Two years ago, Hamas was putting the finishing touches to its plan to attack Israel. In Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believed that the Palestinians were a problem to be managed. The real threat, he insisted, was Iran.Netanyahu’s rhetoric opposing Hamas was undimmed, but he had also given permission for Qatar to funnel money into Gaza. It gave him space for his real priorities in foreign policy – confronting Iran and finding a way to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia. In Washington, then-President Joe Biden and his administration believed they were close to hatching a deal between the Saudis and Israelis.It was all a series of illusions.Netanyahu has refused to establish an enquiry to look into the mistakes he made alongside his army and security chiefs that gave Hamas its opportunity to attack with such deadly effect on 7 October 2023.The century-long conflict between Jews and Arabs for control of the land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean was unresolved, festering, and about to explode into a war that looks to be as consequential as its other landmarks, in 1948 and 1967.The Middle East has been transformed since 7 October, and almost two years into the war, the conflict in Gaza is at another inflection point.This has been a hard war for journalists to report. They were taken by surprise on 7 October when Hamas attacked, and since then Israel has banned international journalists from Gaza to report freely. Palestinian journalists inside the Strip have done valiant work, and nearly 200 have been killed doing their jobs.But key facts are clear. Hamas committed a series of war crimes in the attacks it launched on 7 October, killing 1,200 people, mainly Israeli civilians. Hamas took 251 hostages, of which perhaps 20 who are still being held inside Gaza are believed to be alive.And there is clear evidence that Israel has committed a series of war crimes sin …
