As the world reels in horror over an unprecedented war between Israel and Palestine that started on Saturday (7 October) morning, more than 1,700 people have been killed and many more injured or taken hostage.
Palestinian armed group Hamas, which also politically controls the Palestinian territory of Gaza Strip took responsibility for the attack. It said it’s time to take a decisive action against Israel’s decades-long aggression that has often resulted in wars and violent clashes between the two.
It called the attack, “Operation Al Aqsa Flood”.
Al Aqsa is a holy mosque compound in east Jerusalem, sacred to both Islam and Judaism. For Muslims, it is a sacred place from where the revered Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) embarked upon his famous night journey and ascension to heaven (Mi’raj). For Jews, it is the site where the Biblical King Solomon built the first temple more than 3,000 years ago.
But it is also a site where different beliefs and practices often become a flashpoint for religious violence and crisis.
The ongoing war has many complex angles, explanations and questions.
Why are some countries supporting it and others not? What was the trigger to this attack? How could Israeli intelligence, one of the best in the world, miss the signs in their own backyard? And more importantly, what happens next?
“The Hamas-Palestine-Israel crisis is just unfolding,” says Dr Suvrokamal Dutta, acclaimed international conservative, political, economic and foreign policy expert.
Speaking to Press Xpress, Dr Dutta explains
“This conflict will take a more dangerous turn than the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It might take a global shape soon,” Dr Dutta told PressXpress.
How did it all begin?
The root of the conflict lies in ancient history.
Palestinian Arabs consider the land as belonging to their forefathers who settled there for thousands of years.
The Jews also claim the Palestine region to be their original and ancestral homeland.
When the World War I ended in 1918, this region saw the collapse of the Ottoman Empire – and came under British control.
At that time, Palestine had an Arab majority and a Jewish minority. Tensions escalated when the British authorities established a “national homeland” for Jews within Palestine.
According to the United Nations (UN), this was the beginning of the “Palestine problem” in modern times.
“In 1947, the UN proposed the partitioning of Palestine into two independent States, one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish, with the holy city of Jerusalem internationalized,” according to a report by the UN. “But the plan did not bring any peace.”
On 14 May 1948, Israel declared independence. A war began the next day, from where the Palestinian al-Nakba (Catastrophe) stems, referring to an ethnic cleansing of Palestine. During this period, up to 750,000 Palestinians who had lived on that land were expelled or displaced from their homes.
According to the Global Conflict Tracker, this war ended in 1949 with Israel’s victory, and the region was divided into 3 parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip. Tensions have been high since, with many wars and clashes in the decades that followed.
Visual history of conflict
Here is a visual history of Israel and Palestine through the years.
The British Mandate: This is the area (generally known as Palestine) that came under Great Britain as World War I ended in 1918 and was split into Arab and Jewish states.
(As per Israeli maps, Palestine is not shown here)
1947 UN Partition Plan: The UN voted to establish an independent state of Israel in 1947 as per the following partition plan.
Modern day Israel: This is what Israel’s map looks like now, with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israel in relation to Middle East: This map shows Israel in relation to neighbouring states. Israel is just about 290 miles (470 km) north-to-south and 85 miles (135 km) east-to-west at its widest point.
Mapping the conflict: At about 6:30am (0430 GMT) on 7 Oct, Hamas fired a huge barrage of rockets across southern Israel, Reuters reported. This was the beginning of the current conflict. The map below shows the locations targeted and the ranges of the rockets, as reported by Reuters.
What is Hamas?
Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist resistance group formed in late 1987 with the aim to establish an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel.
The name “Hamas” is an acronym that stands for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement).
It is the largest and most capable fighter group in the Palestinian territories and also a major political party in the region. It is committed to armed resistance against Israel.
Hamas rules the Gaza Strip and areas of the West Bank but also has presence in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, as well as the key regional capitals of Doha (Qatar) and Cairo (Egypt).
The military wing of Hamas, called the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, is regarded as a militant outfit by the US counter-terrorism department. Al Qassam’s objective is to pursue an armed struggle against the Israeli forces, which it says is in response to their continued aggression.
Hamas is headed by 61-year-old Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar.
According to Hamas’ website, Haniyeh is the current head of Hamas’ Political Bureau and a former Palestinian prime minister. He grew up in Gaza’s Shati refugee camp.
