow to its years-old claim of invincibility. Recently, news has been published in the media, in which an inquiry has also been called for against the top officials and institutions of the Israeli army for the failure of October 7. That is, now the Israeli military leadership itself is admitting this failure and demanding an external and comprehensive inquiry. Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir said that an internal investigation alone is not enough, but a comprehensive and independent investigation is indispensable so that such a failure does not happen again.
The Israeli army’s internal investigation admitted that the army failed in its basic mission on October 7, namely the protection of civilians. According to reports, there were intelligence warnings but they were not properly analyzed, border defense preparedness was inadequate, and the response was delayed.
As far as the Israeli response is concerned, the occupying Zionist army has set a protocol which states that if Israel is attacked by another country’s army, Israel can not only neutralize the military attack within the next five minutes but can also attack the attacking country within the same five minutes. But the facts of October 7 tell us that a few dozen Hamas soldiers launched an incredible operation against the occupying Zionist army which not only defeated the occupying Israeli army but also paralyzed the Israeli army for four hours and as a result, several Israeli soldiers were taken prisoner and important secret documents and records from Intelligence Unit 8200 also fell into the hands of Palestinian resistance fighters.
Now that there is talk of conducting an external inquiry into Israel’s failure and the October 7 operation and determining who is responsible for the Israeli army’s negligence, it is also important to see what other reasons the Zionist army had to admit its failure after October 7.
The first reason may be that after October 7, the Israeli army announced that Hamas and all those affiliated with this organization who attacked the Israeli army would be eliminated. Israel had announced at the beginning of the war that Hamas would be uprooted, but despite the long war, extensive destruction, and heavy bombing, Hamas’s military and organizational structure could not be completely eliminated. Resistance operations are taking place again in various areas. Even today, if we examine it, we see that Hamas still exists in Gaza and is not just a remnant, but is fighting with all its might against the Zionist army.
The main reason for the second failure is that the Israeli government linked military operations to the release of hostages, but for several months most of the hostages returned only through negotiations or exchanges. In some cases, there were reports of the deaths of the hostages themselves during Israeli operations, which increased internal pressure. Therefore, it has now become clear to Israel that after October 7, Israel and its occupying army faced failure.
Another failure that Israel faced on the global level was the lack of global public opinion in favor of the occupying Zionist state of Israel. Due to the large-scale civilian deaths, destruction, famine and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Israel faced severe international criticism. The United Nations and international organizations issued reports on allegations of war crimes and human rights violations. So much so that the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
In the news broadcast in the Israeli media, where the recognition of Israel’s failures was highlighted, it was also said that after October 7, Israel had to face internal differences. There were continuous protests against the Netanyahu government. The Israeli people and the opposition raised questions about how an attack like October 7 was possible. The government was also accused of avoiding a state inquiry. Now an external inquiry into the events of October 7 is also being demanded.
In the long war imposed on Gaza, where human genocide took place in Gaza, on the other hand, due to the actions of the Palestinian resistance, Israel also suffered large-scale economic losses, that is, the long war and resistance also weakened Israel economically. The long war, the continuous call-up of reserve soldiers, the lack of tourism, pressure on investment, and the evacuation of northern and southern settlements put a burden on the Israeli economy.
On the other hand, after October 7, Hezbollah also launched a major front against Israel on the northern border of southern Lebanon, i.e. Palestine, which severely damaged Israel’s military and military strength. Israel tried to put pressure on the northern border, but Hezbollah kept Israel on the defensive with continuous rockets, drones and border attacks. Even today, the situation is that the occupying Israeli army has failed to gain even an inch in southern Lebanon. Thousands of people had to be evacuated from Israeli areas near the southern Lebanese border. This was a psychological and political loss for Israel because it was finding it difficult to protect its population. In this war that began on October 7, the tension in Lebanon along with the war in Gaza increased the pressure on the Israeli army. Reports also came that Israel was already focusing its attention on the northern front, which led to neglect of the Gaza border. Israel did not want a full-scale war in Lebanon and
