Al Qaeda 9/11 and Hamas 10/07

By Michael Dickel on Saturday, 4 November, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

a perspective on the impact of 10/07/2023

I am against war although I concede that some wars, regrettably, may be necessary. I understand the history and context of what we call “The Middle East Conflict,” which is a global conflict of long standing and not a recent regional one. Yet this Hamas attack is singular, as well. To be clear, this is not meant to justify any action or position. I just want to provide one perspective for understanding the impact within Israel of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. As a measure of the impact of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, I asked myself a question: “How does this compare to the 9/11/2001 Al Qaeda attack on the U.S.?” Here is what I found:

The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,400 people, which is nearly half the number killed in the 9/11 attack in the U.S, 2,977.
- But the population of Israel in 2023 is about 9.2 million, a little over 3% of the 2001 U.S. population of 285.5 million.
For the 2001 U.S. population, the equivalent number of deaths would have been 44,655, had the same percentage of the population been killed then as was killed in Israel on October 7, 2023.
- That’s 15 times 2,977, the actual number—but that is the same proportion of the U.S. 2001 population as the proportion of the Israeli 2023 population.
There were no hostages taken on 9/11.
There are an estimated 240 hostages that were taken by Hamas.
The equivalent number for the U.S. in 2001, based on percentage of population, would have been 8,931 hostages, or three times the number of 9/11 casualties on the day of the attack.
One more point, the immediate attack on the U.S. ended on September 1, 2001. Hamas and Hezbollah continue to shoot rockets into Israel as of this writing, 1 November 2023.
- 9/11/2001 data sources
  - (https://www.populationpyramid.net/united-states-of-america/2001/ accessed 1 Nov 2023)
  - (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_September_11_attacks accessed 1 Nov 2023)
- 10/07/2023 data sources
  - (https://www.populationpyramid.net/israel/2023/ accessed 1 Nov 2023
  - (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/live-updates-whats-happening-in-the-israel-hamas-war-as-israeli-ground-forces-attack-northern-gaza accessed 1 Nov 2023)
The U.S. started the War on Terrorism in response to the 9/11 attacks, also known as the “never ending war.”
Brown University’s Watson Institute has a Costs of War research initiative, which estimates 698,000 total casualties so far in the War on Terrorism who were Civilians, Opposition Fighters, Journalists / Media Workers, and Humanitarian / NGO Workers (rounded to nearest thousand through March 23, 2023). This is for “AFGHANISTAN & PAKISTAN (OCT. 2001 – AUG. 2021); IRAQ (MARCH 2003 – MARCH 2023); SYRIA (SEPT. 2014 – MARCH 2023); YEMEN (OCT. 2002-AUG. 2021) AND OTHER POST-9/11 WAR ZONES. The number is over 900,000 with U.S. military and allied military and national police forces deaths included.
- (https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2021/WarDeathToll accessed 1 Nov 2023)
Al Jazeera statistics for the Hamas-Israeli 2023 War so far (October 7, 2023–?):
- Gaza
  - Killed: At least 8,525†
  - Injured: At least 21,048
- Occupied West Bank
  - Killed: At least 123
  - Injured: At least 1,980
- Israel
  - Killed: At least 1,405
  - Injured: At least 5,431
    - (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker accessed 1 November 12:05 pm; the site states: “The figures have been reported by the Palestinian health ministry, Palestine Red Crescent Society and Israeli Medical Services.”)
      †This number agrees with that reported in Haaretz, (https://www.haaretz.com/ accessed 1 November 12:07 pm, with the number last updated 10:32 PM, presumably 31 October)

The photo at the top of the post was released by Hamas and shows attackers crossing into Israel. Source: Haaretz.com. Verification: Photo credit in earliest post found using Google Lens search: Qassam Bridges media office/Handout via REUTERS