On Hamas-run Al Aqsa TV channel, Haniyeh declared after the 7 October attack that “Operation Al Aqsa is a direct response to the Israeli assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque in recent days.”
Haniyeh said in a televised speech, “Enough is enough, the cycle of intifadas and revolutions in the battle to liberate our Palestinian land and our prisoners languishing in occupation (Israeli) prisons must be completed.”
He confirmed that the group had previous knowledge about the Israeli government’s plans to take over the holy Al Aqsa Mosque.
In the recorded address, Haniyeh applauded the attack against Israel as being “on the verge of victory”, and said that Operation Al Aqsa, which started in Gaza will soon expand to West Bank and Jerusalem.
What happens next?
As Dr Dutta told PressXpress, the situation may take a more global, more dangerous shape soon.
Israel has vowed to use “enormous force” against Hamas, as warned by Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He said the Israel Defence Forces’ retaliation for the worst attack on Israeli soil in decades has only just begun – and will change Middle East as we know it.
On 7 October, the morning of the attack that stunned Israel, PM Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying “we (will) return fire of a magnitude that the enemy (Hamas) has not known. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price.”
The office also denied receiving any intelligence inputs or advance warnings for the attack, calling such reports “fake news”.
In response to Israeli bombings, Abu Ubaida, chief of the Hamas military wing Al Qassam Brigades, has warned Netanyahu that “for every bombing that targets civilian homes, we will execute one Israeli hostage”, according to Palestinian newspaper Al Quds.
The newspaper is also showing latest developments of the war on its website (https://alquds.com/ar/posts/95339), with reports of damage done against Israel.
The official Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (https://www.pbc.ps/), controlled by Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, is also showing live broadcast of the current state of the conflict from various locations within Palestinian territories.
Globally, reactions are mixed
The United States has offered “rock-solid and unwavering” support to Israel, its closest ally in the Middle East.
At least 11 Americans are reported killed and some held hostage by Hamas in the ongoing conflict.
In fact, there has also been some talk about the US-led mediation talks between Israel and pro-Palestine Saudi Arab were also one of the key reasons for the Hamas offensive.
Russia and China on the other hand have stressed on a de-escalation of hostilities and resort to diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful solution.
The Western countries are blaming Hamas for the massive “terror attack” saying Israel has a right to defend itself, but many Middle East nations are backing Hamas.
For example, Iran, known to be a staunch supporter of Hamas, has said it “firmly stands behind the aspirations of the Palestinian people”, in a statement released by its permanent mission to the United Nations, according to Iranian official news agency, IRNA.
However, Iran has officially denied allegations of being involved in the current attack.
Qatar is blaming Israel for its continued provocation and aggression against Palestinian territories.
In a statement posted on the Qatar Foreign Ministry’s official website, it said, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds Israel solely responsible for the ongoing escalation due to its ongoing violations of the rights of the Palestinian people, the latest of which was the repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli police.”
The Hezbollah link
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has strongly supported Hamas since the beginning of Operation Al Aqsa Flood.
Hezbollah, which refers to the hizb (or ahzab, meaning group or part) of Allah, roughly translates to being a “part or group of Allah”. It is a strong Islamist military and political group in Lebanon.
Founded in the 1980s during the Lebanese civil war, Hezbollah – termed as a global terror organization by the US and other Western nations – wields considerable power both in Lebanon and the larger Middle East.
With Hezbollah promising to help Hamas and engaging in border shelling and drone strikes with Israeli forces, the war is becoming more complex.
According to Al-Manar, a Hezbollah-linked news outlet, Sayyed Safieddine, the head of the group’s executive council, has declared that Hezbollah can “never take a neutral stance” and will be ready to join the fight alongside Hamas.
Hezbollah is known to be backed by Iran, an arch enemy of Israel, which being the Hezbollah link into the spotlight.
It means “Israel faces an existential threat”, if Hamas is joined in full strength by Hezbollah, Iranian fighters (from Iraq and Syria), and Palestinians (from the West Bank), Israel’s former head of National Security Council, Giora Eiland said in an interview to official Hebrew radio station Kan Bet.
“The only way (for Israel) is to create a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” he said.
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