The definitive account of the 10 7 attacks through the stories of its victims and the
communities they called home. On October 7 2023-the Sabbath and the final day of the holiday
of Sukkot-the Gaza-based terror group Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on the people of
Israel. Crashing through the border attacking from the sea and air militants indiscriminately
massacred civilians in what became one of the worst terror attacks in modern history and the
most lethal day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. A radically passionate work of
investigative journalism and political critique by acclaimed Haaretz reporter Lee Yaron 10 7
chronicles the massacre that ignited a war through the stories of more than 100 civilians.
These stories are the products of extensive interviews with survivors the bereaved and first
responders in Israel and beyond. The victims run the gamut from left-wing kibbutzniks and
Burning Man-esque partiers to radical right-wingers from Bedouins and Israeli Arabs to Thai
and Nepalese guest workers peace activists elderly Holocaust survivors refugees from Ukraine
and Russia pregnant women and babies. At a time when people are seeking a deeper
understanding of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how internal political
turmoil in Israel has affected it they predominantly encounter perspectives from the
powerful-from politicians and military officers. 10 7 takes a fresh approach offering answers
through the stories of everyday people those who lived tenuously on the border with Gaza.
Yaron profiles victims from a wide range of communities-depicting the fullness of their lives
not just their final moments-to honor their memories and reveal the way the attack ripped open
Israeli society and put the entire Middle East on the precipice of disaster. Each chapter
begins with a portrait of a community interweaving history with broader political analysis of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to provide context for the narratives that follow. Ultimately
10 7 shows that the tragedy is much greater than the violence of the attacks and in fact
extends back through the entire Netanyahu era which propagated a false image of Israel as a
technologically advanced militarily formidable powerhouse so essential to the region that it
could continue to ignore and undermine Palestinian statehood indefinitely.
