In the Media

October 7, 2023 is a day that will go down in infamy, joining September 11 in the ugly historical milestones of terrorist atrocity.

As more is uncovered about what happened, new depths of evil depravity are revealed.

More than 1200 Israelis were brutally slaughtered, 260 of them gunned down at an overnight music festival.

Forty babies and toddlers were murdered in one kibbutz alone, some of them decapitated — among more than 100 victims in that one small community of around 1000.

Other small communities suffered similar decimation.

Hamas terrorists went door to door across southern Israel massacring residents, setting houses on fire and then murdering the fleeing residents, and pulling drivers from their cars and executing them.

More than 2800 Israelis were wounded in this orgy of bestiality.

Women were gang-raped.

Up to 150 people of all ages, from tiny children to the elderly and disabled, were kidnapped – taken back to Gaza as hostages and taunted and physically abused while being paraded triumphantly through the streets by their sadistic captors, who are now threatening to execute them in the style of Islamic State.

Meanwhile, more than 4500 rockets have been indiscriminately fired at Israeli towns.

Most Australians have appreciated the true nature of this evil, and most political leaders have made appropriately empathetic and outraged responses.

The Australian Jewish community was heartened to see so many landmarks throughout the country join those overseas being lit up in the blue and white of Israel’s flag in solidarity.

However, some shamefully celebrated the carnage and demonstrated in favour of the perpetrators, with Jews, incredibly, warned to avoid Sydney’s centre for their own safety.

Let’s be absolutely clear. No grievance justifies the wanton slaughter and torture of innocents, and celebrating such acts is beneath contempt.

Others paid lip service to condemning the terrorists, but then blamed Israel’s alleged “oppression” of the Palestinians or failure to allow a Palestinian state.

In fact Palestinian leaders are to blame for the lack of a two-state peace, having refused offers of statehood in 2000, 2001 and 2008 without even negotiating further, despite these offers containing virtually everything the Palestinians said they wanted.

Further attempts to negotiate were rebuffed.

Israel’s most significant concession, totally withdrawing from Gaza in 2005, not only failed to bring peace closer, but, in a tragic irony, ultimately enabled the events of October 7, after Hamas took control there in 2007.

What Israel’s critics like to mischaracterise as Israeli “oppression”, such as checkpoints, fences and raids, are only necessary because of Palestinian terrorism.

In any case, Hamas definitely doesn’t care about a two-state peace.

It is a genocidal terror group that makes patently clear its aim is the destruction of the Jewish state and the death or exile of its Jewish citizens.

Its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, followed up the attacks on Saturday by declaring Jews must “Get out” of all of Israel.

Most informed analysis suggests Hamas struck now, after consultation with the rogue Iranian regime that arms, funds and trains it, because Israel and Saudi Arabia were coming close to normalisation.

The last thing Hamas or Iran want is Middle East peace.

It is a shame our Government didn’t adopt a senate committee recommendation this February to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, responsible for the activities of Iran’s many terrorist proxies including Hamas, as a terrorist group itself.

It should reconsider this decision.

US President Joe Biden said on October 10 that he told Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu, “if the United States experienced what Israel is experiencing,” its response “would be swift, decisive, and overwhelming.”

Israel’s will be too. Its right of self-defence means not just that it must stop the current attacks, but that it has both a right and obligation to make sure Hamas can never do this again.

Of course, Israel must only use proportionate force, as defined by international law.

This does not mean it can only use similar weapons to those used against it, or only kill the same number of people as Hamas killed, as is often implied.

Proportionality simply means Israel may use whatever force is necessary to achieve its legitimate military objectives — in this case destroying Hamas infrastructure and military capabilities — but not more force than is necessary.

Israeli forces will no doubt seek to avoid civilian casualties by warning them to evacuate before attacking, as they have done in previous Gaza conflicts.

Meanwhile, Hamas will no doubt commit the war crime of hiding behind its civilians, among houses, mosques, schools and even hospitals, as in the past.

Currently, much of the international community is rightly supporting Israel in the face of its horrific losses.

This support must continue as Israel conducts a difficult campaign needed to uproot this vile terror group from densely-populated Gaza.

As well as being the only moral course, the whole international community benefits when terrorism is defeated.

Dr Colin Rubenstein is Executive Director of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).