Israel is at war with Hamas. Here’s what to know:
Following an unprecedented offensive by air, sea, and land on Saturday, Israel has declared war on the Palestinian militant organization Hamas.
At least 900 Israelis have died as a result of the massive surprise attack, which also sparked a deadly barrage of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that claimed at least 765 lives.
The terrorists claimed to have taken at least 100 hostages with them as they fled into Gaza and threatened to kill them if airstrikes were to attack Gaza without prior notice. Israel has promised that Hamas will pay a high price, and it may be getting ready to invade Gaza on the ground right now.
What took place?
On Saturday morning, militants from Gaza launched tens of thousands of missiles at Israeli towns before scaling the heavily guarded border fence with Israel and infiltrating a significant portion of Israeli territory. Numerous people were slain and captured as hostages there by Hamas terrorists, including military and civilians.
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As street fighting continued, it took Israeli troops more than two days to regain control. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared on Monday that once the combat with Hamas was over, they had regained control of all Israeli communities near Gaza on its southern border.
The bodies of “about 1500” Hamas fighters have been found inside Israel since the strike on Saturday, according to IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus on Tuesday.
Since the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, Israel has not engaged its enemies in street combat on its own territory, so the attacks were unique in both method and scope. Additionally, it has never had a terror act of this scale that claimed the lives of so many citizens. While Hamas has previously kidnapped Israelis, it has never done so while simultaneously holding scores of captives, including young children and the elderly.
The attack was dubbed “Al-Aqsa Storm” by Hamas, who claimed it was in retaliation for Israeli attacks on women, the destruction of the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, and the continuous blockade of Gaza.
From Gaza, Hamas launches an unexpected air and ground assault.
After Hamas launched a lethal barrage of rockets and dispatched armed men into southern Israeli territory on Saturday, the Israeli military claimed Monday that it had regained control of all communities surrounding Gaza.
A “complete siege” of the enclave has been ordered by the Minister of Defense as Israeli soldiers continue to bombard Gaza with airstrikes.
How has Israel reacted to this?
Israel has declared war in retaliation for the assault and has begun “Operation Swords of Iron,” which involves attacking alleged Hamas and Islamic Jihad sites in Gaza.
As of Monday, scores of children had also been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health there.
As Israeli military operations continue to target Hamas, the IDF has urged inhabitants in Gaza to leave their homes as soon as possible for their safety. The IDF has also closed all borders between Israel and Gaza, potentially paving the way for a ground invasion into the enclave.
Where did the two sides come from?
Before Israel was founded in 1948, there were conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians. Over many years, tens of thousands of people on both sides have died and suffered injuries.
This year has seen an especially high level of violence. The number of Palestinians murdered by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank this year, including militants and civilians, is at its highest level in nearly two decades. The same is true of foreigners and Israelis murdered in Palestinian attacks, the majority of whom were civilians.
In the 1967 war, Israel defeated Egypt and took control of Gaza. In 2005, it evacuated its troops and settlements. After a brief civil war with Fatah, a rival Palestinian organization that forms the core of the Palestinian Authority, the region, which is home to some 2 million Palestinians, came under the control of Hamas in 2007.
Israel and Egypt enforced an ongoing severe siege on the region after Hamas took power. Israel continues to isolate Gaza from the air and the sea. The region has been referred to by Human Rights Watch as a “open-air prison.” Nearly 80% of its people depend on humanitarian aid, and more than half of them live in poverty and face food insecurity.
Israel and Hamas have engaged in numerous wars. The most recent conflict between the two, which ended on Saturday, lasted for 11 days and resulted in at least 250 deaths in Gaza and 13 in Israel.
The attack on Saturday happened exactly 50 years ago, on October 6, 1973, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, when Israel was attacked by its Arab neighbors.
