LOS ALAMITOS, CA — On Sunday, Oct. 8, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared that the nation of Israel is at war with a Palestinian militant political organization known as Hamas.

What caused the rising tensions between the two groups?

Tensions between Palestine and Israel have always been extreme, and the hostility predates their split in 1948 with the creation of the State of Israel, which created hostility between the two groups over various claims on holy sites.

Both the people of Israel and the people of Palestine have structures sacred to their respective religions at the Temple Mount. Within the Temple Mount is the Al-Aqsa Mosque (also known as the Al-Qibli mosque by the Palestinians). The Palestinians see the mosque as the third holiest site in Islam, and the Israelis see the Temple Mount as the most sacred and essential site of their religion since it resides in Jerusalem, the holiest city for Jews. The clash of the two religions praying at one site leads to hostility and violence from both sides against the other.

“Jerusalem is the holiest city ever [for the Jewish people],” Jake Nguyen, a Jewish Los Alamitos High School alumnus, said. “It’s where the [Israelis] can connect to God.”

What is Hamas?

Hamas is an anti-Israeli group that formed in 1987. Since its creation, Hamas has had a significant presence in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory of land in west Israel, as well as other parts of Palestine, including the West Bank. Because of this heavy presence in Gaza, they won the 2006 parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip and forcefully took control of the strip the following year, prompting them to increase their anti-Israeli ideals through violent measures such as bombings and massacres. The group has been deemed a terrorist organization by the United States government, the European Union, and several other countries.

Hamas is able to fight Israel via funds pirated through cryptocurrency and aid from Iran, a known enemy of Israel. Israel states that around $100 million are given to Hamas annually and go to food, training, and arsenal expansion for the organization.

What caused Israel to declare war?

Israel declared war on Hamas after the brutal attack that Hamas led on Saturday, Oct. 7. Hamas had broken past the Iron Wall, a heavily guarded fence with motion sensors and turrets that separates Gaza from Israel, and arrived in Israel with military vehicles, wearing body armor while carrying AK-47 rifles. At the same time, Hamas militants descended onto the festival with their weaponry using paragliders. The group then proceeded to open fire on civilians at the festival. More Hamas members were waiting at bomb shelters to kill the Israelis who were trying to find shelter, and some were storming Israeli villages and killing the citizens. At least 260 Israeli people were killed at the festival alone, and many others were injured, assaulted, raped, and kidnapped as hostages.

Why did Hamas attack Israel?

For many years, the Gaza Strip has been in conflict with Israel, who tried to expand their land into Palestinian settlements and push out the residents of the areas. The Gaza Strip is packed with over two million Palestinians who have minimal land and supplies since Israel has had control over the area for many years and has placed restrictions on their goods and supplies, which has severely hurt the state over time. 

This expansion by Israel led Hamas to storm the festival and attack the Israeli people to send a message to Israel and Netanyahu. The force and brutality of their attack were seen as an overreaction by the Palestinian and Israeli citizens to their problems because, despite their mistreatment, Hamas or the Gaza Strip could have approached the issue less violently.

How has Israel responded to the attack?

Netanyahu declared that the nation of Israel is at war with Gaza and that all forms of electricity, food, water, and medicinal aid will be cut off from being provided to the Gaza Strip during this warring period. Additionally, the Israeli government has also bombed the Gaza Strip in an attempt to fight back against Hamas. The bombings have left hundreds of Palestinians dead and many others in critical condition despite Israel trying to minimize civilian casualties.

“Israel needs to do everything they can to make sure [they] get [their] hostages back alive [from Hamas],” Nguyen said.

The Palestinian citizens who reside in the Gaza Strip are being caught in the middle of the battle as Israel continues their attempts to take down Hamas’ control in the area. The aforementioned limited supplies are hurting Hamas, yet the Israeli government believes that Hamas will receive more aid from their allied Arab countries, making it more difficult to remove them from the area. 

“[Hamas is] a disgusting group of terrorists who harm both Israelis and Palestinians,” Shurki said. “This is the Israeli-Hamas war.”

What effect has the war had on the Palestinian people in Gaza?

Due to the many bombings that Israel has launched on Gaza, many Palestinians are seeking medical attention or trying to escape the area. Every hospital in Gaza is full of people, and there is no vacant area for more people to get medical attention. People are trying to flee from Gaza to seek medical attention as well as to escape the bombings and war.

Palestinians who are trying to flee to Egypt are struggling with trying to escape the borders of Gaza. Alongside this, Egypt is hesitant to accept Gazan refugees because they want to try and mediate the peace and are trying to avoid intervention with Israel, as the Israeli government is planning to continue attacks on Gaza.

How does the war affect the United States?

The United States has been allied with Israel since 1949, which means that it will support Israel while they are in a warring period. The U.S. is giving military supplies and aid to Israel during the war and will continue to do so as the situation progresses. These contributions include the almost $3 billion that has been sent to help build the Iron Dome, an anti-missile defense system around Israel. The U.S. has also sent two aircraft carriers that are being placed in Israel to help stop attacks from a different terrorist organization, Hezbollah, who are trying to invade Israel. Since the U.S. is an ally of Israel, this war affects the U.S. government and the American people, and it will continue to affect them as the war continues.

To conclude

The Hamas-Israel war stemmed from the long history between Israel and Palestine and the tensions that escalated over time. After Hamas attacked Israel, it was apparent that Israel was ready to fight back against Hamas to protect their people. There is no end in sight for the war, and more events will continue to happen daily as the battles progress until some end is brought to the war.