On the morning of October 7, 2023, the sun rose like any other day over the land of Israel. Families woke up, children laughed over breakfast, grandparents watered plants in courtyards, and teenagers danced at a peace music festival near the Gaza border. In those precious few hours, life hummed with its usual rhythm — unsuspecting, unguarded, and undeserving of what was to come.
Then came the slaughter.
Hamas, the Islamist terrorist organisation that has hijacked the soul of Gaza for over 16 years, unleashed a level of barbarity so grotesque that even the most hardened war correspondents were shaken. Innocent civilians were butchered — babies beheaded, women raped, children burned alive, families torn apart limb by limb. Over 1,200 Israelis were murdered in one of the most heinous terror attacks witnessed in the modern era. The terrorists didn’t just kill — they recorded it, celebrated it, and glorified it.
Let us be clear: this was not a war. It was not resistance. It was not a political statement. It was terrorism in its purest, most diabolical form.
And what followed, in the days and months to come, was not revenge. It was justice — uncompromising, surgical, and sadly, necessary.
The war that Israel now wages in Gaza is not a war against Palestinians. It is a war against terrorism — against a perverted ideology that has made civilians human shields and turned mosques, hospitals, and schools into ammunition depots. It is a war against a group that thrives not just on Israeli blood, but also on the suffering of its own people.
It is the war of a nation that was forced to confront an existential truth: When you sleep with the devil, there will always be hell.
Civilisation is built on a foundation of law, liberty, and life. Terrorism seeks to destroy all three. It preys on weakness, manipulates compassion, and exploits freedom to spread fear. The civilised world cannot afford to debate terror — it must defeat it.
Those who say Israel’s response is “disproportionate” forget what proportion means when a child is dragged from her bed and executed in front of her parents. What measure of restraint can a nation show when its people are burned alive in their homes?
Those who scream for a ceasefire while Hamas fires rockets from hospitals are either naïve or complicit. Peace without accountability is not peace — it is submission. It is surrender to terror.
Hamas is not Gaza, but Gaza has allowed Hamas to rule. Elections have not been held since 2006. Dissenters have been thrown off rooftops, journalists silenced, women oppressed. The tragedy of Gaza is not merely Israel’s retaliation — it is the silence of the many who refused to challenge the devil within.
No nation should be expected to absorb an October 7 without a response. No parent should have to bury a child because international opinion demands restraint. When 9/11 happened, the United States reshaped global security. When Paris bled, France hit back hard. Yet, when Israel defends itself, it is asked to count its bullets.
This hypocrisy must end.
Israel has a moral right, a sovereign duty, and a spiritual obligation to defend its people. If that means dismantling every terror tunnel, neutralising every Hamas commander, and reclaiming every inch of security — so be it.
Yes, the images from Gaza are heartbreaking. War is always tragic. But tragedy does not imply guilt. When Hamas hides behind its own people, Israel is faced with a cruel choice — strike and be blamed, or don’t strike and let terrorists strike again. In such moral grey zones, survival trumps optics.
No nation can allow barbarism to fester at its doorstep. No army can afford to play nice when its civilians are being hunted like animals. And no civilised society should apologise for wiping out those who dance in the blood of children.
Some events are so horrific they burn themselves into the conscience of humanity. October 7 was one such moment. It removed the masks. It silenced the doubters. It forced the world to look evil in the eye — and for once, not blink.
The survivors of that day — the mother who watched her son die, the teenager who played dead to avoid being raped, the soldier who arrived too late — do not seek revenge. They seek security. They seek assurance that never again will such horror befall their land.
And that security will not come from UN resolutions or university protests. It will come from boots on the ground, intelligence in the field, and the political will to do what is hard but right.
If the people of Gaza want peace, they must first reject the ideology of Hamas. Victimhood cannot be used as a shield forever. The world cannot be expected to weep for those who allow monsters to operate among them.
There is a path forward — but it starts with accountability. It starts with recognising that Hamas is not a liberator. It is a curse. And the longer it remains, the longer Gaza will burn.
Palestinians deserve better. They deserve schools, not rocket launchers. Hospitals, not human shields. Leaders, not warlords. But as long as they sleep with the devil, the hellfire will continue.
The war in Gaza is not just Israel’s war. It is civilisation’s war. It is the battle between those who believe in life and those who worship death. Between builders and destroyers. Between light and darkness.
And in such battles, neutrality is complicity.
So, let the critics shout. Let the protests rage. Let the world judge from its ivory towers.
Because when you have seen your children torn to pieces, you do not wait for the world’s permission to act.
You rise. You fight. You finish what must be finished.
Because in the end, when you sleep with the devil, there will always be hell.
And only fire can cleanse it.
