Even if Israel emerges from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a limited military victory, it remains the loser of the conflict. Following its intense campaign against Gaza post-Oct. 7, Israel either failed or chose not to seize the greatest historical opportunity since its establishment. Today, it grapples with an ontological security crisis and profound regional and global status anxieties on a scale unseen since 1948.
The mass killings carried out by Israel in response to the large-scale Hamas attack on Oct. 7 have caused a great reaction, both in the region and around the world. As Israeli attacks continued to commit all kinds of war crimes, even some of the Western states that have been giving unconditional support to Israel began to call on Israel to stop its atrocities.
The prisoner exchange agreement reached between Israel and Hamas marks a significant turning point in the course of the war. The agreement implies that Israel has stepped back from its pledge to halt operations until all prisoners are released. However, it is clear that Israeli attacks will continue after a brief hiatus. Predicting that the release of all Hamas prisoners will take months, if not years, it is not difficult to anticipate that the conflict will intermittently intensify and persist for an extended period. The events since October 7 have become the foremost agenda item in the region, transforming the pursuit of a solution to the Palestinian issue into a new driving force. Therefore, in the coming period, we can expect the Gaza war to continue with its ups and downs, while diplomatic efforts for a final resolution intensify.
News outlets continue to cover President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s criticism of Israel and the West as his questioning of “hypocrisy” and “double standards” unsettles Israel’s most ardent supporters in politics and the media. That is because the Turkish leader’s remarks encapsulate the international community’s conscientious voice – which causes pro-Palestine protests to erupt across the West and the East.
This analysis aims to examine the current situation in the military and political context of Hamas’s October 7 operation and Israel’s ongoing operations.