Telegraph: How the Israeli hostage crisis will change the world forever

The Telegraph followed the arrival of hostages and prisoners to their families, and Jake Wallis Simons wrote saying, how the Israeli hostage crisis will change the world forever.

Simons wrote, before October 7, the Israeli security establishment and ordinary citizens alike entered a state of deep complacency, and even a state of sleep, regarding the threat coming from Gaza after nearly a decade without a ground war in the Strip.

Everyone believed that the threat posed by the Palestinian factions in Gaza could be controlled, despite the severe division inside Israel, which was sparked by the return of Benjamin Netanyahu to power, pushing tens of thousands to demonstrate every Saturday, and technology companies and investors to leave the country.

The billion-dollar border fence, Iron Dome missile system, air force, and fearsome intelligence capabilities provided Israel with a strong deterrent and, with the exception of a few attacks, succeeded in keeping Israeli civilians safe.

Concurrent with this expansion of hard power, there were Israeli attempts to stabilize the Gaza Strip, and tens of thousands of Gazan workers were allowed to cross into Israel every week to work.

Water, food trucks, Qatari money bags and other resources were also allowed to cross the border, to compensate for Hamas’ use of its own money to build the tunnels.

Rather, the complacency that prevailed in Israel, the writer adds, prompted the Saudis to think about a normalization deal, and the prevailing hope in many quarters was that reaching a political settlement in the region might one day neutralize any future threat.

In fact, a source told Simons, “If Iran had directed the attacks, the Mossad would have known about them”.

Two weeks before the gates of hell broke loose – meaning October 7 – an elite Israeli pilot said in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle that he would carry out a raid against existential threats posed by Hezbollah or Iran, but a mission over Gaza would make him hesitant, adding, “No… I think there will be war tomorrow”.

At 6:30 am on October 7, these illusions were shattered.

It wasn’t long before the pilots returned to the skies of Gaza and the country rediscovered its solidarity under the national unity government.

The street protests were forgotten and that day was a pivotal point in the history of Israel, the region and, to some extent, the entire world.

Israel has always had a unique approach to the freedom of its prisoners, as exemplified in 2011, when it exchanged 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

To the outside world, this may seem puzzling, but the Israeli armed forces are different.

Everyone knows that heaven and earth will move to ensure the return of a soldier… One, whether alive or dead.

But Hamas has become adept at turning Israel’s humanity – its concern for its soldiers and citizens – against itself, and Hamas hopes that the hostages will also be used to deter, delay and ultimately suspend Israeli retaliation, allowing the movement to repeat the massacre, as one of its leaders put it, Ghazi Hamad, “The al Aqsa flood is only the first time, and there will be a second, third, and fourth time because we have the determination, determination, and ability to fight”.

Simons explains that taking advantage of Israel’s humanity against itself won’t succeed this time.

Hamas made a mistake in its calculations that if 1,027 prisoners had been exchanged for one hostage in the past, 240 hostages would have brought 246,480 Palestinian prisoners.

It was also wrong to assume that hostilities would stop for a long time.

In the meantime, allowing her to fight another day.

What Hamas has always missed is the fact that Israel isn’t a colonial power like France, whose occupation of Algeria ended in death and thousands of wounds.

The Israelis have no other country to withdraw to, as the Jewish state is determined to defeat the enemy no matter the cost.

On the Israeli side, everything changed on October 7, “By slaughtering innocents with such brutality and taking many hostages, including infants and Holocaust survivors,” according to Simons.

Hamas had unwittingly changed the security calculations.

The policy of containment, which for decades had served as the main stake in Israel’s defensive posture, was torn apart.

For many Israelis, a four-day ceasefire is a high price to pay, knowing that it would put their soldiers in harm’s way.

Moreover, the flow of fuel and other aid into the Gaza Strip would inevitably be raided and used by Hamas to renew its fighters and strengthen its tunnel network, however, Israel’s desire to save its civilians prevailed.