Israel’s 76-year history – like the history of all countries – is marked by seminal years; memorable years; years that define and shape the country going forward.
The year of independence, 1948, is one such year, as is 1967 – the year of the Six Day War – and 1973, when the Yom Kippur War shook the nation. 1977 is a critical year because it brought Menachem Begin and the Likud to power, ushering in a historic political realignment.
Other pivotal years include 1978, because of the Camp David Accords; 1993 with the Oslo Accords; 1995, the year of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination; 2000, the outbreak of the Second Intifada; 2005, the withdrawal from Gaza; and – of course – last year, 2023, forever seared into memory because of the horrors of October 7.
Now 2024 – ending at midnight on Tuesday – joins the list. Inextricably linked to the cataclysmic events of October 7 the year before, 2024 was packed with dramatic developments destined to reshape Israel and the region for generations. It may well be remembered as a hinge year.
Israel is a nation accustomed to a frenetic pace and a relentless news cycle. Yet, even by Israeli standards, the tempo of events this year was extraordinary.
The year began dramatically on January 2 with the assassination of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut and ended with speculation about how to deal with the Houthis.
In between, the pace of events often reached dizzying heights. A striking example came earlier this month when Israel’s destruction of Syria’s military capabilities within 48 hours was not even the leading news story. That distinction went to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first testimony in his corruption trials, a development that overshadowed even one of the year’s most startling military achievements.
It was a year – in many ways – of national triumph, though for so many it was one of personal agony; one where heartbreak followed hope in dizzying, rat-a-tat speed. It was a year where national triumph and personal despair co-mingled painfully and in which the agony of the hostage saga hovered above everything, casting a shadow over every victory.
It was also, in many ways, a miraculous year – one where the religiously inclined will say they see the hand of God: in the sudden reversal of fortune in the war; in the “Ten Plagues” visited upon Hezbollah (exploding beepers, detonated walkie-talkies, and the successive assassinations of its leaders); in the abrupt fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the destruction of his army’s military capabilities; in withstanding Iran’s onslaught of ballistic missiles and drones without sustaining significant damage.
The relentless pace of 2024, where dramatic events followed closely one after the other and competed for the spotlight, marked a year that will be remembered for its profound impact on Israel and the region. Here is a brief look at six key developments during 2024 that will resonate for years.
Exploding beepers and the turning of the tide of the war
If, as some maintain, Israel regained its mojo in 2024 – the “Entebbe” factor that once inspired awe and fear – the turning point was September 17. That was the day when thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded in their hands and pockets, immediately incapacitating 4,000 operatives.
This came two days after the government – in what will be seen as a key moment altering the course of the war – updated its war aims to include creating the conditions to enable the return of some 60,000 displaced Israelis to their homes along the northern border. This decision, as it turns out, was much more than just symbolic.
The following days brought decisive actions: the detonation of Hezbollah’s walkie-talkies, airstrikes targeting hundreds of rocket launchers in southern Lebanon, and the elimination of key leaders in the Radwan Force. The military campaign culminated on September 28 with the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, followed by the IDF’s invasion of southern Lebanon.
These actions shifted the momentum and tide in the war. Not only did they decimate Hezbollah’s military capabilities and decapitate its leadership, but they struck an enormous blow to the terrorist organization’s morale and prestige. The once mighty Hezbollah, which seemed to be riding a wave of inevitability, was taken down numerous notches, and the shockwaves were felt far and wide and quickly. Iran lost its most important proxy, and Hamas lost the ally most active against Israel.
Hezbollah’s defeat triggered Syrian rebels to renew their fight against the Assad regime, which was supported in the past by Hezbollah and Iran. The abrupt toppling of Assad enabled Israel to destroy Syria’s military capabilities, adding another huge dent in Iran’s shield.
Assassinations
The killing in Beirut, two days into the new year, of Hamas leader Arouri set the tone for a series of high-level assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders that proved a staggering tactical success. No one leader is irreplaceable, but if you knock off one, and then another, and then a third, then the damage to the organization – and to its morale – is devastating. That is what Israel did in 2024.
In addition to Arouri in January, Israel killed Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing, in March; Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing, in July; Hamas’s leader abroad Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran a few days later; and Hamas Gaza head and October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar in Rafah on October 16.
