On Saturday October 7, 2023, two Iranian-backed terrorist organizations based in the Gaza Strip - Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) - inflicted the most lethal attack suffered by the State of Israel since its founding in May 1948.
Over 1200 Israelis, overwhelmingly civilians, were murdered, 3000 wounded, and approximately 150 kidnapped into Gaza, to be used as human shields and bargaining chips. The attacks also involved unspeakable acts of sexual violence and infanticide. Retaliatory Israeli air strikes have killed over 800 Gazans so far.
The conflict risks escalating to an all-out regional confrontation, involving several other Iranian proxies (most notably Hezbollah in Lebanon) and even a direct Iran-Israel war. This could have devastating and transformative implications for the Middle East, U.S. foreign policy, and the entire international system. What led to the events of October 7? How was Israel caught so completely off guard? Did Iran order the attack? What are the possible scenarios for the conflict? And what can the Biden Administration do?
Speakers include Abbas Milani, the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies; Or Rabinowitz of the International Relations Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a visiting associate professor at FSI's Center for International Security and Cooperation; and Amichai Magen, of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy, Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel, and the inaugural visiting fellow in Israel Studies at FSI.
The discussion was moderated by Larry Diamond, the Mosbacher Senior Fellow in Global Democracy at FSI and William L. Clayton Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.