Palestinian militant factions, notably Hamas, instigated a full-blown assault against Israel from the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023. The assault, the first of its magnitude since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, saw the militants penetrate the heavily fortified Gaza–Israel barrier and infiltrate Israeli settlements and military bases through the Gaza border crossings.
The Hamas-led offensive, named Operation al-Aqsa Storm, commenced under the cover of the early morning with an onslaught of rockets against Israel. This was followed by bold and calculated incursions into Israeli-controlled territories using military vehicles, with numerous assaults on Israeli civilian settlements and military stations.
The gravity of these confrontations led some observers to speculate that this could possibly mark the inception of a third Palestinian intifada. The last instance of such an overt…
