Hamas attack on Israel: A Longstanding Conflict between Palestine and Israel

By Mariama Bah

On October 7th, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, hitting the country with rockets, opening fire, and taking dozens of hostages from a music festival near the Gaza security fence. Hamas launched over 5,000 missiles into Israel, and the Israeli government has declared war against the militant group. Over 1,300 people have been killed in Israel, and more than 2,750 have been killed and 9,700 have been wounded in Gaza as of Friday, October 13th.

Yet this terrorist attack by Hamas and the resulting destruction by the Israelis isn't the first time the two countries have engaged in a violent conflict. In the 19th century, Zionism, the belief that Jewish people should have a homeland, was founded by Theodor Herz. The British Balfour Declaration, signed in 1917, made this idea a reality by promising the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. During WW2, when 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, this idea became more popular as European Jews fled to Palestine for safety. Also, after WW2, The League of Nations established the British Mandate for Palestine. This mandate gave Britain control over Palestine; because the country supported the zionist movement, over 91,000 Jewish immigrants moved into Palestine, displacing Palestinians. As a result of the mandate, high tensions between the Palestinian residents already on the land and Jews led to a series of Arab-Israeli Wars and the Oslo Accords in 1993.

The Oslo Accords set a timeline for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. However, tensions became high not long after this agreement between Palestinians and Israelites in the early 2000s. Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, and there has been ongoing conflict. Palestinians in Israel have been subjected to unnecessary military violence, endured discrimination, and stripped of fundamental human rights. Additionally, Israel has banned traveling and trading goods in the Gaza territory for 15 years, devastating the Palestinian economy and the people. In May of 2021, Hamas and Israel engaged in a 12-day battle in Gaza over Palestinian protests. About 260 Palestinians were killed during this 12-day battle, and 1,000 protesters were injured.

Today, the Gaza Strip is widely considered the largest open-air prison in the world, with 97% of water contaminated, lack of internet, 2-3 hours of electricity in hospitals and schools per day, and restricted movement in and out, with only two heavily guarded entrances. More than 120 illegal Israeli settlements are in the West Bank, and over 2 million people reside in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with half of the population under 18 - human rights organizations have designated Israel's occupation of Palestine as apartheid.

President Biden has promised immediate aid to Israel, which has received 4 billion dollars annually in military assistance since 2019. The U.S. has also sent ammunition and the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to supplement Israel's military. Many online petitions and funding pages exist for innocent civilians in Israel and Palestine.