On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched the first attack on Israel, firing missiles from the Gaza Strip, hitting residential buildings and incursions from ground troops. Since then, many people have died and many more have been injured. Cities have been abandoned, citizens evacuated, and many are without homes because of the constant barrage of artillery. The war between Israel and Palestine is a war with history that goes back many years.
The first recorded conflict between Israel and other nations of the Middle East was the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The war was between Israel and the Arab League, made up of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt. Jordan occupied East Jerusalem and Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip, but Israel was able to occupy most of Palestine. During 1967, the 6 day war started; it ended with Israel winning and occupying Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank from Jordan, the Gaza Strip, and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. The Sinai Peninsula was later returned to Egypt under the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed in 1964 during an Arab summit meeting and was made up of various Palestinian groups that have previously operated as clandestine resistance. The goal of the PLO was to liberate Palestine and create an Arab state.
Hamas, a militant subsection of the PLO, was formed in 1987 when it broke off into a smaller group made by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and religious factions of the PLO at the beginning of the first Palestine intifada. A wing of Hamas called Izz al-Din al-Qassam has conducted many anti-Israel attacks in Israel and Palestine. The main goal of Hamas was to make a Islamic Palestinian state. Hamas has between 20,000 to 25,000 members and they primarily are in the Gaza strip.
On October 8th, 2023, Israel declared war on Hamas, after Hamas broke down the security walls that surrounded Gaza. According to several sources, 200 hostages have been held by Hamas and other groups in the enclave. Israel has killed over 20 hostages with airstrikes. More than 1400 civilians have been killed by Hamas, including children. Through night and day, Israel has been under constant barrage of missiles from Gaza.
Due to the fighting between Hamas and Israel, many civilians have been hurt. In an attempt to destroy Hamas, many civilians in Gaza have been killed or harmed fleeing from Gaza, even though Israel has given them time to escape.
By Monday, October 23, several news reports confirmed the Palestinian death toll in Gaza reaching over 5,000 casualties because of the Israel airstrikes. 2023 is starting to seem like the deadliest year in the Israel-Palestine crisis. No one has any definite idea how this war is going to end.
