Everything you need to know about the war between Israel and Hamas

2023-10-13 12:10:46

October 9, 2023
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October 13, 2023
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After the Hamas attack on Saturday October 7, Israel continues its counter-offensive against the Gaza Strip. The death toll from the war currently stands at more than 3,000.

What happened?

Hamas, Islamist movement in power since 2007 in Gaza and sworn enemy of Israel, launched an offensive on Saturday October 7 at dawn, in the middle of Shabbat, the Jewish weekly rest. This offensive came 50 years and one day after the start of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, launched the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation to “put an end to the crimes of the occupation”in reference to Israel’s occupation since 1967 of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where the Esplanade des Mosques is located, the third holiest site in Islam which houses the Al-Aqsa mosque.

The armed movement says it fired 5,000 rockets on Israel while its fighters used explosives and bulldozers to breach the barrier separating Gaza from Israeli territory, attacking military positions and civilians in the streets.

Aboard vehicles, boats and even motorized paragliders, fighters infiltrated urban areas of Israel such as Ashkelon, Sderot and Ofakim, located approximately 22 km from Gaza. Hamas seizedmilitary equipment Israelis and took civilians and soldiers hostage.

Gaza is a poor enclave populated by 2.3 million inhabitants. Israel, who has occupied the Palestinian territory of the West Bank since 1967 despite international law, has imposed a drastic blockade on Gaza since Hamas took power there in 2007, causing a catastrophic humanitarian situation for the population.

Israeli army launches counter-offensive

Engaged in theOperation “Iron Saber”, Israel increased its bombings on the Gaza Strip in retaliation. The country has mobilized 300,000 reservists and deployed tens of thousands of soldiers around the enclave. He says he has hit Gaza with 4,000 tons of explosives since the start of the war.

The objective is the “liquidation” of Hamas’ senior military and government leaders, according to the army, which says it is preparing for a possible ground offensive.

The Israeli army notably gave, this Friday, a order to “relocate” some 1.1 million residents from the northern Gaza Strip to the south. A measure condemned by the UN and rejected by Hamas.

Now under siege, the Gaza Strip is deprived of water, electricity and food supplies, cut off by Israel. A decision deplored by the UN. The Israeli government has excluded from allowing entry of basic necessities or humanitarian aid into Gazaas long as Hamas has not released the hostages kidnapped last Saturday.

The Israeli Parliament also approved, on Wednesday, the formation of a emergency government and a war cabinet. At the head of this emergency government, composed with Benny Gantz, an opposition leader, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that Hamas would be “crushed”. He accuses Hamas, a movement described as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, of “savagery never seen since the Shoah”.

The Israeli army continued to shell Gaza this Friday and hundreds of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip in response. On Wednesday, the IDF bombed border villages in southern Lebanon, in response to new rocket attacks from Hezbollah. Israeli strikes also knocked out airports in Damascus and Aleppo in Syria on Thursday, according to Syrian state television.

Israeli airstrikes left many dead in Gaza City on October 9, 2023.
©EPA

A heavy toll

More than 1,300 people killed in Israelmostly civilians, including more than a hundred in the Beeri kibbutz alone and at least 270 at a rave party near Gaza, according to the authorities.

Palestinian sidethe toll of the bombings increased on Friday 1.537 deadaccording to the Gaza authorities. More than 423,000 Palestinians have also had to flee their homes because of the strikes, according to the UN.

At least 21 Thais, 22 Americans, 12 French, ten Nepalese, seven Argentinians, four Russian-Israelis, four British, three Chinese, three Ukrainians, three Canadians, two Peruvians, two Filipinos, two Brazilians, one Portuguese, one Austrian, one A Chilean, a Turkish, a Spanish, a Cambodian, an Irish and an Australian woman were killed, according to their respective countries.

According to the Israeli army, around 150 people – Israelis, foreigners and binationals – were removed by Hamas fighters. Many foreign nationals are missing. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) indicated on Thursday that it was in contact with Hamas to work for their release.

Reactions around the world

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who rejected the “killing of civilians on both sides”, demanded “an immediate end to the aggression” against the Palestinian people. The order given by Israel to the Palestinians to move to the south of the Gaza Strip is “a forced transfer” and constitutes “a crime that defies understanding”, said this Friday, the head of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised in Tel Aviv that the United States would “always” support IsraelWashington having notably already deployed an aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean and promised the country other defense equipment.

Antony Blinken began a tour of six Arab countries (Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Emirates and Egypt) on Friday to put pressure on Hamas and discuss ways to deal with the humanitarian crisis threatening the Gaza Strip.

The Presidents of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsolaalso arrived in Israel this Friday to express the solidarity of the European Union.

The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell convened a meeting on Tuesday ’emergency meeting’ of EU foreign ministers to discuss the situation in Israel and Gaza. Another emergency meeting, called by Brazil, at the head of the UN Security Council, is scheduled for this Friday.

Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia (whose leader Mohammed bin Salman has spoken since Wednesday with the presidents of Iran, Turkey and France) claim to be working to put an end to the escalation.

L’Iran placed himself on the front line of support for the Hamas offensivewhile rejecting accusations of his involvement.