For Israel, Iran War Culminates Battle Begun by Hamas Attack

Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, Gaza Strip on Nov. 7.Photographer: Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images

At dawn on Saturday Oct. 7, 2023, as rockets and gunmen poured into Israel from Gaza, Hamas military chief Mohammad Deif declared the Jewish state finished: “To our brothers in the Islamic resistance in Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, the day has come.”

The day did come, but not the one Deif imagined.