Palestinian Journalist: Hamas' October 7 Attack Was The Most Well-Considered Move In The History Of the Conflict And Greatly Benefited The Palestinian Cause

In a series of columns from September 2024 in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam,[1] Abd Al-Majid Sweilem, a journalist and political analyst from Ramallah, defended Hamas and its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which Hamas calls the Al-Aqsa Flood operation. According to Sweilem, Hamas carried out the attack in order to thwart Israeli and American efforts to eliminate the Palestinian national cause. Hamas was motivated by national considerations and by an awareness of the grave threat facing this cause, he said, and that is why it enjoys so much popular support today.

Sweilem rejected the claim made by some Palestinians, that the October 7 attack was a reckless and disastrous adventure.[2] As for the enormous death toll of the war in Gaza, he said that national liberation comes at a steep price, and that the magnitude of the losses is not due to any "miscalculation" on the part of Hamas but rather to Israel's character. In the closing article of the series, he wrote that the attack  was "the most well-considered" and effective operation in the entire history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He explained that "the proponents of the adventure theory" (i.e., Hamas' critics who call the attack a reckless adventure) confine their assessment of the attack to a single parameter – the number of Palestinian casualties – instead of considering other parameters as well, mainly the significant political and psychological damage inflicted on Israel.  

Sweilem concluded that the war triggered by the Hamas attack has brought the Palestinian national cause "to the highest phase of political success" while plunging Israel into a deep internal crisis and even casting doubt on its continued existence as a state.

It should be noted that Sweilem's claims are very similar to the narrative that has been promoted by Hamas itself since the beginning of the war.  

Abd Al-Majid Sweilam (Image: msdrnews.com)

The following are translated excerpts from the last column in the series.[3]

The Palestinian Death Toll Is Not The Only Criterion In Assessing The Outcomes OF The Attack

"In all the previous installments [of this series of articles], I tried to explain that the Al-Aqsa Flood was definitely a calculated strategic move, rather than an impulsive, reckless adventure... I noted that the proponents of the 'adventure' theory – who believe that it was a improvised action based on confused or delusional considerations, and perhaps even on narrow or personal interests – used to argue, and some still argue, that this action provided the occupation state with what it needed in order to decide the conflict [in its favor]... [But] this perspective is essentially short-sighted, confused and false, because it reduces the entire issue to just one aspect – albeit a very important one – namely the magnitude of the [Palestinian] losses and sacrifices. This aspect should not be the sole criterion for assessing [the outcomes of the attack], unless it is a direct cause of what the proponents of the adventure theory call a Nakba or catastrophe, and only if they can prove through logical deduction... that we are inevitably heading toward a Nakba or catastrophe, and that the occupation state has already achieved a complete and final victory.

"[The proponents of this theory] must prove that these sacrifices were in vain; that [Israel's] strategic position is better than it was before the Flood; that this state has removed all the threats that once faced it, as well as those that arose in the context of the Flood; that after [this attack] and after the Nakba it caused, [Israel] has become a hegemonic state that controls the region and has achieved maximum deterrence; that its military and security institutions have restored their prestige and that its society is united around the state... and that, even though the war continues full force and by every means, [Israel] has tightened its control, and will therefore be able to expel [all] the Palestinians or most of them... Without [proving] this, nobody can speak of a catastrophe or a national Nakba..."

Hamas' Surprise Attack On Israel Was A Successful Military Move, Planned In Advance With The Resistance Axis

"The [Al-Aqsa] Flood attack involved no element of haste, improvisation or exclusive [decision-making]. It was preceded by open coordination meetings between several resistance factions in the Gaza Strip, as well as consultations with the resistance axis. There was full coordination with this axis, and discussions about the direct goals, the intermediate goals and the long-term goals of the [Al-Aqsa] Flood, and about all the details, except for the precise timing of the operation...

"[During the attack itself] the Gaza division of the occupation army was paralyzed and incapacitated. The attacking Palestinian forces invaded an area more than three times the size of the [Gaza] Strip, and managed to neutralize more than 22 military positions, bases and camps, which were completely or almost completely destroyed. For over nine full hours there was total confusion and disorientation, and [even] after all those hours, the response of the occupation forces was random, impulsive, and far removed from the principles of military [doctrine]..."

The Resistance Factions Are Still Fighting, With The Help Of The Resistance Axis, And Inflicting Grave Losses On The Enemy

"[After the war broke out,] warships and aircraft carriers began to arrive in the region, weapons started to flow in [from the West], and the largest airbridge in world history was [established], surpassing even those of World War II... In assessments it provided to the West and to  regional countries, Israel judged that its response to the Flood would last no more than six weeks... Yet here we are, after almost a full year of deadly war, and the occupation state has not achieved any of its declared goals, although it used every type of destructive weapons, was given all the time and resources [it needed] to defeat the resistance, [and although] the West, and perhaps some of the regional countries, provided it with all the data, information, expertise, and intelligence technologies they possessed. The resistance factions are still fighting, inflicting heavy losses on the occupation forces, surpassing all the losses [these forces] suffered in previous wars.

"Can this possibly be an improvised, adventurous or random operation, based on confused or delusional considerations? Or is it the exact opposite? Hasn't it been proven that this operation shattered the prestige of the [ostensibly] invincible army?...

"Except for assassinations, which the occupation army and its security apparatuses excel at, except for the murder and torment of civilians, except for deploying every vile method of warfare to destroy and blow up hospitals, schools, universities and homes with all kinds of massive bombs... [except for all that], what military achievements have the Israeli forces made during a full year of blood-soaked war – aside from some achievements that are marginal, compared to the ongoing failures?

"Did all of this happen by chance, or did the resistance prepare for a prolonged war in order to wear down the occupation forces and bring the occupation to [the state of] weakness, isolation, impotence and failure in which it now finds itself? Moreover, did the direct intervention and assistance of the other members of the resistance axis not play a decisive role in exacerbating this impotence[?]…

The Zionist Dream Of Israel As A Safe Haven For The Jews Is At An End; The Al-Aqsa Flood Cast Doubt On Israel's Continued Existence

"The occupation state has lost everything: it has lost itself, for Israeli society has become divided, fragmented, exhausted, weak, desperate and frustrated. It no longer believes that its 'state' is worthy of trust or that it is secure. [Its] future is vague and uncertain, and its political forces fight among themselves over everything... The occupation state has [also] completely lost its role as a victim. All the world's peoples, without exception, now regard it as a criminal, murderous and wicked state, a rogue state and a racist state that commits massacres against civilians and direct ethnic cleansing against millions of Palestinians...

"The occupation state... is now the least secure country in the world. It is the [only] number one state in the world whose only activity for more than 76 years has been transitioning from one war to the next and engaging in ongoing military campaigns without achieving a single guarantee for its continued existence or its ability to secure its future. The Al-Aqsa Flood is precisely the first direct strategic threat to its existence... The occupying state has entered a phase of paralysis, and may be on the verge of [becoming] a failed state. The Zionist dream, that the occupation state would be a safe haven for the Jews of the world, has come to an end...

"The most important thing is that the occupation state has lost its gamble on severing the Gaza Strip from the West Bank or from Jerusalem. Its gamble on exploiting the Sunni-Shi'ite [rift] has [also] come to nought; normalization has disappeared; the gamble on isolating and bypassing the Palestinian cause has dissipated, and Palestine has entered the highest phase of political success...

"O honorable proponents of the 'adventure' school, did all of this happen by chance[?] Is it a random political success, or was the [Al-Aqsa] Flood the most well-considered 'adventure' in the entire history of the conflict?"