2023-10-08 07:25:16
Hamas, the insurgent group that rules Gaza, launched an unprecedented multi-pronged attack on Israel at dawn on Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of fighters crossed the protected border by land, sea and air, taking the country by surprise on a major holiday. . So far there are hundreds of deaths in both territories.
Israel has maintained a blockade on the Gaza Strip since Hamas, a so-called Islamic extremist organization, seized the Palestinian territory in 2007.
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The blockade, which restricts the entry and exit of people and goods, has devastated the Gaza Strip’s economy. Israel says it is necessary to prevent insurgent groups from expanding their arsenals, but Palestinians say it amounts to collective punishment.
Palestinian militants ride in an Israeli military vehicle that was seized by gunmen who infiltrated areas of southern Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023. (REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot).
The historic enemies (Israel and Hamas) have fought four wars since then. Additionally, there have been numerous minor clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas and other smaller groups in the territory.
Journalists take photographs of a van mounted with a machine gun in the southern city of Sderot on October 7, 2023, following Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack on Israel. (Photo by Oren ZIV / AFP).
What is Hamas?
The name Hamas means Islamic Resistance Movement and its origin dates back to the early days of the 1987 Palestinian Intifada once morest the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, attend a tribute in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah on January 31, 2017. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP).
Its founder was Sheikh Ahmed Yasin. In addition to being almost blind, he was quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair since age 12, when he received a blow to the spine while playing soccer in the Gaza Strip. Israel assassinated him with a missile on March 22, 2004, while he was leaving a prayer session.
Women walk past a mural depicting the late spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yasin, in Ain el-Helweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP).
Hamas emerged in the Palestinian territories taking inspiration from the Muslim Brotherhood of its neighbor Egypt. Hamas’s goal is to create an Islamic fundamentalist Palestinian state.
The current leader of Hamas is Ismail Haniya. He was elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2021. He was exiled by the Israeli government to a city located in southern Lebanon following an Israeli soldier was captured by the movement in 1992.
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Hamas has branches dedicated to religious, military, political and security activities.
The military wing of Hamas is known as the Qassam Brigades.
A member of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, holds his gun during a demonstration on March 23, 2016 in Gaza City. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP).
Hamas receives financial support from expatriate Palestinians, private donors in the Middle East, Muslim charities in the West and Iran.
The United States, the European Union, Japan and Israel consider Hamas a terrorist organization since its militants have been behind several attacks in Israel.
Hamas opposed the 1993 Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Today it is the largest Islamic group within the Palestinian people and since 2007 it has taken control of Gaza, following having democratically won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006.
The rocket launch and incursion into Israel comes at a time of intense fighting in the West Bank, where nearly 200 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces so far this year. Israel maintains that the majority of those killed are insurgents, but the victims also included young Palestinians who were throwing stones in protest of the raids and innocent bystanders.
Six wars between Israel and Gaza in 15 years
Israel and the Palestinian movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad had so far fought five wars in the Gaza Strip since 2008.
These are the five previous conflicts:
“Molten lead”
On December 27, 2008, Israel launches an air offensive once morest the Gaza Strip to put an end to rocket fire from this Palestinian territory governed since 2007 by the Islamist movement Hamas, in the so-called “Cast Lead” operation.
On January 3, 2009, Israeli troops enter Palestinian territory.
On January 18, a ceasefire puts an end to the operation, in which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died.
Amnesty International accused both Israel and Hamas of “war crimes.”
“Defensive pillar”
On November 14, 2012, the Israeli army launches operation “Defensive Pillar” once morest armed groups in Gaza, which begins with the assassination of the head of Hamas military operations, Ahmad Jaabari.
In eight days of bombing, more than 170 Palestinians lose their lives, a hundred of them civilians, as well as six Israelis, four of whom are civilians.
The Israeli army claims it attacked 1,500 positions, including 19 command centers. More than 900 rockets launched from Gaza hit Israel and 400 were intercepted.
“Protective margin”
On July 8, 2014, Israel launches Operation Protective Edge to stop rocket fire and destroy tunnels dug from Gaza.
On August 26, following 50 days of war, Hamas and Israel reach a ceasefire agreement, negotiated through Egypt.
The war leaves at least 2,251 Palestinian dead, most of them civilians, and 74 on the Israeli side, almost all of them soldiers.
Nearly 55,000 houses were hit by Israeli bombing and some 17,200 were destroyed, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“Guardian of the walls”
In 2021, Hamas launches a barrage of rockets on May 10 in “solidarity” with the hundreds of Palestinians injured in clashes with the Israeli police on the Esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem, the third holy site of Islam.
Israel responds with Operation “Guardian of the Walls” to reduce Hamas’ military capabilities.
After intense diplomatic negotiations, a ceasefire comes into effect on May 21.
In eleven days, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two Palestinian movements classified as “terrorists” by Israel, the European Union and the United States, launch more than 4,300 rockets, an unprecedented offensive once morest Israeli territory. 90% of projectiles are intercepted.
The clashes kill at least 232 Palestinians, 65 of them minors, and twelve people in Israel, including two children.
“Shield and arrow”
Days following clashes with Islamic Jihad, Israel bombs the Gaza Strip on May 9, 2023, in the so-called “Shield and Arrow” operation. 15 Palestinians die in the attacks, three of them military leaders of the movement.
Islamic Jihad responds by launching hundreds of rockets, which do not cause any injuries in Israel.
On May 11 and 12, Israel kills two military leaders of the Palestinian movement.
A truce negotiated by Egypt comes into effect on May 13, following five days of a war that left 35 dead.
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