We've officially reached the second anniversary of October 7. Two years since the shock of the early morning videos of Palestinian Resistance fighters flying over the prison walls, which had isolated Gaza for decades. 

Two years of war, the likes of which have never been documented for the world to see so clearly before. 

Two years of international support and outcry, Western political gymnastics, and the shining light of honorable fighters willing to risk everything they have for freedom. 

Two years of real-world results through the arms of the Resistance. 

Prior to October 7, the freedom of Palestine was kept to papers being signed in international organizations without reasonable Palestinian involvement and skirmishes between an oppressive regime and those who seek a breath of fresh air. 

What October 7 showed is that freedom is brought about through direct action, not by sitting back and waiting for the oppressive hand to stop beating you.

October 7 gave a nostalgic air to the decolonial cause, not seen on a mass scale since the Cuban and Algerian revolutions, which kicked out their oppressor by their own means and succeeded in bringing about sovereign nations capable of making their own decisions.

The sights from the early morning operations, to the continuous battles of liberation throughout these two years, solidified to the world that such movements are alive and well, and not just something to read about in the history books.

October 7 allowed for a shift in the "Israel"-Palestine narrative, showing that the underdog was still capable of confronting the regime that seeks to remove it from existence.

The Flood

At 6:31 am local time, October 7, 2023, the sound of air raid sirens was reported to be coming from Gaza's surrounding settlements and Tel Aviv (Occupied Jaffa). Palestinian media, 20 minutes later at 6:51 am, reported the launch of dozens of rockets against the occupied territories in succession.

Videos of Palestinian Resistance fighters carrying out operations against Israeli soldiers soon followed the breaking news bulletins, which brought a breath of fresh air to modern anti-imperialist movements. 

The now martyred Al-Qassam Brigades Chief of Staff, Mohammad Al-Deif, released a 10-minute statement as the dust was still being kicked up by the rushing current that would be dubbed Al-Aqsa Flood. Al-Qassam Brigades' Spokesperson Abu Obeidah solidified the operation shortly after by stating, "This enemy will follow [the operation] with astonishment when it wakes up from its shock and realizes the extent of its disappointment ... Know that Al-Aqsa Flood will be carried out as planned." 

Palestinian Islamic Jihad's (PIJ) now martyred Spokesperson  Abu Hamza would also later add, "Today, we at al-Quds Brigades and the Resistance record a new chapter of victory and breaking the prestige of the enemy entity and its defeated army, during which our heroes rendered the enemy submissive and humiliated, feeling death everywhere. What we called for the enemy and its settlers to leave our land peacefully did not happen, so killing became our way."

"Thanks to God and through a series of operations behind enemy lines, as part of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, we and the Resistance caused a historic and resounding shock, proving the truth of our statement that this cowardly enemy is dust and can be defeated and broken," Abu Hamza added.

Al-Qassam Brigades publish video footage of its Saqr military unit that took part in #OperationAlAqsaFlood.#Palestine #Gaza #طوفان_الأقصى pic.twitter.com/2aHwxCs26x

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 7, 2023

Crack in the dam of Israeli security

Ultimately, the initial successes of the Palestinians could be written about to no end. But the main thing that is to be focused on, and continued to be talked about, is the successful annihilation of the Israeli security facade, which continues to haunt Israeli society to this day. 

Israeli society has so often relied on its technological advances to deter everything it considers a threat. The policy of fear ensured that settlers didn't see a six-meter wall, sprinkled with armed military personnel, heavy vehicles, and aerial surveillance to be enough protection; they had to further add cameras and auto-fire turrets as an added layer. 

This falls under the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has, since taking office, relied on and inflated Israeli fears to boost the entity's security capabilities.  

Per Israeli media, "The massive attack at dawn Saturday came under cover of a barrage of missiles ... and involved sniper fire, explosives dropped from drones on lookout and communication towers, and bulldozers that ripped through the six-meter (20-foot)-tall double fence barrier at an estimated 30 places along the border."

The Palestinian drones that took out cameras, turrets, and destroyed lookout points at several locations on the border fence were the crack that led to the dam breaking; this essentially broke the situational analysis that the Israeli Air Force relies on, forcing pilots to fly blind. 

#Watch | Footage shows Palestinian Resistance destroying a Merkava tank in the #Gaza Strip.#AlAqsaFlood #طوفان_الأقصى
#Palestine pic.twitter.com/PpylCXG8Gj

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 7, 2023

This allowed the initial moments of the operation to succeed as well as they did because, after surveillance technology, the Israeli Air Force is the most powerful asset the entity has. Pilots, as a result of taking out their eyes on the ground, could not hit what they could not see. 

Through its overreliance on technology, "Israel" had effectively shot itself in the foot. It allowed the Palestinians time to carry out their operation in succession, taking Israeli soldiers captive and returning, while Zionist foot soldiers were still dumbfounded and scattering to compile reinforcements. 

The War

The Palestinian Resistance gained a major victory in the realm of the media game during the war, whereas the Israelis were focused on seeking what would later be a failed public sympathy attempt, the Palestinians gave us an on-the-ground look at operations against Israeli troops. 

