A Roadmap After October 7: From Total Catastrophe to the Urgency for Solutions

October 7 marked a pivotal moment that returned the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to one of its most dangerous stages, not only because of the operation itself but also due to the subsequent widespread genocide and unprecedented escalation of Israeli crimes. Although the operation was reckless and the Palestinian people paid a horrific price for it, the Israeli response transcended all boundaries of international law and amounted to a completed crime of genocide against civilians in Gaza, including mass killings, systematic destruction, and policies of starvation and collective punishment.

This war was not just a humanitarian disaster for the Palestinians; the Israeli policies of genocide that were pursued resulted in catastrophic consequences for Israel itself—politically, morally, and strategically—and for the stability of the entire region. The first loss was exclusively Palestinian: thousands of civilian victims, destroyed cities, crumbling infrastructure, and an entire generation deprived of education and safety, with a people who were not consulted in the decision to go to war but bore its consequences alone.

However, the losses did not stop at the Palestinians; by committing genocide in Gaza, Israel transformed itself—from a falsely claimed democratic state allegedly defending its security—into a pariah state isolated internationally, with its leaders being pursued in international courts. Its fabricated moral image faced unprecedented collapse, revealing its true face, while rates of Jewish emigration surged abroad, indicating a dangerous erosion of the sense of security within Israeli society, alongside significant economic losses and the exodus of major companies from the Israeli market.

At the same time, the global street erupted in massive marches in European capitals, American cities, and universities worldwide, rejecting genocide and the war of starvation in Gaza. This scene had not been witnessed in the Palestinian cause for decades and reflected an increasing awareness that what was happening was no longer viewed as a war but as a crime against humanity.

If the Palestinian has lost hope for peace under bombardment, the Israeli has begun to lose hope in wars. Despite military superiority, Israel found itself opening multiple fronts without succeeding in closing any: in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, and in direct or indirect clashes with Iran, along with confrontations with Iraq and Yemen, increasing fractures in its relations with the Arab world, an ethical uprising in European streets, unprecedented pressures and divisions in American streets, alongside a deep crisis within Israeli society. This is not a formula for victory but rather a state of comprehensive exhaustion revealing the limits of military power when it disconnects from politics and ethics, threatening the stability of both the state and the region together.

Amidst this scene emerges a truth that cannot be overlooked, as noted by the Israeli analyst Gershon Baskin: On this land live today about seven million Palestinians and seven million Israelis, and Israel cannot commit genocide against an entire nation, no matter how powerful its military is, without incurring an existential price. The Palestinians cannot erase Israel or end the existence of millions of people with full American support. If genocide is impossible and war is a dead end, then the only realistic solution remaining is the two-state solution as a mandatory political option with no alternative that preserves existence and stops the bleeding.

After this catastrophe for both sides, a fundamental question arises: Where should anger be directed? The answer lies not in hatred or animosity but in accountability: holding the Israeli occupation responsible for genocide, war crimes, and policies of starvation and destruction, while simultaneously having the national courage to question any Palestinian leadership that made fateful decisions without popular mandate, dragging its people into catastrophe, including Hamas, whether through popular means or international law if available. This should occur within a complete package that includes accountability and a just political solution for the Palestinians, as justice prevents violence and convinces everyone that the political solution is less costly than the continuation of the language of blood.

The call for accountability and justice does not negate the legitimate right of occupied peoples to resist, as guaranteed by international law, but aims to protect civilians and prevent the use of this right in political or military adventures that serve as a pretext for committing mass crimes against the Palestinian people amid a clear international and Arab and Islamic impotence. An independent state on the 1967 borders is the only way to protect the Palestinian people and achieve justice, thus ending the cycle of blood.
What follows October 7 has revealed a deeper crisis than the war itself: the Palestinian has lost hope for peace, and the Israeli has lost faith in war as a solution. When both peoples lose faith in both paths, the entire region sits on the brink of a permanent explosion, and the continuation of the status quo becomes an existential threat not to one party but to all. Moreover, the ongoing absence of a real political horizon and the lack of any reliable pathway toward peace or ending the occupation creates a reality within Palestinian society where part of the population begins to view what occurred on October 7 not as an ideal or desired option but as an act imposed by despair and a closed horizon. When doors to politics are closed, legitimate demands are repressed, and an entire people is left without hope, the chances of repeating an explosion increase, and popular willingness to support armed resistance grows, even with the awareness of its high humanitarian costs. This reality is not used to justify what happened but to warn that the absence of a just solution is the surest recipe for recreating violence, not just in the region but worldwide.

Ending this suicidal path requires courageous political decisions, beginning with changing the leaderships that thrive on fear and war, and selecting leaders who believe in peace and the two-state solution, and that the security of any party cannot be built on the annihilation of the other. It also requires ending the monopoly of extremists over decision-making, as their continued rule in both Israel and the Palestinian arena means endless wars. No peace process can succeed without a radical transformation in the American role, based on the understanding that supporting occupation and genocide, or justifying them, undermines the international system itself. The two-state solution has become a strategic necessity, not just a moral option.
Detonating violence begins with a clear American recognition of the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders with international and security guarantees for both parties, followed by the launch of serious negotiations with a clear timeline and references to international law and international oversight to prevent the imposition of facts on the ground by force, unilateral American decisions. In this context, Arabs have a direct political responsibility through organized and effective pressure based on a clear principle: No full normalization without the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state because regional peace cannot be built on the ruins of Gaza.

In the longer term, peace remains a long-term humanitarian project that starts from rebuilding a culture of life through education, media, and public discourse, combating hate speech, and restoring the value of humanity and the right to life and dignity, primarily through justice and ensuring the right to self-determination for the Palestinian people.

In conclusion, October 7 and the subsequent genocide in Gaza revealed the end of two major illusions: the illusion that military power creates security and the illusion that blood can replace politics. The only viable path is a just peace based on two states, legal accountability, and equal human dignity, and every delay in this path is not neutrality, but participation in perpetuating the catastrophe.