The war didn't begin with the Hamas attack, according to the New York Times reporters and editors It began when Israel decided to respond to the murder of 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Hamas doesn't say this. They call the entire war Al Aqsa Flood. Al Qassam Brigades head Mohammed Deif announced the war at 8:00 AM on October 7, calling on all Palestinians to grab weapons and shoot at Israelis.
Hamas gladly admits they started the war.
But to the West, wars begin only when Israel responds. Israel is not expected to respond to being attacked; when they do, they started it.
This also happened in 2008, when Hamas announced Operation Oil Slick (or "Oil Stain") and shot hundreds of rockets into Israel. Israel only responded days later, with Operation Cast Lead, although Hamas still called the war "Operation Oil Slick" for a bit more time afterwards.
Using this terminology creates a false framework, that Israel is always the aggressor and Palestinians are always victims. Palestinian attacks are regarded as low-level noise that should be ignored by Israel, and Israel's responses are considered brand new aggression with little relationship to the events that preceded it.
It is only a "cycle of violence" when Arabs attack Jews, because there is always a valid grievance to justify Arabs murdering Jews. Israeli responses aren't part of a cycle but a new Israeli attack for no valid reason.
