Final Update: Friday, October 20, 10:46 a.m.
At this point, news sources are constantly updating with new information surrounding the Israel-Hamas war. It is important before we delve into what is occurring in these Middle Eastern locations, we understand how the tension came to be.
Background
Palestine was originally directed to be controlled by the UK in the 1920s after the 1st world war. This was not meant to be a permanent decision by the League of Nations, as Palestine was meant to become its independent nation later on. However, this would never happen. The UK had already made plans to direct Jewish immigration towards Palestine land after and during World War 2. This angered many inhabitants of Palestine who argued it was an “infringement of assurances of independence” (https://www.un.org/unispal/history/). Violence followed between the two groups, Palestinian Arabs and Jewish people. Ideas to split the Palestinian land only resulted in one side identifying as independent Israel and overtaking the remaining Palestine land in a series of conflicts. The conflict between the two groups continued throughout history and escalated into other Arabic countries in the Middle East. The six-day war in 1967 was a result of these ongoing conflicts where Israel obtained more land from the Middle East including the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank where Palestinians were living at the time.
The Hamas (“Islamic Resistance Movement”) group is an organization formed in the Gaza Strip; the group aims to eradicate the Israeli state. The Hamas consider themselves a political party within the strip while other nations view the group as a terrorist organization.
Hamas attack on Israel
This past Saturday, Thousands of Israeli citizens gathered in a field miles away from the Gaza border, to attend a techno concert. When the head DJ entered the stage around 6 a.m. air raid sirens began to sound and gunshots spread through crowds of Israelis concert attendees. Reports say it took almost eight hours for these victims to receive aid. Days later, 260 are dead and hundreds are missing. Later Saturday, Hamas soldiers invaded Israeli towns located close to the border, and 1,200 Israelis were killed, and many were abducted by the Hamas military. For the past week, Israel has been launching airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, attacking areas that are usually considered safe: mosques, marketplaces, hospitals, and government buildings.
The Iron Wall
The group breached Israel’s “Iron Wall” between the Gaza Strip and Israel (the red line pictured on the map below).
The “Iron Wall” is a 40-mile-long high security “smart fence” with guard towers lining the wall. The day the Hamas had invaded the Israel region they breached at 29 points. This includes overcoming sand barriers in the Israeli land, observation towers, and two fences–six meters tall.
The Hamas planned their attack; they had bombed observation towers. From the Gaza strip, they positioned themselves just outside of the wall and began to shoot rockets over the barriers. The group also used paragliders to fly over the boundaries, motorcycles to fit through crumbled barriers, and bulldozers to bring down large fences.
The Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip is a 25-mile-long and 6.2-mile-wide area that has been under the control of Hamas since they overthrew the government in 2007. Israel and Egypt have indefinitely placed border closures on the Gaza Strip, causing many to be unable to escape the airstrikes and increasing the overall death toll when Israel fought back against the group. Gaza has a total of 2.2 million residents and is known to have one of the highest population densities in the world, along with an incredibly high poverty rate. Many people in Gaza have food-related insecurities along with a lack of water and proper medical care. The recent bombings only make these issues more difficult. A densely populated Gaza City was primarily attacked by the Islamic Defense Force.
Invasions in Israeli cities
Kfar Aza, an Israeli city right outside the Gaza Strip experienced their own genocide this past Tuesday when the Hamas invaded. The city was destroyed with many buildings and homes set aflame and raided. The city was reclaimed by the Israel Defense Forces, who have recounted mass murder and destruction in the city. Israeli’s General Veruv recounted fighting off terrorists in the city for forty-eight hours. It took aid twenty hours to reach and help victims in the city.
In the Gaza Strip after Israel’s retaliation
1.7 out of the 2.2 million people living in Gaza are registered refugees (75%), and 500,000 of them live between 8 refugee camps. In the recent air strikes, the death toll in Gaza has risen to 1,417 people – half being women and children – and 6,000 have been wounded. Israel refuses to send in aid until the Hamas group releases the 150 hostage Israelis. Recent attacks have left a little over 300,000 homeless, and without food or aid in the Gaza strip.
Israel is expecting retaliation from Hamas, preparing to have an onslaught of rockets attacking the IDF or Israel Defense Force. Furthermore, there is speculation that there is an impending land invasion of the Gaza Strip from Israel. The head of IDF, chief Herzi Halvei released a statement earlier Thursday regarding Hamas forces, “whoever is left in charge will understand very well that you do not do such things to the State of Israel”. This attack is considered the worst attack in Israel’s history, causing citizens’ security to feel threatened. Furthermore, Halvei wanting revenge on Hamas forces also stated, “We will give an eternal blow to our enemies, this is our mission and we are determined to achieve it,”.
