Israel is in the midst of a 'war' as declared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday, hours after the country was struck by a rocket and ground attack by Palestinian militant group, Hamas.
While skirmishes are not uncommon with both sides suffering casualties to various degrees, the scale of the Hamas assault on Saturday was unprecedented and took Israel by surprise.
Hamas showered around 500 rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip and simultaneously its gunmen infiltrated inside the country.
The Hamas gunmen reportedly used paragliders motorbikes, pickup trucks, and also the sea to enter Israel, unchallenged into cities including Ashkelon, Ofakim and Sderot.?
They went on a killing spree which is still continuing even on day four. Over a hundred Israelis have reportedly been taken hostage by the Hamas.
The attack came on the day of Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, which is held on the last day of Sukkot.
The attack on a religiously significant day was a shocking reminder to many of another major escalation between Israel and Palestine exactly fifty years ago.
On October 6 1973 a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria launched an armed attack on Israel.
The surprise attack against Israel came on the holy day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement for Jews, and the holiest day of the Jewish year.
The timing of the attack caught the Israeli authorities and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) off guard and it took them one day to put up a counterattack.
The conflict escalated to what is now called the Yom Kippur War/ 1973 Arab¨CIsraeli War/ Fourth Arab¨CIsraeli War.
The Arab attack was led by the Egyptian military which hoped to make some gains in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, territories it lost in 1967 to Israel.
After initial setbacks, Israel gained the upper hand by October 14 and managed to breach the Egyptian defence and enter its soil to launch its counter-offensive.
The Israeli counter-offensive devastated the Egyptian military and resources and was forced to retreat into defensive positions.
At one point the Israelis had advanced to positions some 101 kilometres from Egypt's capital, Cairo, and occupied 1,600 square kilometres west of the Suez Canal.
Though a ceasefire deal came into effect on October 25, isolated battles continued till October 28.
The Yom Kippur War had resulted in one of the heaviest Israeli casualties on the battlefield ever. Over 2521 IDF men were killed and 7250 to 8800 soldiers were injured in the war.
On the other side, around 15,000 Eqyptians and 3,500 Syrians were killed.
The similarities between the Yom Kippur War and the attack on Simchat Torah are not limited to the dates.
In both cases, the Israeli intelligence failed to anticipate the scale of the attack and the Israel Defense Forces was not prepared for an assault of this magnitude.
The 1973 war led to the then Prime Minister Golda Meir being forced to resign. And as far as 2023 is concerned, Netanyahu has been in and out of office since 2019 as he has not been able to lead a stable government.
Currently, with Israel involved in a war, Netanyahu is hoping to form a Unity government with the support of the opposition.
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