 "Israel-Palestine conflict: All you need to know about this surprise war")
In the Israel-Palestine war, Palestinian militants from Hamas group on Saturday fired over 5,000-7,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. The war started off with land, sea and air strikes from the Hamas group, an approach Israel has never seen in decades.
It killed several individuals and injured many more; setting off air strike sirens nationwide and raising the probability of another round of high warfare in the future.
Hamas militants have penetrated Israel’s towns in SUVs, bikes and paragliders and started shooting at military installations and civilians. The early morning bombardment lasted over 30 minutes. Later, Israel announced a "state of war".
Hamas invades Israel: Updates
Israel is battling a hard conflict against Hamas in Gaza after one of the deadliest offensives was launched by the Palestinian group against the country that caught it completely off guard.
More than 1,100 have died on both sides since the attack on Saturday and Israel is fighting back with full power. The Gaza Strip has experienced its deadliest day in 15 years after almost 300 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes as of now.
The unprecedented size of brutality has brought the two 'Intifadas' or Palestinian uprisings against Israel back into the spotlight and there is speculation about whether the war is the start of the Third uprising.
The United Nations says the number of displaced Gazans has increased to over 123,000. On Sunday, as per the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, retaliatory Israeli airstrikes had destroyed 159 housing units across Gaza and harmed 1,210 others. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees stated a school protecting over 225 individuals took an immediate shot and didn't say where the fire came from.
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A few Israeli media sources, citing a service official, mentioned that at least 700 people have been killed in Israel, including 44 soldiers. The Gaza Health Ministry also stated that 413 individuals, including 78 kids and 41 ladies, were killed in the area. Approx 2,000 individuals have been injured on each side. An Israeli authority added that security forces have killed 400 militants and caught dozens more.
Israel-Palestine war: Background
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict goes back to the end of the 19th century. In 1947, the Unified Nations adopted Resolution 181, or the Partition Plan, which led to separate the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.
On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was made, starting with the first Arab-Israeli conflict. The conflict ended in 1949 with Israel's win, however, 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, and the territory was split into 3 sections: the State of Israel, and the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (of the Jordan River).
Throughout the years, tensions rose between Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. In June 1967. Following a series of manoeuvrers by Egyptian President Abdel Gamal Nasser, Israel pre-emptively raided Egyptian and Syrian air forces beginning the Six-Day War. After the war, Israel obtained the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan; Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria.
Six years later, the Yom Kippur War or the October War, Egypt and Syria launched an unexpected two-front conflict on Israel to recover their lost territory. Later, Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat announced the conflict a triumph for Egypt as it permitted Egypt and Syria to negotiate over past ceded area.
In 1979, following a progression of cease-fires and peace dealings, delegates from Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty that finished the thirty-year war among Egypt and Israel.
In 2013, the US attempted to revive the peace cycle between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. But, peace talks were disturbed when 'Fatah', the Palestinian Authority’s ruling party, was formed as a unity government with its opponent group Hamas in 2014.
Hamas, a spin-off of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood established in 1987, following the first intifada is one of two significant Palestinian political parties and was declared a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States in 1997.
Israel and Hamas reached a cease-fire on May 21, 2021, which was mediated by Egypt. Both sides declared victory, and there were no reported violations. However, the United Nations believes that over 72,000 Palestinians were displaced by the battle, while authorities in Gaza estimate that tens of millions of dollars' worth of damage was done during the war.
What is the Gaza strip in the Israel-Gaza war?
The Gaza Strip refers to a limited portion of land wedged among Israel and Egypt on the Mediterranean Ocean. Involved by the Ottoman Empire and afterward the English Empire, it frames the smaller of the two Palestinian territories; the other being the West Bank.
In 1967, Israel won the 6-Day Battle against its Arab neighbours and gained control over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for the next 38 years. In 2005, under global tensions and domestic pressure, Israel withdrew approx 9,000 Israeli settlers and its military infrastructure from Gaza, passing on the territory to the Palestinian Power, which is also involved in the West Bank.
What is Hamas?
Hamas is one of the two important political parties in the Palestinian regions. It was established in 1987 during an uprising against Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, the group was initially a part of the Muslim Brotherhood, which favours Islamist guidelines, a conviction that Islam must play a significant part in political life.
Numerous nations, including the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, have named Hamas a 'terrorist' organization in light of its invasions on Israel, which incorporates rocket salvos, suicide bombings and other types of warfare. Another nation that considers Hamas' military wing to be a terrorist group is New Zealand.
The ‘Hamas group’: Backing
Hamas considers itself a political party, whose aim is to liberate Palestinians from occupation and recover huge parts of Israel. Its functioning and operations have often been controversial even among the groups that support Palestine due to its use of brutal means in war. Hamas also offers social services for Gaza people, like education and medical care.
The militant group gets significant support from Iran, which includes “funds, weapons, and training" to the group, as per the Council on Foreign Relations. Turkey also says it assists Hamas just politically, however, it has been blamed for financing Hamas' militant operations, through funds diverted from Turkish government aid programs.
Various countries' reaction on Israel-Palestian war
• India- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour. Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel".
• China- Beijing said it was “deeply concerned” by the weekend’s dramatic escalation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, urging all sides to show “calm”.
• France- French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “terrorist attacks” against Israel on X (twitter) and added, “I strongly condemn the terrorist attacks which are currently hitting Israel. I express my full solidarity with the victims, and their families and those close to them".
• Germany- German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Hamas “contributes to the intensification of violence”, adding “violence and rockets aimed at innocent people must stop immediately”.
• Iran- The country reiterated its support of the militant group, stating, “We congratulate the Palestinian fighters. We will stand by the Palestinian fighters until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem," it quoted adviser Rahim Safavi as saying.
• NATO- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said, “terrorist attacks by Hamas against NATO partner Israel”.
- Russia- Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said, “It goes without saying that we always call for restraint". Russia also added it is in contact with Israel.
What is Israel’s Iron Dome?
• Israel's Iron Dome system is a short-range air defence framework which is known to have a 96 percent success rate in intercepting and shooting down enemy rockets.
• The Dome can intercept 90% of the rockets fired by Hamas towards Israeli territories.
• The framework was created by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defence Systems with the support of the US to counter rockets fired by the groups from Palestine's Hamas and Hezbollah from Lebanon during the 2006 war.
• This air-defence framework became functional in 2011. Iron Dome comprises truck-towed units, every one of which fires radar-guided missiles to counter short-range dangers including rockets, mortars and drones in mid-air.
• It had a reach between 4 and 70 km, to give city-sized coverage, but the range is said to have been extended later. The cost to launch an Iron Dome interceptor is said to be between a staggering $50,000 to $100,000.
Conclusion
Since 2015, 2022 has seen the most clash-related deaths for both Israelis and Palestinians and war has kept on escalating through 2023, with the West Bank on target for its deadliest year since 2005 in the midst of almost regular Israeli attacks. Palestinians and Israeli settlers have seen regular confrontations on many events, and tensions have gotten worse after Israel supported 5,000 new settler homes in June 2023.
The Israeli military has additionally heightened its activities, including attacking the al-Aqsa mosque two times in a day. In July, Israel deployed almost 2,000 soldiers and held drone strikes in a huge scale raid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while withdrawing said, the invasion was "not a one-off" occurrence; Israel means to prevent the camp from filling in as a safe haven for Jenin Brigades and other militant groups.