Israel-Hamas War
Via. Reuters
Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist armed political faction that rules the Gaza Strip, carried out the largest attack on Israel in 50 years since the Yom Kippur War (Fourth Middle East War).
The Arabic abbreviation for ‘Islamic Resistance Movement,’ Hamas was officially founded in October 1987, when the First Intifada, a Palestinian popular uprising against Israel, broke out. The Palestinian Islamist forces, from which they originated, grew with Israel's connivance and indirect protection in an effort to keep in check the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a left-wing Arab nationalist force that led the Palestinian resistance movement in the 1970s. While the Palestine Liberation Organization was traveling abroad due to Israeli oppression, it was growing its power locally, and when the intifada broke out, it led the armed struggle and secured popular support.
Unlike the Palestine Liberation Organization, which began peace negotiations in Palestine after the first intifada, Hamas maintained a hardline line of struggle that did not recognize Israel. The growing power of Islamist militants in the Middle East since the 1990s also contributed to their growth. Hamas secured popular support not only through the anti-Israel armed struggle led by the ‘Al Qassim Brigades’, an armed group within the organization, but also through Islamic social welfare projects for the residents.
After Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Hamas set foot in Palestinian politics and won the 2006 general election. After much struggle, Hamas expelled the Palestinian Authority, dominated by the Palestinian political faction Fatah, from Gaza in June 2007 and secured exclusive power. Israel has since blockaded the Gaza Strip as it is ruled by Hamas, which it does not recognize. For that reason, Hamas has waged war with Israel four times previously. The Gaza-Israel war has continued for 17 years since 2006. In the process, about 5,000 people died and 15,000 were injured.
To eradicate Hamas, Israel has assassinated its leaders, including its spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin, through large-scale airstrikes since the 2000s. However, it failed to break the resistance struggle. This is because, unlike the corrupt and incompetent Palestinian Authority, it receives support by providing relief and protection to the residents through Islamic welfare.
In the years following these developments, the political landscape in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has seen significant shifts, impacting the ongoing struggle and regional dynamics. In 2017, Hamas defined all of Palestine, including the current Israeli territory, as an Islamic land and revised its existing charter to deny the existence of a Jewish state in this land. The new charter officially accepted the establishment of a temporary Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem, the Palestinian territory before the Six-Day War (Third Middle East War) in 1967. Hamas also softened its stance, saying it was fighting “Zionist invaders” and not Jews.
However, there has been no change in the oppression and sanctions of the West, including Israel and the United States, against Hamas. In particular, in Israel, after Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government took office at the end of last year, attempts to block Gaza and annex the West Bank intensified. This movement led to Hamas' full-scale attack.
Hamas members have infiltrated southern Israel, where the armed conflict between the Israeli army and Hamas is still continuing. Separate from Hamas, Hezbollah, another armed group based in southern Lebanon, also launched a mortar attack on Israeli-occupied territory, and Israel immediately responded with artillery fire. In response, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced in a briefing on the morning of the 8th that it had regained control of most of the southern region where Hamas militants had infiltrated overnight.
However, military authorities added that fighting is still ongoing in at least eight locations, including Beeri Kibbutz in Sderot, where dozens of Israeli residents are being held hostage. In some locations, specifically in Beeri and Opakim Kibbutzim, hostages were rescued, and the situation at the Sderot police station, which had been controlled by armed forces, was also resolved. Military authorities said that during the operation, about 10 militants were killed and dozens were arrested. The number of Israeli soldiers killed reached 26.
Currently, military authorities plan to continue searching to find Hamas militants who may be hiding in various places, while continuing to evacuate residents of the area. Israeli police previously estimated that 200 to 300 Hamas militants may have infiltrated the area following the mortar attack the previous day. The militants infiltrated major cities and military facilities in southern Israel, took civilians and soldiers hostage, and took them to the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military also announced that it attacked 426 Hamas-related facilities in the Gaza Strip through overnight airstrikes. Among these, there are about 10 high-rise buildings with more than 10 floors. Although the fighting in the southern region of Israel was nearing its end, the Lebanese armed political faction Hezbollah appeared in the northern region, heightening tensions. Hezbollah claimed responsibility after firing several rockets and mortars at Shebaa Farms, an Israeli-occupied area in the Golan Heights bordering Lebanon and Syria. Sheba Farms, which was attacked by Hezbollah, is also the subject of a territorial dispute between Lebanon and Israel.
Meanwhile, as of today, the second day of fighting, more than 300 people were killed and 1,864 wounded in Israel, bringing the number of casualties to over 2,100.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestine, where Israeli airstrikes continued for the second day, the number of casualties also increased to more than 2,000 (256 dead, 1,788 injured).