This was a tactic that covered two fronts, one as purely militaristic documentation and the other as a form of psychological warfare. 

Hamas and PIJ, alongside other factions like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's military wing, had their own respective military media channels that would document operations. 

The recordings would show supporters of the Palestinian cause the successes of the fighters in their goals, boost morale across fighters and viewers, and put a thorn in the eyes of the Israelis, who have, since their occupation of Palestinian lands, underestimated the Palestinians' capabilities against their more advanced technology. 

Palestinian Resistance factions also showed the complexity of their operations through these videos, beyond battles, but on the manufacturing end. 

Read more: We are not far, focused on high-value targets: Gaza commander to IOF

Among the videos released were factory line productions of the Gaza-made al-Yassin 105mm rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), the al-Ghoul sniper, Rajoum MRL, and others. 

What these videos showed was that the Palestinian Resistance was a much bigger and more organized group than the Israelis thought, and that they were capable of pulling off such large-scale manufacturing capabilities under the Israeli nose, unnoticed. 

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The will of the fighter

It would be remiss not to mention the powerful will of Palestinian Resistance fighters when speaking about the victories of Al-Aqsa Flood.

Throughout this war, Palestine's fighters showed that they were willing to risk everything to carry out their operations. Despite the ratio of means being grossly out of their favor, the Palestinian Resistance continued moving forward.

Whereas IOF forces were fighting with millions of dollars worth of gear, countless documented images and videos show Palestine's fighters to be confronting occupation forces while wearing slippers or barefoot, in tracksuits, and on rarer occasions, minimal military gear.

Within the first few months of fighting, we saw Resistance fighters fearlessly planting explosives on the sides of tanks and personnel carriers, unprovoked by the possibility of being spotted and killed.

Throughout the entirety of the Israeli war on Gaza, the Palestinian Resistance was punching up against a stronger foe. 

But the war showed that the materially focused Israelis were no match against the spiritual might of the Palestinian Resistance. Crewmen sat helplessly in one of the most advanced tanks on the market as a Palestinian youth ran up in slippers, called to his Lord, and threw a mine on the side of this killing machine, destroying it and those inside who sought to occupy his home.

With every video we saw of lion-hearted Palestinians combating such odds, this not only crushed the fate of the Israelis in their weapons and Western-backed military training, but also increased the drive in other fighters, as these operations gave them a spiritual boost each time.

Read more: Palestinian Resistance ops. intensify; IOF soldier sniped in Gaza City

Violence is a necessity

The big hurdle for the international community was the aspect of violence that the Palestinian Resistance implemented in this effort against the occupiers of their land. 

We should seek to make this point clear in that their violence was a necessity of this decolonization effort and a result of the occupation's decades of pressure on the Palestinian people. 

Frantz Fanon writes in his famous The Wretched of the Earth, "Decolonization, which sets out to change the order of the world, is clearly an agenda for total disorder."

He adds that this isn't something that can occur by the "wave of a magic wand, a natural cataclysm, or a gentleman’s agreement," but requires a group's self-understanding and coherence about its position and the position of its occupiers, adding that decolonization is a game between two forces, one that seeks its freedom through violent understanding and one that seeks continued control through violent occupation.

The Israeli forces used violence to govern the Palestinians, to continuously kick them while they're down, in attempts to destroy the will of the indigenous population. The most striking example of this comes from the initial settlement project, wherein thousands of Palestinians were forcibly removed from their homes to bring in more "desirable" families.

Palestinians were treated as second-class citizens in their own land; areas across Palestine were carved up via settlements and military checkpoints, further cementing the apartheid system. 

Palestinian land was - and is - also continuously stolen by the Israeli authorities, or destroyed by extremist settlers, to build Jewish settlements and or military zones in order to destroy their agriculture and sense of belonging.  Authorities give these fertile lands and water rights to the settlements while the Palestinian farmer is denied access. Palestinians who dare speak up or defend their lands are killed or attacked by the IOF or illegal settlers.

"Israel" also controls access to all resources, including water, and gives only a fraction of what is needed to farmers and civilians. They also maintain control over road systems and have implemented movement restrictions via a network of checkpoints and permit checks, making the everyday commute an oppressive process.

These are just a few basic examples to show the oppression and policies of violence the Palestinians have faced every day for decades.  When generations grow up under such conditions, only knowing life through an oppressive regime that sees them as less than human, then here we can say that violence begets violence. The goal of the Palestinian youth is to gain freedom through the very means that the Israelis use to continue oppressing them.  

Fanon writes, "To blow the colonial world to smithereens is henceforth a clear image within the grasp and imagination of every colonized subject ... To destroy the colonial world means nothing less than demolishing the colonist’s sector, burying it deep within the earth, or banishing it from the territory."

He further states that the decolonization effort is not a conversation between conflicting ideas carried out over a cup of tea, but the means towards ridding the land of an artificially brought evil.

