Unveiling Decades of Suffering: The Long Path to October 7

By Enas Wajeeh

As Israel’s aggression against Gaza entered a new chapter on October 7, 2024, the international spotlight was drawn to the latest series of Israeli crimes in what has been a long-standing story of suffering. Yet, for the Palestinian people, the nightmare did not begin that day. It stretches back decades—marked by massacres, forced displacement, and systemic oppression. Since the Nakba in 1948, Israel’s relentless efforts to erase Palestinian identity have resulted in countless atrocities across historic Palestine.

For over 70 years, international laws and human rights conventions have been ignored, and Palestinians have faced continuous violations under the occupation. October 7 serves as another bloody milestone in a series of Israeli crimes that have ravaged Palestinian lives and lands long before the world began to take notice.

The Countdown to Genocide: Before October 7

Deir Yassin Massacre (1948)
The horror began with the Nakba, when Zionist militia ethnically cleansed over 530 Palestinian villages and carried out 37 massacres, killing over 13,000 native Palestinians and forcing over 750,000 others to leave their homes and live in refugee camps to create ‘Israel’.

One of the most brutal Nakba massacres was the Deir Yassin Massacre on April 9, 1948, where Zionist paramilitary groups stormed the village, slaughtering over 100 Palestinians, including women and children. Survivors have recounted the traumatic scenes, many of which continue to haunt Palestinian history.

Meryem Akil was only ten years old when she watched her family being brutally executed. “Jews came down to the village toward dawn. They surrounded us. They didn’t want anyone to escape. They came to kill us all,” she recounted, still haunted by the image of her brother being executed with five bullets to the head. “They shot him right in front of my sister.”

Othman Aqel, another survivor, watched in horror as a Palestinian baker and his son were trapped in their bakery as the Zionist forces stormed in. The soldiers set fire to the bakery, and when the baker refused to throw his son into the flames, they did it for him, burning the child alive before his father’s eyes.

Sabra and Shatila Massacre (1982)
Over 30 years after Deir Yassin, the horrors were repeated in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. From September 16 to 18, 1982, Israeli-backed Phalangist militias stormed the camps, slaughtering over 2,000 Palestinian refugees in one of the bloodiest massacres in Palestinian history.

French writer Jean Genet, one of the first outsiders to witness the aftermath, described the carnage in chilling detail: “I have spent four hours in Shatila, and what remains in my memory are the mutilated bodies of men, women, and children—each seemingly tortured before death.”

Survivors of the massacre remember the savagery. Siham Balqis, a 26-year-old woman at the time, recalled how soldiers forced men to crawl on the ground before executing them behind sandbanks. Jameel Khalifa, only 16, witnessed the murder of his father, who was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier as he stepped out of a shelter.

First Intifada (1987-1993)
In December 1987, after the Israeli military murdered four Palestinian workers in the Gaza Strip, the First Intifada ignited—a six-year civil uprising that claimed the lives of over 1,000 Palestinians, including 237 children. Over 175,000 Palestinians were kidnapped, and homes were demolished, a precursor to Israel’s current policies of mass destruction and arbitrary arrests.
Wael Joudeh, a survivor of Israeli violence during the Intifada, recalls the relentless beatings by Israeli soldiers: “They were beating us with every ounce of their energy. They wanted to break more than just our bones. They wanted to shatter our spirits.”

Palestinian women like Khadija Abu Shreifa risked their lives to protect children from Israeli soldiers, who routinely arrested and beat minors. “I would pull them away, telling the soldiers they were my sons,” she said. The First Intifada was not just a rebellion; it was a fight for survival, for dignity, for the right to exist.

Second Intifada (2000-2005)
The Second Intifada erupted in 2000 after Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The uprising became synonymous with the heartbreaking image of Mohammed al-Durrah, a Palestinian boy shot dead by Israeli soldiers while his father, Jamal, tried desperately to shield him from bullets. The footage of his father’s futile attempts to save him became a symbol of Palestinian suffering, with over 3,000 Palestinians killed during the five-year struggle.

Gaza’s Ongoing Siege: A Humanitarian Nightmare
Since 2007, Gaza has been suffocated by an Israeli blockade that has crippled its economy and led to an “open-air prison” scenario for its 2.3 million residents. Israel’s 2008 aggression, killed over 1,400 Palestinians, including 412 children, and injured more than 4,300 others. Chemical weapons left survivors with severe burns and organ failure, adding a new layer of suffering to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The Great March of Return (2018-2019)
From March 2018 to December 2019, Palestinians in Gaza staged peaceful protests every Friday, demanding the right of return for refugees and an end to the Israeli siege. Israeli snipers responded with deadly force, killing 189 Palestinians, including children, journalists, and paramedics. Thousands were left with life-altering injuries, as Israeli forces deliberately targeted protesters’ legs, resulting in over 137 amputations, including 25 children.

The Second Nakba: A Genocide in Progress
The recent wave of Israeli attacksmarks a continuation of Israel’s long-standing policy of erasing Palestinian existence. Since then, the death toll has skyrocketed, with over 41,000 Palestinians—including 16,795 children and 11,378 women—killed in Gaza, while 716 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including 160 children.

Israel’s genocidal policies, which began with the ethnic cleansing of 1948, persist today under the guise of military operations and defense. From the massacre at Deir Yassin to the bloodshed in Gaza, the international community’s inaction has allowed Israel to continue its campaign of violence, with devastating consequences for Palestinians.