Special Issue: Hamas' October Attack Should not Have Come as a Surprise to Anyone.

In this essay, I survey how Netanyahu's continuing support of Hamas to counterbalance the PLO to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and the continuing horrific treatment of the Palestinians in the West Bank led to Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Netanyahu needed to maintain a state of perpetual hostility with the Palestinians in the West Bank by systematically expanding the settlements, legalizing illegal ones, demolishing homes, and openly annexing huge parcels of land for "military purposes." Meanwhile, in Gaza, he was deliberately nurturing Hamas by allowing the funneling of billions of dollars to Hamas's coffers from Qatar to counterweigh the Palestinian Authority. Maintaining a state of constant hostility led to frequent violent confrontations both in the West Bank and Gaza, which further deepened the Palestinians' desperation and hopelessness, as they have always ended up on the losing side. Over the past several years, it became increasingly clear that it was a question of not if but when a major conflagration would erupt. Hamas's October 2023 attack should not have come as a surprise to anyone, as the deepening venomous atmosphere between the two sides has been nurturing the soil for the unprecedented explosion, which has fundamentally amended the Israeli‐Palestinian conflict. As will be demonstrated in this essay, no one but Netanyahu is to blame because it was he, and he alone, who brought about Hamas' savagery and merciless war of retaliation, the ultimate consequences of which remain to be seen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]