Read more: Israeli soldiers 'fatigued', 'needs rest', Israeli media say

Though Jewish presence in the region, as seen by the peoples of the region, is considered organic (contrary to the narrative being spun by the West), as they have been around and coexisted with fellow groups of various religions for centuries, the political ideology of Jewish supremacists that was born in Europe is, in its essence, an extremist exclusive ideology that sees an out-group, European Jews, as superior and thus able to steal land at will from those who have lived there since antiquity.

"Challenging the colonial world is not a rational confrontation of viewpoints. It is not a discourse on the universal, but the impassioned claim by the colonized that their world is fundamentally different," Fanon writes. "The colonist is not content with physically limiting the space of the colonized, i.e., with the help of his agents of law and order. As if to illustrate the totalitarian nature of colonial exploitation, the colonist turns the colonized into a kind of quintessence of evil."

Attempted peace processes

The Palestinians, through decades of oppression and pressure by the Israeli forces, who have been treated as less than human, had no choice but to retaliate in such a fashion. This operation on October 7 was the outcome of "Israel's" policy of stomping on the head of those who don't comply.

Fanon adds that Algeria's resistance made clear in their fight against the French occupation that colonialism only loosens its hold when the knife is at its neck.

Palestine proved victorious in that it didn't only rely on talks while being targeted, it didn't decide to kneel to those killing its children, after years of pressure and countless diplomatic routes, and having exhausted all other routes, a violent revolt was the last chance. 

We mustn't forget that Palestinians have tried to take a peaceful approach tens of times since their occupation, beginning in 1949 armistice agreement following the war imposed on them by Zionist militias in British Mandate Palestine, then Geneva 1973, Camp David in 1979, the inital phase of the intifada in 1987, the Palestinian National Council Declaration in 1988, the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002, the UN Statehood bid in 2011-2012, the Great March of Return in 2018-2019, and as we've seen throughout the war on Gaza, through the many times Netanyahu has torpedoed the talks to prolong the war and continue the genocide.

These failed movements by peaceful means show that only one side was determined to facilitate some form of diplomatic understanding. It proves that there is no talking with that which seeks your annihilation. As Palestinian revolutionary Ghassan Kanafani said, this would be akin to a conversation between the sword and the neck. 

The people's existence is a victory

The ultimate victory came from the people's continued existence on their lands, standing in the way of the Israeli army's anti-resistance operations. 

The main goal of "Israel" — although blanketed under the guise of fighting Hamas — was to rid Gaza of its population. The more outrageous quotes come from the fringe, yet popular, politicians such as Itamar Ben-Gvir, who stated last year that this war will see the return of old Jewish settlers who left the Gaza Strip in 2005.

“Encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza will allow us to bring home the residents of the Outaf and the residents of Gush Katif,” the far-right minister said.

Other politicians, like "Israel's" Security Minister Israel Katz, gave a verbal warning akin to the Israeli roof-knocking tactic regarding the forced displacement of Palestinians. Warning Palestinians on October 1, 2025, that Gaza's residents have one last chance to move south from Gaza City, saying, “Those who remain in Gaza will be [considered] terrorists and terror supporters.”

צה"ל השלים בשעות אלה את תפיסת ציר נצרים עד לחוף ימה של עזה ומבתר את עזה בין צפון לדרום.

בכך יהודק הכיתור סביב העיר עזה וכל היוצאים ממנה דרומה ייאלצו לעבור דרך נקזי הבידוק של צה"ל.

זאת הזדמנות אחרונה לתושבי עזה המעוניינים בכך לנוע דרומה ולהשאיר את מחבלי החמאס מבודדים בעיר עזה…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) October 1, 2025

Netanyahu is more precise in his language, attempting to portray the Israeli entity as one that seeks what's best for civilians. 

In August 2025, the Israeli prime minister stated that Palestinians should be "allowed" to leave, citing refugee outflows from Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, etc. 

"We are not pushing them out, but we are allowing them to leave," Netanyahu said to Israeli media. "Give them the opportunity to leave, first of all, combat zones, and generally to leave the territory, if they want ... We will allow this, first of all within Gaza during the fighting, and we will certainly allow them to leave Gaza as well."

However, in May of this year, Netanyahu's true intentions were reported on in a Maariv article during his closed-door address to the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee. The Israeli head of state stated that the occupation forces are “destroying more and more homes,” and the “only inevitable outcome will be the wish of Gazans to emigrate outside of the Gaza Strip."

But despite this aggressive stance of Israeli politicians, the violent bombing against the Gaza Strip carried out by the IOF, and the egregious propaganda campaigns, the Palestinian people of Gaza remained firm in the face of their oppressors.

The very existence of Palestinians on their ancestral land marks a victory in the face of the colonialist project. In one statement (one of many that echoed this message), Al-Qassam Brigades Spokesperson Abu Obeidah saluted Gaza's population on their steadfastness throughout these two years of Israeli aggressions on their homes, "We kiss the foreheads of all our great steadfast people who remain patient and victorious."

Palestinians didn't kneel, they didn't lower their head and say please stop, no more. They picked up arms and confronted the Golem created by Zionist colonialists, exposed "Israel's" crimes to the world, and showed that they are a group whose very existence on the land in the face of a genocidal entity is a victory in itself.