While the Gaza Strip has been a humanitarian crisis in recent years, the crisis has exploded due to the war, which has caused a lack of medical care for individuals not only in Gaza but also in Israel. In most areas throughout Gaza, there is no longer a “safe place,” all hospitals overflowing with people. There is currently a lack of health services throughout the Gaza Strip, having full ICUs, having to reuse medical equipment, and running out of body bags.
On October 13th, Israel ordered the people of the Gaza Strip to evacuate.
“Day of Rage”: October 13, 2023 – now
Last Friday, Hamas called for a worldwide “day of rage”, where all of their supports should attack Israelis and Jews. Many protests around the Mideast ensued. In Awkar, Lebanon, in response to the Hamas’ order, protesters began to stone and set the US embassy aflame. In Jordan, protests continued around the Israeli embassy building. Many of the protests were directed toward both the United States and Israel, especially Jewish people. Iraq, Yemen, and Iran held large rallies in support of Palestine. Some of these pro-Palestinian protests took place in New York City, Times Square. These types of rallies were banned in places in Europe, including, France, Germany, and Hungary, to avoid violence. Individual attacks ensued, in France and China. In France, an Islamic radical began a knife attack at a school, killing one and injuring two others. The attack was linked to the global “Day of Rage” order after the attacker yelled the phrase, “Allahu Akbar”, a phrase in support of Palestine and also chanted at recent protests.
Israel Hospital AirStrike: October 16, 2023
Tuesday around 6 pm one major hospital, the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, was bombed killing close to 500 Palestinians. The Ajli Arab Hospital was known as a mainstay for Palestine. Furthermore, Last week, the IDF ordered all residents in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours. In past days since the evacuation, northern Gaza has been hammered by bombardment, raising their death toll to 3,000 with over 6,000 injured. The bombing of the hospital was due to a smaller Palestinian radical group, Jihad. Daniel Hagari revealed that there were no Israel airstrikes during the hospital blast however, rockets were being shot near the hospital, committed by Jihad. In response, Jihad stated that this was an Israeli attempt “to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed” following their order of evacuation of Gaza. The United States had intentions to expedite aid to Palestinian peoples in the Gaza Strip, however, as of now no deal has been made with Israel. Israel also suggested how the entry of aid to the Gaza Strip depends on the return of hostages and promise that Hamas militant groups would not interfere with the transportation.
World leader responses
Throughout the world, tensions are currently rising regarding the war. This Wednesday President Biden flew to Israel to speak with President Isaac Herzog, stating, “‘You Are Not Alone’. His visit was in the wake of the blast on the hospital, leading to protests exploding around the world in support of Palestine. Furthermore, Germany, France, and India are also in support of Israel, condemning the terrorism of the Hamas. On the other hand, Iran, Qatar, and Turkey had shown support for Hamas. The president of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan stated Israel’s response to the attack was “preventing people from meeting their most fundamental needs and bombing housing where civilians live”.
Citations:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Six-Day-War
https://www.un.org/unispal/history/
https://abcnews.go.com/International/timeline-surprise-rocket-attack-hamas-israel/story?id=103816006
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/what-is-hamas-what-to-know-about-its-origins-leaders-and-funding
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/how-hamas-breached-israels-iron-wall/2023/10/10/5bcbb10d-008c-4200-85c1-3904e1bd6069_video.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-20415675
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/10/11/israel-hamas-war-live-gaza-faces-growing-humanitarian-catastrophe#:~:text=Gaza%20death%20toll%20rises%20to,6%2C200%20have%20also%20been%20wounded.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/11-un-staff-30-pupils-at-un-schools-killed-in-gaza-says-spokesperson/
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-767939
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/10/middleeast/israel-kibbutzim-kfar-aza-beeri-urim-hamas-attack-intl/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/10/middleeast/israel-kibbutzim-kfar-aza-bDeeri-urim-hamas-attack-intl/index.html
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2393221/middle-east
https://abcnews.go.com/International/hamas-day-rage-protests-break-middle-east/story?id=103955873
https://www.thedailybeast.com/global-knife-attack-frenzy-as-hamas-day-of-rage-gets-underway
https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-biden-rafah-e062825a375d9eb62e95509cab95b80c
