Introduction
This prompt addresses the Israel-Hamas war. It is a crucial international matter since it is part of the current global event responsible for developing policies and making decisions on military and diplomatic relations. Therefore, this report will address the global conflict between Israel and Hamas as it demonstrates the entire conflict process crucial for the Greater Sixteen-Hundredia Government in policy development and decision-making on military and diplomatic relations.
Overview
According to Lawati and Ebrahim (2023), Gaza militants fired massive rockets at Israeli cities on 7 October. They broke the fortified border fence with Israel heavily, sending militants deep into the Israeli region where the Hamas gunmen killed more than 1400 individuals (inclusive of soldiers and civilians) and 150 taken hostage as per the Israeli authorities.
These were tactful and unprecedented attacks because ever since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Israel had not battled with its adversaries on the streets, especially on its territory. Neither has Israel been exposed to a terror of such a magnitude claiming the lives of many civilians. Still, Hamas did kidnap Israelis before but never took so many hostages, like in this war, where older people and children are involved. However, according to a Russian state-baked channel, the Hamas senior official in Lebanon said that they had plotted this war two years back and named it the ‘Al-Aqsa Storm,’ a response to the Israeli attacks on women, the desecration of Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque and the ongoing Gaza siege. Besides, they were confident they had recovered roughly 1500 Hamas fighters in Israel since the attack on Saturday.
Israel responded to this attack by declaring war and launching ‘Operation Swords of Iron,’ and striking Islamic Jihad and Hamas targets in Gaza. They also blocked the necessities supply lines to the Gaza populace, including water and fuel. Between the 7th and 12th of October, Israel dropped 6000 bombs on the densely inhabited zone, which was equivalent to the overall Gaza airstrikes number during the entire 2014 Gaza-Israel War that persisted for 50 days. Besides, Ghassan Abu-Sittah, the British-Palestinian surgeon, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday that the Children summed up between 30% and 40% of the casualties within the Israel-Gaza airstrikes. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) requested the Gaza civilians to vacate their residential areas as soon as possible for safety purposes. Yet, others claimed there was no safe place for them since the shut of Gaza’s external crossings.
On Monday, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Minister of Defense, ordered Gaza’s complete siege, blocking their electricity, water, fuel, and food deliveries. Correspondingly, Israel Katz, the Minister of Energy, stated that he would cut off supplies until Hamas frees all the hostages. On Wednesday, Israel established an emergency administration and a cabinet for war management. Later on Friday, Israel’s military asked 1.1 million individuals within Northern Gaza to vacate their homes immediately. However, during the evacuation, a large explosion happened on the Southern Gaza City evacuation civilians’ route, Salah Al-Deen. Many civilians died during the elongated catastrophic scene while others were on the flat-bed trailers that seemed to be carrying individuals away from Gaza City, including several children. Many cars were also severely damaged and burnt. Still, there was no apparent cause of the prevalent explosion on that street that devastating afternoon. Contrariwise, Peter Lerner, IDF’s spokesman, Lt. Co., during a Sunday interview, stated that the Israeli military was not behind the explosion on Salah Al-Deen Street.
Gaza is currently in a humanitarian crisis whereby its people are in jeopardy of starving because Israel has now tightened its territory chokehold. Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip, which lies on the Western border of Egypt, in 2007. Since then, it has been under blockade yet is the most densely populated habitat on the planet, with roughly 2 million individuals crowded within the 140 square miles. Therefore, these two blockades are continuing today alongside Israel’s naval and air blockades. On 11 October, the territory’s only power station halted operating, causing the Palestinian Ministry of Health to forecast about hospitals running out of fuel, hence catastrophic settings. Likewise, the WHO Organization stated that hospitals were at a breaking point. In contrast, the Red Cross International Committee warned Gaza hospitals about soon transforming into morgues as they run out of power. According to the UN, the airstrikes hit a minimum of 88 education facilities, killing 12 UN workers.
