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"We will crush and destroy Hamas. Israel will win."

Israel's longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu had spent years pursuing a strategy of managing rather than resolving the Gaza conflict — tolerating Hamas as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority in a 'divide and contain' approach. October 7 shattered that strategy. Facing political ruin, criminal indictments on corruption charges, and a coalition dependent on far-right ministers demanding maximalist war aims, Netanyahu navigated the war's military and diplomatic dimensions under impossible constraints. His personal political survival and the nation's security interests were not always aligned.

"We have been waiting for this for years. The time has come to say: enough."

The most consequential and most ruthless figure in Hamas's history, Sinwar spent 22 years in Israeli prisons — released in a 2011 prisoner exchange — and emerged with a plan for an attack that would shatter the status quo. He reportedly ordered the October 7 attack even knowing it would result in catastrophic harm to Gaza's civilian population, calculating that Israel's response would destroy the normalization process with Arab states and force the Palestinian cause back onto the global agenda. He moved through Gaza's tunnels for a year as Israeli forces hunted him, and was killed by a chance infantry patrol in October 2024.

"We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly."

A former IDF Chief of the Southern Command who commanded operations in Gaza during the 2014 war, Gallant became Defense Minister in Netanyahu's government. His announcement on October 9 — that Gaza would face a 'complete siege: no electricity, no food, no water, no gas' — became one of the war's most controversial statements and was cited in international legal proceedings. Gallant reportedly clashed with Netanyahu repeatedly over the war's direction, particularly on hostage deal negotiations, and was dismissed in November 2024.

"This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth."

The most elusive figure in Hamas's history, Mohammed Deif had survived at least seven Israeli assassination attempts — losing an eye, several fingers, and suffering severe injuries — over three decades as Hamas's military commander. He was the strategic architect of Hamas's tunnel network and rocket arsenal, and alongside Sinwar, the operational planner of October 7. He was killed on July 13, 2024 in an IDF airstrike in Khan Younis that also killed an estimated 90 civilians — a strike that triggered international condemnation but eliminated the man who had evaded Israel longer than any other target.

"We will never abandon our people or our resistance."

The political face of Hamas, Haniyeh operated from Qatar where he led the organization's international diplomacy, ceasefire negotiations, and funding relationships with Iran and Gulf donors. Born in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza, he rose through the Muslim Brotherhood and became Hamas's prime minister in Gaza (2006–2014) before relocating to Qatar as chairman of the political bureau. He was killed in Tehran on July 31, 2024 — in a strike widely attributed to Israel — while attending the inauguration of Iran's new president. His death, while publicly playing a diplomatic role, shocked Iran and the region.

"This is the moment to set aside political differences and act as one people."

A former IDF Chief of Staff and leader of the opposition National Unity party, Gantz joined Netanyahu's emergency war cabinet after October 7 in a show of national unity. He brought military credibility and moderate political weight to the cabinet at a moment when Israel needed both. He participated in major strategic decisions on the Gaza campaign and the northern front. But by June 2024, Gantz resigned from the war cabinet — accusing Netanyahu of prioritizing political survival over clear war aims and refusing to agree on a post-war governance plan for Gaza. His departure exposed the fault lines inside Israel's wartime leadership.

"I take full responsibility for the intelligence failure."

As head of Shin Bet — Israel's domestic intelligence service responsible for intelligence on Gaza and the West Bank — Ronen Bar bore institutional responsibility for the catastrophic failure to detect Hamas's October 7 planning. Shin Bet had millions of informants in Gaza and West Bank, maintained signals intelligence operations, and was considered one of the world's premier counterterrorism agencies. That it missed a multi-year operation involving 3,000 fighters was the most catastrophic intelligence failure in Israeli history. Bar cooperated with the subsequent state inquiry while managing Shin Bet operations through the war. He resigned in early 2025.

"The United States stands with Israel. But we will also insist that it operate within the laws of war."

As Secretary of State through the entirety of the Gaza war's first phase, Blinken became the most traveled diplomat of the conflict — making over a dozen trips to the Middle East to shuttle between Israeli, Arab, and Palestinian interlocutors on ceasefire and hostage negotiations. He navigated the impossible position of defending Israel's right to self-defense while pushing it to minimize civilian casualties and allow humanitarian aid. A Jewish American whose step-grandfather survived the Holocaust, he embodied the Biden administration's simultaneous commitment to Israel and anguish over Gaza's toll. Criticism from Arab governments, progressive Americans, and human rights groups mounted through 2024.