Six months on from 7 October attacks | Israel-Hamas war

Let's talk more about the fighting in Gaza. We are joined by our military analyst Shan Bell Sean. Good afternoon to you, so remind us of what happened on October 7th. Yes good afternoon. Get in touch on the 6th month anniversary. It is always useful to go back and We now know that five armed groups joined Hamas in that brutal attack on Israel. Interestingly, we now know that training for that operation began in 2020, but it was still a surprise to the Israelis when it took place that fateful morning at 6:30 in the morning, quads, cars, paragliders, all involved in the attack, we're looking at some of the video footage of that now, I ended up with 11, sorry, 1200 Israelis killed, 240 hostages also taken.

I was here the next day. We are reviewing all the evidence and much of the video evidence was provided by the combatants themselves, uh, and the brutality hit me at the time when they were women, children, babies, there was evidence of rape, beheading and burning. This was not a military operation. As some had hinted, this did not follow any of the laws of armed conflict, it was just a brutal massacre on that fateful morning, and how did Israel respond well? Much of the world was shocked at that moment. Clearly, Israel's right to self-defense was paramount. Israel declared war when they mobilized 360,000 Israelis, adding to the 150,000 they have in the regular army, so more than half a million troops needed training and equipment to be ready while airstrikes were carried out. and objectives were selected.

Now it is interesting to say that Yaya Sinoa, the head of Hamas was apparently very surprised by the level of response as was Iran and of course Hamas is not a military rival for the IDF so Iran tried to involve Hezbollah and also incited the Hooti rebels to get involved, which is why We have seen the problem in the Red Sea but of course civilian casualties were increasing. The humanitarian crisis appears to be a really key moment in December, when South Africa took Israel to the international court of justice, with accusations that Israel's actions in Gaza were violations of the genocide law.

Now it takes years for the court to reach a ruling, but the court said that Israel needs to do more to take care of the civilian population in Gaza, but of course since then the casualties have continued to increase. The last few weeks and then the tragic murder of those aid workers have added to that sense of international concern that Israel is not doing enough to care for civilians. What is the current state of the conflicts? One of the things about the uh International concerns Tensions are rising between Israel's main sponsor, the United States, and President Biden, which has fallen to a record low, but something has changed in recent days.

You know that Israel agreed to open the port of azdot. um, there's also the uh arz. Apparently the crossing is going to open and today we heard that some of the Israeli forces are leaving southern Gaza now it is not clear why I know Ali Bunol suggested it could be because they are rotating, it could well be but it could also be that American advice was for the Israelis to carry out more targeted strikes in Rafa and it may well be that you withdraw to allow those targeted strikes. I think from a military perspective, you know, have Israel's objectives for this war really been met?

Hamas has been destroyed but not, but we feel like we are in the final chapter of its time. They have freed all the hosts. Answer no. Of the 240,130 there are still probably only 80 who are alive and a military operation is the best way. to free them there are many protesters in Tel Aviv who would argue that that is not the case at the moment and the bottom line is whether Israel is actually safer as a result of this war, you know, the result justifies the loss of humanitarian life. crises and the like and I think from a military perspective there has never been a military solution to part of this conflict, international efforts will be required to create a lasting peace so that security, prosperity and hope not only for Israelis but also for the Palestinians. it is vital for lasting peace, absolutely fine Sean, I appreciate the analysis, as always, thank you.