A leading expert in Israeli counterterrorism foresaw weeks ago Hamas’ brutal attack on the Middle Eastern nation.
Yigal Carmon, the founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), noted in a story published in late August the emergence of a few signs he believed could strongly indicate that “a war against Israel may break out in September or October 2023”.
In the report published on the MEMRI website, Mr Carmon said the conflict could be triggered by “spiralling violent clashes resulting in many casualties, or the use of new weapons leading to many fatalities on the Israeli side, in the face of which Israel will be unable to suffice with its regular counter-terrorism measures”.
Among the factors he believed were pointing at a possible upcoming escalation in violence, Mr Carmon mentioned growing provocations by Hezbollah members on the northern border of Israel and the adoption on the West Bank of fighting methods seen in Gaza.
Asked by The Jerusalem Post about the latest events confirming his predictions, Mr Carmon said to believe the violence launched by Hamas is aimed at “preventing normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia” in terms of bilateral diplomatic relations.
Riyadh, which is holding talks with the US to reach this goal, called on the weekend on “both sides to immediately stop the escalation”.
Indeed, the aggression launched by Hamas on Saturday was unprecedented for its coordination and ruthlessness, as it involved attacks via air and land.
While missiles rocked Tel Aviv, gunmen went on a rampage in areas bordering the Gaza Strip and targeted young revellers at a festival, were more than 260 people were killed.
The terrorists also kidnapped more than 100 people including Israeli women, children and soldiers.
More than 700 Israelis died during the Hamas attacks, and hundreds more were left injured.
The scale of the attack and the number of casualties was described as “unprecedented” by IDF spokesman Richard Hecht.
He said on the weekend: “We’re going to respond very severely to this. In the coming days it’s going to be a long fight, we will do whatever it takes to respond to this barbaric attack.”
Referring to the New York’s World Trade Center attack by al-Qaida in 2001, Mr Hecht added: “This is our 9/11.”
On the night between Sunday and Monday alone, Israel said to have hit 500 targets in the Gaza Strip.
