The Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) report into the October 7 Hamas terror attacks in southern Israel made for difficult reading for most Israelis. The conclusions in the report, released last week, were not entirely new, but they added another layer after an emotional few weeks in which over 30 hostages were returned alive but eight more came home in coffins.

And while the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal has come to an end, the next phase remains unclear. Fifty-nine kidnapped soldiers and civilian hostages remain in Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

After the publication of the report, Israel's mainstream daily Yedioth Ahronoth ran the headline "The blindness, the failure, the questions." The headline in Israel Hayom, a right-wing free daily, was "A debacle, years in the making," referring to one of the report's key findings: That Israel's intelligence community vastly underestimated Hamas for many years.

In 2007, after winning elections, the militant group and Palestinian national movement assumed control of Gaza from the Fatah-ruled Palestinian Authority. In response, Israel further tightened its control over the air, land and sea borders, controlling the movement of people and goods in and out of the enclave. Both Israel and Hamas have fought several wars in recent years.

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On October 7, 2023,

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