As you have most likely heard by now, Israel has gone to war against Hamas, the terrorist group operating in Palestine. The war, which began on October 7, and fell on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war, came in response to attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian groups, which launched land and air attacks at Israel’s border.
The October 7 attack, which killed and wounded thousands, brought an immediate response from Israel. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), over 1,200 people were killed by Hamas gunmen storming across Gaza’s border, firing thousands of rockets. The BBC further reported that another division of Hamas took hundreds of citizens as hostages and committed acts of sexual violence.
Israel’s response to the attacks has been brutal and sweeping. The Israeli government has fought back with air strikes of their own and invaded Gaza from both ground and sea. According to the BBC, these attacks were mainly focused on Gaza City and much of Northern Gaza, because Israel believed that was the center of the Hamas military operations. Innocent civilians were ordered to move to southern Gaza by the Israeli military for their safety. This could be seen as Israel trying to protect Gaza’s citizens, but this positive action has received less media attention than the air strikes and other attacks.
The Israel-Hamas conflict has brought the actions of the Israeli military to the forefront of peoples’ minds and has, once again, revealed the brutality of war. This has been particularly prominent in the actions of the Israeli military, who claim to be doing this to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. According to Human Rights Watch, the Israeli military has executed Palestinian citizens, including children, cut off their access to essential resources, and assaulted them with air strikes.
What has transpired in this latest battle between these warring nations has been brutal for Palestine and its people. Israel’s actions are even being called “genocide” by Palestine sympathizers, as their military commits war crimes. And for what reason? Has the world been able to identify Israel’s motive for doing such terrible things and enacting so much suffering? Ever since Israelis and Palestinians began occupying the same plot of land, things between them have been tense and full of conflict, with both aiming to take all of the land for themselves so it can be named “Israel” or “Palestine” for good.
This current conflict stems from something that has been going on since 2007, when Israel first started putting restrictions on who or what went in and out of Gaza. People, goods, and whether or not citizens got access to them was all controlled by Israel.
In the current war along the Gaza Strip, Israel has attacked schools and healthcare centers, such as hospitals and pharmacies. They’ve drained Gaza of anything that helps its people keep living and have effectively forced them out of Gaza for what Israel claims is the safety of its own people. As Gazans leave their homes, they are forced out slowly, in clusters of at least 1,000 people at a time, all while Israel continues to deny healthcare and all-day electricity to people who remain in Gaza. This was an issue for disabled citizens, with the lack of electricity making daily life difficult for them. Egypt is also taking Israel’s side, deciding to fully close the Rafah crossing so nobody can use it to get in or out of Gaza, according to Human Rights Watch.
In addition to all of the atrocities just described, Hamas and Palestinian armed groups have threatened to execute clusters of Israeli citizens, take them hostage, and blow up a hospital, killing at least 100 citizens. It seems like Hamas is trying to end the war by taking out any opposing armed forces, but the people of Palestine don’t want that. There is hope for the region if we, as a global community, take action, but as long as people around the world remain ignorant, we will continue to see the further destruction of the Palestinian people.