Why in news?

• Israel declared a state of war after Palestinian militants launched barrages of rockets into southern and central Israel.
  • The attack also combined gunmen breaching security barriers with a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza.
• The attack came 50 years and a day after Egyptian and Syrian forces launched an assault during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
  • This was done in an effort to retrieve territory Israel had taken during a brief conflict in 1967.
• Attributing the attacks to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Israel Defence Forces began to carry out air strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

What’s in today’s article?

• Israel-Palestine Conflict
• Hamas
• News Summary

Israel- Palestine: Synopsis of the Conflict

• Early Phase
  • In the 19th century the land of Palestine was inhabited by a multicultural population (approx. 86% Muslim, 10% Christian, and 4% Jewish) – living in peace.
  • In the late 1800s, a group in Europe decided to colonize this land. Known as Zionists, their goal was to create a Jewish homeland.
    • They considered locations in Africa and the Americas, before settling on Palestine.
  • Hitler’s rise to power, led to increased Jewish immigration to Palestine. With the steady influx of Jews, the conflict in Palestine started to grow.
• UN Partition Plan
  • 
  • In 1947 the United Nations decided to intervene. However, it did not choose the principle of “self-determination of peoples.
  • Under considerable Zionist pressure, the UN recommended giving away 55% of Palestine to a Jewish state.
  • This was done despite the fact that this group represented only about 30% of the total population, and owned under 7% of the land.
• 1947-1949 War
  • Fighting began almost as soon as the Resolution of November 1947 was approved.
  • On May 14, 1948, one day before the British Mandate (Palestine was a British colony) expired, Britain declared "the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel".
  • This sparked a full-scale war (1948 Arab–Israeli War).
  • By the end of the war, Israel had conquered 78 percent of Palestine; and a new map was drawn up.
• 1967 War
  • Also known as a six-day war, Israeli forces launched a highly successful surprise attack on Egypt.
  • Israel occupied the final 22% of Palestine that had eluded it in 1948 – the West Bank and Gaza Strip
  • It also occupied parts of Egypt (since returned) and Syria (which remain under occupation). 
• Oslo peace process
  • In the 1993 a breakthrough agreement was negotiated between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Oslo, Norway.
  • Under this process, the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) agreed on a plan to implement a two-state solution.

What is Hamas?

• About
  • Hamas is the largest Palestinian militant Islamist group and one of the two major political parties in the region.
  • Currently, it governs more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
  • The organisation, however, is also known for its armed resistance against Israel (more on this later).
  • Hamas as a whole, or in some cases its military wing, is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and other countries.
• Background
  • The group was founded in the late 1980s, after the beginning of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
  • Hamas is essentially the internal metamorphosis of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood.
• Reasons for its creation
  • The main reason for Hamas’ creation was a deep sense of failure that had been set within the Palestinian national movement by the late 1980s.
  • This primarily happened after the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) — involved in the armed struggle against Israel from the mid-1960s to ‘liberate Palestine’ — made two massive concessions.
    • The PLO recognized Israel and its right to exist — thereby, relinquishing its goal of liberating Palestine.
    • Two, it also dropped the armed struggle as a strategy, for the sake of a negotiated settlement.
  • Hamas gained prominence after it opposed the Oslo Peace Accords signed in the early 1990s between Israel and the PLO.
• Some of the worst flare-ups between Hamas and Israel
  • The deadliest face-off between the two sides took place in 2014.
    • At least 2,251 Palestinians, including 1,462 civilians, were killed during 50 days of fighting.
    • On the Israeli side, 67 soldiers and six civilians were killed.
  • In May 2021, hundreds of Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa compound in Jerusalem.
    • After demanding Israel withdraw security forces from the compound, Hamas launched a series of rockets from Gaza into Israel.
    • Israel hit back with air strikes on Gaza. Fighting went on for 11 days.

News Summary: Israel at war after Hamas surprise attack

How the Hamas attack on Israel unfolded?

• Covering rocket barrage
  • Hamas said it had fired 5,000 rockets in a first barrage. Israel’s military said 2,500 rockets were fired.
• Dawn infiltration
  • The barrage served as cover for an unprecedented multi-pronged infiltration of fighters.
• Fighting at Israeli military bases
  • As per Israel’s military, Palestinian fighters had penetrated at least three military installations around the frontier.
• Border towns raid
  • Fighters raided various Israeli border town and started attack on civilians.
  • Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Hamas gunmen had gone house-to-house killing civilians.
• Taking captives
  • Israeli media has reported that gunmen have seized hostages in Ofakim.
• Israeli Strikes
  • Israel’s military spokesperson said the Airforce started carrying out strikes in Gaza. Medics in Gaza said dozens of people were killed in the strikes.