The Palestine Red Crescent warned about the humanitarian catastrophe since there were no safe areas for civilians to evacuate to after Israel asked them to move South – ‘the shocking and beyond belief.’ Meanwhile, human rights groups warned of the conceivable crimes that Israel in Gaza committed, while on Friday, Amnesty International lifted the enclave blockade straightaway as they said that Hamas civilians’ terrorist atrocities and collective punishment leads to war crime. Israel shut two Gaza crossings, leaving one Rafah crossing for the passage of Palestinians or aid out and into the territory that connected the enclave’s South to Egypt.
On Saturday, Sameh Shoukry, the Foreign Minister of Egypt, stated that the Rafah crossing is open, but Gaza roads are inoperable due to the aerial bombardment. It is evident that the Jordan, Turkish, WHO organization, Red Cross, and UAE aid flights had arrived in Egypt, but the supplies were still on hold because there was no proper authorization.
On Friday, Hamas claimed that random Israeli bombings had killed 13 Israeli hostages in the enclave over the past 24 hours. However, the IDF could neither deny nor confirm the claim. The Hamas requested that Gaza individuals not leave their premises as Israelis accusations of partaking in psychological conflict by conveying messages telling Palestinian civilians and international organizations laborers to go for the South. The Hamas responded that exile and displacement were not for them.
Still, on Friday, UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency) stated that it relocated Gaza’s central operations center and global staff to the South of the besieged enclave. Currently, Israel is on a war footing with a collective of more than 300,000 territories along the Gaza border for a prospective ground set-up. It also said that Hamas would face a heavy price for its attack and plans of retrieving Israeli hostages from the reservists.
Hamas captured a minimum of 150 hostages, and their presence within Gaza certainly complicated any ongoing military operation. Furthermore, the militant groups stated that Monday would be the D-day for assassinating civilian hostages and disseminate it if Israel ambushed the Gaza people.
The IDF planned on controlling the Gaza Strip to end the Gaza enclave, as Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, IDF spokesperson, put it. Clearly, Hecht stated that their takeover stopped Hamas attacks but not the Israeli military from throwing grenades at the IDF ambulances and continuing with the war. After that, on Saturday, Saleh al-Arouri, a senior member of Hamas, told Al-Jazeera Arabic that they were ready for all war options at all levels, be it the worst, inclusive of ground invasions that will be an appropriate technique for deciding to end the battle.
Analysis
Israel appears to have had conflicts with Gaza, triggering Hamas’s current attack on them, yielding more disagreements between the two parties. The root cause of this conflict between them resides around these three issues: Hama’s response to the Israeli attacks on women, the desecration of Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque, and the ongoing Gaza siege by attacking Israel through massive fire rockets. However, what drives the conflict between Hamas and Gaza is the disunity among them. What triggered Israel to shoot back is the fact that Hamas killed 1400 individuals and took hostage 150 Israelis. The other trigger is that Israel declared war, struck Hamas in Gaza, and blocked the inlet crossings of their necessities and the alleged explosion on Salah Al-Deen Street. Currently, the significant impact of this conflict is the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the disruption of activities. Fortunately, different organizations, such as WHO and Red Cross, and countries such as Turkey and UAE, made various efforts to deliver humanitarian aid. Still, unfortunately, the Gaza roads were inoperable, and the Minister of Energy, Israel Katz, cut off supplies for Gaza people until the Hamas released hostages, making the humanitarian crisis more intense in Gaza. Even with the presence of IDF within the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military ambushed them. Besides, the evacuations of Gaza civilians from their premises were not effective because Gaza was no longer safe for both older people and children since the casualties were many.
Conclusion
The Israel-Hamas war portrays an unending conflict that jeopardizes the lives of many Gaza civilians due to a lack of humanitarian aid and numerous casualties. Israel and Hamas have their past unsolved issues that have taken a toll on their current activities. Still, it appears that no party is ready to end the battle, regardless of the minor efforts that the IDF has presented. Therefore, this report will help the Greater Sixteen-Hundredia get a clear picture of the root cause, triggers, and impacts of the Israel-Hamas war event before developing sustainable policies and making firm decisions on Israel’s and Hamas’ military and diplomatic relations.
References
Lawati, Abbas Al, and Nadeen Ebrahim. “Israel Is at War with Hamas. Here’s What to Know.” CNN, 9 October 2023, https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/09/middleeast/israel-hamas-gaza-war-explained-mime-intl/index.html.
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