‘We Will Come to You in a Roaring Flood’: The Untold Story of the October 7 Attacks

We entered 2023 with some depressing data and dark predictions about what was awaiting Palestinians in the new year.  Just before the year commenced, the United Nations Mideast envoy Tor Wennesland, said that 2022 was the most violent year since 2005. “Too many people, overwhelmingly Palestinian, have been killed and injured.” This figure – 171 killed and hundreds wounded in the West Bank alone – did not receive much coverage in Western media. The mounting Palestinian victims, however, registered among Palestinians.  As anger and calls for revenge grew among ordinary Palestinians, their leadership continued to play its same traditional role – of pacifying Palestinian calls for resistance, while continuing with its ‘security coordination’ with Israel.  The Lions’ Den – a multi-factional Resistance group which first appeared in the city of Nablus in August 2022 – grew in power and appeal.  The Israeli occupation army moved quickly to crush the new armed rebellion. Israeli intelligence reports started talking about a plan composed by the deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, Saleh Arouri, to ignite an armed Intifada.   The solution, according to the Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth was to kill Arouri.  Two weeks before 2023 commenced, at a Gaza rally on December 14, Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, had a message for Israel: “We will come to you in a roaring flood. We will come to you with endless rockets; we will come to you in a limitless flood of soldiers … like the repeating tide.”