The Israeli Palestine Conflict - Its History & How It Will Evolve

A war between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7th. The conflict has seized the world’s attention, with 100 000 people protesting this weekend in London to “Free Palestine” and shocking images of deaths caused by both sides circulating on social media.

Gaza, one of two Palestinian territories together with the West Bank, is a strip of land with 2.2  million inhabitants and has been ruled since 2007 by Hamas, a militant Islamic organisation designated as “terrorist” since 2007 by the US. Originally democratically elected, Hamas has since cracked down on other political movements, and is pursuing its openly stated goal of destroying the Israeli state. Accordingly, there has been a crippling indefinite blockade on movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip imposed by Egypt and Israel since Hamas came to power. Even before the current conflict, rocket barrages coming from Hamas militants (usually intercepted by Israel’s state-of-the-art “Iron Dome” missile defence system) were not uncommon.

Living conditions in Gaza are dire, being one of the most densely populated areas in the world and before the current war over 80% of people already being in need of international aid. Such conditions (caused in large part by the Israeli-Egyptian blockade) are a breeding ground for resentment and pro-Hamas sentiment.

This rage was expressed in the first large-scale coordinated attack by Hamas on Israel. Rockets were fired, border posts dismantled, and families massacred within Israeli territory. The invasion took the world by surprise; Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, had issued no warnings of potential Hamas action beforehand and the militants were met with little resistance. It has been suggested that the ensuing violence was caused by the lack of directives from Hamas leadership over what to do when actually in Israeli territory. All in all, 1400 people were killed and 200 were taken hostage by Hamas.

In retaliation, Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip killing over 7000 Palestinians at the time of writing. At least 22 journalists have been killed as well. Wider multilateral action in response to dire conditions in Gaza has been slow. At a UN Security Council meeting the US blocked a ceasefire from going ahead, and humanitarian aid has been slow to come, with only one convoy of 20 UN trucks entering Gaza so far. Israel has been edgy about such aid, suggesting that it will not go to the people in need but will instead be used to fund or support Hamas. Egypt, a strategic partner of Israel, has also been slow to open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and itself, and many foreigners or dual-nationals have not had the opportunity to escape the turmoil in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

The rocket strikes currently in the news encompass the first half of the first phase of Israel’s war programme, the aim of which is to eliminate Hamas and embrace what defence minister Yoav Gallant has called “a new security reality”. The second half of phase one will be a comprehensive ground invasion of Gaza, which Israel’s military has been preparing for over the past week. The second phase will be to destroy “pockets of resistance” in Gaza, and the last to remove all ties Israel has with Gaza.

While having a famously effective, well-funded and well-trained army, Israel may find it hard to deal with an elusive enemy in Hamas, hiding among civilians and in tunnel networks, without causing harm to Palestinian civilians which would breach international law and cause backlash from the Arab and wider world.

Article Writer - LexaNews Journalist