The latest conflict between the Hamas organization that controls the Gaza Strip and Israel began on October 7. Hamas fired thousands of rockets into Israel and its gunmen infiltrated population centers in Israel, murdering and taking hostages.
Israel has since responded by bombing numerous targets in Gaza and tightening the blockade of the area.
In this article, we aim to find out what the conflict in Gaza is all about.
1. What is the historical background of the war?
In both the Jewish and Christian traditions, the region of the Mediterranean, or Palestine, has been considered the land promised by God to the Jews.
After the Second World War, the victorious powers wanted to give the Jews who suffered in the Holocaust a state of their own, which was roughly the territory of present-day Israel. Jews began to move to the area, but the Palestinians who inhabited the area were not taken into account. They fled and the Israelis also evicted them from Israel, which became independent in 1948, when the refugee problem arose. It’s still going on.
Over the decades, Israel’s neighboring countries have attacked Israel several times. With the strong US military smoke, Israel has won wars. As a result of them, however, a situation has arisen in which Israel occupies the West Bank belonging to Jordan, the Golan Heights belonging to Syria and encircles the Gaza Strip.
2 How does religion affect conflict?
The city of Jerusalem is a religiously extremely sensitive place. In Jerusalem, there are not only the holiest sites for Jews and Christians, but also for Muslims. When the state of Israel was created, Jerusalem was effectively left in its possession.
Among the most religious Muslims, the liberation of Jerusalem has been the reason for waging a holy war, a jihad. Israel has been accused of desecrating Muslim holy sites, which has led to inciting anti-Semitism among the people.
In Israel, the idea of a Jewish state is adhered to. The country currently has an ultra-conservative and ultra-religious government, which has pursued a very strict line towards the Palestinians.
3. What does the Palestinian side want?
The Hamas terrorist organization that controls Gaza has declared its goal to destroy Israel. However, it is more difficult to know the motive of the conflict now started by Hamas.
Possibly Hamas wanted to take advantage of the internal division in Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu the government is widely opposed in Israel. Perhaps Hamas wants to boost its position. After all, there is also a power struggle with the more moderate Fatah organization that controls the West Bank.
As a condition for the release of hostages kidnapped from Israel, Hamas has demanded the release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. If the demand were to be fulfilled even partially, Hamas would gain fame in the Middle East.
Israel has recently become closer to some Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, which may have weakened the position of Hamas. By starting the war, Hamas is preventing these negotiations from progressing.
4. What does Israel want?
The goal of Israel’s intelligence service and armed forces is to detect security threats to the country in advance and combat them. This failed miserably.
Since Hamas was able to surprise Israel’s very powerful military, the military, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu, must now show strength to restore its credibility.
With the military operation started now, the Israeli armed forces intend to weaken the military leadership and power of Hamas, says for example The New York Times magazine.
It is unclear what Israel is aiming for when it blocks the supply of food, medicine and energy to Gaza and thus further makes the conditions of the Gazans miserable. Possibly the hope is to turn the mood of Gazans against Hamas, but this tactic has not worked in the past.
5. Why does the war arouse a lot of emotions abroad?
The decades-long conflict in the Middle East has sharpened the opinions of people who look at the issue through religion. Both sides have their ardent supporters.
However, according to many experts, religion is only the surface layer of the conflict. Basically, it is about who gets to use the land that Israel has taken over, its natural resources and, for example, water resources.
Both sides have also committed human rights violations. Over the years, Hamas has carried out numerous terrorist attacks on Israel. Even now, its indiscriminate rocket attack and hostage-taking have been found to be in violation of international laws.
Israel is a democratically run state, but it too is guilty of violating international law. According to the human rights organization Amnesty, the Palestinian population of Israel does not have the same rights as the Jewish population. In addition, the occupation of the West Bank, the construction of settlements there, the blockade of Gaza and the bombing of civilian targets are illegal acts, according to Amnesty.
Also The UN has condemned Israel’s settlement policy.