Unravelling The Israel-Hamas War: The Crucial Background to Israel’s Defense Initiative
Editor’s note: The Scoop or Queen’s Radio do not prescribe an official stance on the conflict. The aim of this article is not to glorify a particular political view, but to provide students with news of significant world events. We are aware that while information is correct at the time of publication, it is subject to change as the conflict is still ongoing.
By Ruby Hegarty
As news around the world is consumed with the current insurrection in Gaza and Israel, you may be wondering how to make sense of it all.
A member of the Joint Committee for Foreign Affairs and Trade, in the Oireachtas in 2014, attempted to explain the context to the situation:
“If I was Jewish, and had never stepped foot in Israel, I could claim citizenship there tomorrow. But six million people, whose origins are in what you now call Israel, who were forced out in 1947 or 48, do not have that right- isn’t that part of the reason the Palestinians are in dispute with Israel?” he asked.
Since then, disputes have continued to escalate, ultimately leading to the full-scale mobilisation of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas, the Islamic, pro-Palestine terrorist group, seized power in Gaza in 2007.
Israel and Hamas have launched attacks against each other several times since Hamas asserted their ownership of the land. This is the fifth, and deadliest, war between Hamas and Israel.
Yet the nature of the Israel-Palestine conflict is more complicated.
In 1948, Israel set out to ensure that the land consisted of a Jewish majority, denying the return of 750,000 Palestinian people to their homes. Following this, Israeli officials implemented a thirty-percent cap on the Palestinian population. This procedure was marked by thousands of eviction orders.
Delineated in the “Jerusalem Outline Plan 2000”, Israel set an ideal “ratio of 70% Jews and 30% Arab”, reported Human Rights Watch. Between 1967 and 2016, at least 14,595 Palestinians were subject to residency revocations in East Jerusalem, as a result of Israel’s plan.
Meanwhile Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, was established in 1987, after the first major uprising against Israel’s occupation of Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Hamas derived from the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organisation originally established in Egypt, but subsequently planted roots in Palestine after Hamas was constructed as its political wing.
Hamas gained significant electoral support in the 2006 legislature elections, and subsequently became the de facto government in Gaza in 2007- resulting in Hamas being the dominant pro-Palestine, fundamentalist political force. This popular support further aided the growth and mobilisation of its military wing.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the group was originally established in order to counter the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who similarly opposed Israel. They still remain as separate groups, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have continued to violently resist Israeli occupation, but without the mass support, or external funding.
Over the last 20 years, major airstrikes, initiated by Israeli Defence, have been commonplace in Gaza under Israel’s security aims. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has estimated a death toll of 5,600 Palestinians between 2008-2020.
A large number of these deaths occurred following Israel’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’ in Gaza, in 2014, which was conducted in reprisal to the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers. 2,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom resided in Gaza, were killed during this operation.
However Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that Israel has “only started” an aggressive operation in the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacks in the recent weeks, reported Sky News.
In an air of solidarity, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also confirmed Britain’s outright support of Israel’s military operation, posting that “Israel has an absolute right to defend itself” on X, 7th October 2023. Similar statements of Israeli support have been voiced by France, Germany, Italy, and the US.
General rhetoric on Israel-Palestine is often difficult to disseminate, as an inherent condition of Israel’s past settler-colonialism, and the historical nature of Jewish mass persecution in Europe.
Yet, Sunak’s statement receives like a lead balloon considering the brutality of Israel’s military operation on civilian populations in Gaza.
It is estimated that Israeli Defence has killed at least 3,700 people in Gaza so far, where attacks were launched in retaliation to the recent resurgence of militant group Hamas, killing more than 1,400 people in an unexpected attack on the 7th October 2023.
On the evening of Tuesday 17th October, it is rumoured Israeli airstrikes struck al-Ahli hospital, where it is feared hundreds of wounded civilians have been killed in Gaza city, reported the BBC.
On the other hand, Hamas has conducted terror attacks in Israel that have reached a death toll of approximately 1,400 people, stating that they will progress to more strikes and “significant ground operations,” reported CNN on the 15th October 2023.
Hamas has claimed that it has captured 53 “prisoners of war," in addition to 203 civilians and soldiers taken as hostages. Hamas is also responsible for the massacre at music festival Supernova, killing 260 people.
As of the 20th October 2023, The Times reports that Israel is expected to invade Gaza in the coming weeks, where commanders have already finalised operational plans. The time of attack will be decided by a five-member war cabinet led by Prime Minister Netanyahu.
As the events of the Israel-Hamas War unfold, often its complexity renders many of us perplexed. The difficulty lies in the intertwining of both states’ repression, and is neither helped nor easier to engage with in the face of seemingly never-ending news stories.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, or have personal connection with the current events, you can contact Queen’s Wellbeing service at 07387546123.
Edited by Cerys Platt