Israel “at war” with Hamas after unanticipated attack
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel “is at war” after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Saturday. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad also participated in the attacks.
Hamas is a Palestinian, Sunni-Islamic militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. It was formed in the late 1980s at the beginning of the first Palestinian uprising, a ‘revamp’ of the Muslim Brotherhood. Since its formation, Hamas has opted for armed struggle against Israel, launching several bloody attacks against Israel, predominantly harming civilians. Hamas describes them as retaliatory for Israel’s similar, ongoing attacks that seem to target Palestinian civilians.
The Gaza Strip is a territorial land space between Israel and Egypt. Along with the West Bank, it is known as ‘Palestinian territories’. Palestinians refer to the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem universally as Palestine.
Hamas is designated as a terrorist group by Israel, the US, UK and EU. It is backed by Iran, who it is believed provides weapons and military training.
On Saturday, Hamas fired thousands of rockets from Gaza and broke through barriers surrounding the Gaza strip to enter Israel. They shot hundreds of young people who were at a dance festival in southern Israel. The naked body of one young woman was paraded through the streets on the back of a truck. Civilians have been killed and taken hostage.
Israel Defence Forces responded by trying to cut off entry points from the Gaza strip, and retaliate against Hamas who infiltrated several Israeli towns.
The exact motivation for the attack is somewhat unclear – but according to the AP, “Hamas officials cited long-simmering tensions including a dispute over the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Competing claims over the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, have spilled into violence before, including a bloody 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in 2021.”
Tensions and violence have been growing for months between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where it has been the deadliest year on record for Palestinians.
Around 4,500 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons. It is estimated that at least 150 hostages have been taken by Hamas in the attacks so far.
Israel’s Defence Minister has stated that a total siege will be imposed on Gaza. The Gaza Strip has one of the highest population densities in the world, and almost half the population is children. 80% of people living in Gaza depend on international aid for food and electricity.
Israel-Palestine tensions are highly emotive, complicated, fraught with tension, and divisive. It has made media coverage of this attack particularly complex and sensitive.
As some outlets are remaining as impartial as possible by balancing viewpoints and providing historical, two-sided context, they have been accused of antisemitism and criticised for referring to Hamas as ‘militants’, instead of ‘terrorists’.
Other outlets have been accused of perpetually overlooking the Palestinian struggle and the decades long territorial struggle in the region that has led to the suffering of thousands of Palestinians – and Israelis.
Let’s take a closer look – without forgetting this is an rolling story that is continuously unfolding, with tens of articles written on events each day by day.
Israel declares siege on Gaza as Hamas claims Israeli strikes killed captives
In the midst of war, Benjamin Netanyahu is a liability who can only make things worse. He must go
The so-called international community must also make up for its neglect of Israel-Palestine: there has to be a ceasefire
Why are the usual suspects still making excuses for Hamas? They are anti-Semitic murderers
- This comment piece writes:Amnesty International – once noble – lost no time in blaming Israel for Hamas’s invasion. Instead of outrage at Hamas’s killing spree, its Secretary General Agnes Callamard tweeted: “The Israeli government must refrain from inciting violence and tensions in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem”. To me, it is the equivalent of telling Jews after a pogrom not to “incite” the violence against them by existing. The bile rises in the throat.Clearly it is a biased commentary, and in the interest of exposing bias, it is worth including that Callamard also tweeted the following:
The Times view on the terrorist attack launched by Hamas from the Gaza Strip: Unending War
Israel under ‘huge’ rocket barrage – as country’s PM says its response will ‘change Middle East’
Shame on those who won’t stand with Israel
How Hamas staged Israel lightning assault no-one thought possible
Israel orders TOTAL blockade on blitzed Gaza banning food & fuel to starve out ‘human beasts’…with invasion ‘hours away’
Across the Mideast, a Surge of Support for Palestinians as War Erupts in Gaza
Israeli Father Tells of Moment His Wife and Children Became Hostages
both New York Times
