-Kunal Kishore-
Israel Palestine conflict Explainer: Israel and Hamas In the latest war between the two, more than two thousand people have lost their lives and lakhs of people have become homeless. On October 7, Hamas launched rocket attacks targeting Israeli cities. Hamas claimed that it fired about 5000 rockets. Not only this, hundreds of armed terrorists entered the Israeli border and took more than 100 people hostage. Israel was shocked by this attack and retaliated. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the enemies will have to pay a heavy price, after which air strikes are being carried out on the Gaza Strip since Sunday.
What is the history of this dispute
In fact, when the Jews were being tortured all over the world, the kind of atrocities that happened to them during the Second World War were horrifying. During the Second World War, Hitler’s Nazi regime massacred approximately 42 lakh Jews by putting them in gas chambers. Then the Jews realized that Europe was also not a safe place for them. Then they decided that there was no place other than Palestine where they would be safe. Only a separate Jewish state can guarantee their security. Actually, Jews lived in 1000 BC where today’s Israel and Palestine are. Gradually the Jews started settling at the same place, the Arabs were already there. Disagreements started arising between the two communities and the differences turned into clashes. The British government was unable to solve it and Britain sent this matter to the United Nations.
Israel was established on 4 August 1948
After the end of the Second World War, the United Nations Organization was also established and the United Nations proposed that this land be divided into three parts, one part of which should be given to the Jews, the second part should be given to the Arabs and the third part (Jerusalem) ) where both Jewish and Muslim communities lived under the UN and similarly the country of Israel was established on 14 August 1948.
war of 1948
The war started here after Israel came into existence in 1948. Israel became an irritant in the eyes of the Arabs since its establishment and the same thing happened when four countries (Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan) attacked the newly formed Israel simultaneously. In this war, Palestinian fighters fought with the help of Arab countries but they had to face defeat at the hands of Israel and also lost some part of the land given to them. The result was that millions of people were forced to become refugees and had to leave their country. A ceasefire was finally declared in this war that lasted till 1949.
The turning point came in 1967
The turning point in this dispute came when 6 Arab countries, including Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, together attacked Israel on 5 June 1967. In this war that lasted for six days, Israel single-handedly defeated these six countries. This war which lasted for six days is also called “SIX DAYS WAR”. Before this war, Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt, Golan Heights by Syria and West Bank by Jordan, which Israel won in the war. After the war, the United Nations passed a resolution asking Israel to leave the conquered territory.
Why is Jerusalem so important for both communities?
Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital, in fact Israel has declared Jerusalem as its official capital. Actually, Jerusalem holds religious importance for three religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
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1. The Western Wall located in Jerusalem holds importance for the Jews. That’s why Jews consider it a holy place.
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2. If we talk about Islam, Al-Aqsa Mosque is also located in Jerusalem, which Muslims consider to be the third holiest place after Mecca and Medina.
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3. As far as Christianity is concerned, Christians believe that the place where Jesus Christ was crucified is in Jerusalem and a church is also located in Jerusalem.
How was Hamas born?
In 1970, Palestinians once again raised their voice against Israel. Fatah, led by Yasser Arafat, founded the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization). The main objective of this organization was to raise the voice of Palestinians, rehabilitate and protect them. With this, wars again continued with Israel. 1987 was the year when Palestinians formed the extremist organization Hamas. Hamas came into existence so that it would capture land on the basis of terrorism.
Oslo Accords of 1993
There is a peace agreement between the two countries in 1993, which is called Oslo Accord or Oslo Accord. This agreement stated that Palestine would recognize Israel as a state and Israel considered the PLO to be the representative of the Palestinian people. The main point of the agreement was that the Palestinian government would democratically run and control the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Hamas completely rejected and announced to take over the entire area. The political party Fatah refused to include Hamas in the government, which deepened the differences between the two. The differences increased so much that in 2007 the ‘Fatah’ party had to leave the Gaza Strip, after which Hamas has a monopoly over the entire Gaza.
Why does Israel attack Gaza Strip only?
Since 2007, there have been continuous rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza under the control of Hamas. Because of this, Israel has locked the entire border of Gaza. Because of this there is a huge shortage of electricity and water in Gaza. Unemployment is also at record level. Israel has been alleging that Iran and many other countries keep supplying weapons to Hamas through Egypt. Earlier in the year 2021, the conflict had lasted for 11 days and 256 Palestinians had lost their lives and about 13 Israeli civilians had died.