Hezbollah’s leaders were similarly targeted... and eliminated. In addition to Nasrallah, here are just a few other prominent figures killed: Fuad Shukr, Nasrallah’s right-hand man, was killed by an airstrike on July 30 (a day before Haniyeh was killed); Ibrahim Aqil, commander and founder of the elite Radwan Force on the Israeli border, was killed in September, along with his top aide Ahmad Wehebe; Nasrallah’s likely successor Hashem Safieddine was killed a few days later.
The assassinations of both Hamas and Hezbollah leaders have been so effective in degrading those organizations that it is now a leading option for dealing with the continuing Houthi threat.
The ongoing war in Gaza
Even though Israel was engaged throughout the year in a seven-front war – Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen – much of the year was dominated by the Gaza front and efforts to dismantle Hamas’s capabilities
A significant turning point took place in May, when Netanyahu bucked international pressure and warnings from the US and went into Rafah. US Vice President Kamala Harris said she had “looked at the maps” and that this operation would be a huge mistake, and President Joe Biden slow-walked arms shipments to Israel as a result.
Nevertheless, to dismantle the final Hamas battalions and choke off a lifeline to Egypt, Netanyahu went into Rafah. This sent a message to Hamas, and to the world, of a determination to destroy Hamas’s capabilities regardless of the international pressure.
The hostages
From the very beginning of the year to the very end, the heartbreaking hostage saga overshadowed nearly everything else in the country.
The families of the hostages made sure that the fate of their loved ones would not disappear from the public agenda, as happened to Israeli airman Ron Arad in 1986. Negotiations for the release of the hostages ebbed and flowed, with emotions oscillating between despair and hope.
Though the nation is united in a desire to see the hostages freed, it is split on what Israel should concede to get them home: should it withdraw from the Rafah or Netzarim corridors? Should it declare an end to the war?
Throughout the year it felt at times that Israelis were playing chess with themselves on this issue, with some, including relatives of the hostages, believing that if Netanyahu would only make the “right” decision, the hostages would be freed; while others argued that there was another party here – Hamas – cruelly holding up any agreement. For many, the issue epitomizes the year’s painful co-mingling of unity and division.
Iran
If 2024 restored Israel’s mojo, it saw Iran begin to lose its own. Decades of effort to encircle Israel with a “ring of fire” unraveled as Iran’s proxies were systematically dismantled.
First, Hamas’s military capabilities have been almost completely degraded – it is a terrorist organization now, no longer a terrorist army able to pull off an October 7-type of attack. Then Hezbollah – Iran’s pet project for decades – was completely defanged, followed by the toppling of Syria’s Assad.
To make a bad situation even worse for the Iranians, they decided to attack Israel from their own territory for the first time in years on two different occasions, in April and again in October, and failed to inflict any significant damage.
The Iranians fired hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones, only to discover that they were no match for Israel’s air defense capabilities – capabilities augmented by the US and its allies. Even more problematic from an Iranian perspective is that they also proved no match for Israel’s offensive capabilities.
Israel, in two limited attacks on Iran itself, knocked out sensitive military facilities. More importantly, it took out the bulk of Iran’s air defense system, leaving the Islamic Republic naked, exposed, and vulnerable to any future Israeli attack – which, as 2024 comes to an end, is something seriously being considered.
The ICC arrest warrants
The decision by the International Criminal Court in November to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant is not only highly significant in its own right – hindering the prime minister’s ability to travel freely around the world – but also emblematic of Israel’s increasing international isolation.
As much as the tide may have turned for Israel on a number of its battlefield fronts this year, it has not turned on the diplomatic front, where it is routinely condemned by various governments and international bodies for the way it is conducting the war.
Israelis awoke this year to the realization that while some in the world recognize its right to self-defense, they do not recognize its right to win the war against its enemies in a decisive manner so they won’t be forced to defend themselves again in just a few years from those same enemies.
The election of Donald Trump as US president in November may herald a change, however, with the expectation in Jerusalem high that Trump will both give Israel more leeway in conducting the war than his predecessor and will be less openly critical – something that may have a cascading effect on other countries who take their cue from Washington on how to relate toward Israel.