On October 7, Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israel by land, air, and sea, killing, injuring, and abducting scores of Israelis, many of whom were civilians. Soon after, Israel declared war and launched a military attack on Gaza that has now continued for seven consecutive days and includes significant civilian casualties.
On October 13, the Israeli military called for people living in northern Gaza to relocate to the southern half within 24 hours — an evacuation order that impacts more than one million people and that the United Nations says is “impossible” and could lead to “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
As of this writing, at least 1,799 Palestinians and 1,300 Israelis have been killed, according to The New York Times. The White House said at least 27 American citizens have been killed in the attacks, according to The Hill.
On October 9, Israel announced a “total” blockade of the Gaza strip, cutting off electricity, food, and water, as over 360,000 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservists mobilized in response to the conflict. Amid airstrikes from Israel, Palestinians are running out of water and other key resources; the only power plant in Gaza shut down after fuel ran out, and essential generators along the strip are set to follow. According to the UN, the number of those displaced from the Gaza Strip by the conflict jumped by about 30% between October 11 and 12.
At the same time, Israelis are mourning their dead killed by Hamas, still being counted, in last weekend’s attack. It’s estimated that Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,000 people in indiscriminate door-to-door attacks, and abducted an estimated 150, according to The New York Times. On Wednesday, President Biden called the day of the attack “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.”
Prior to October 7, the UN reported that “roughly 6,400 Palestinians and 300 Israelis have been killed” in ongoing violence in the region since 2008.
In response to Israel’s counterattack, the UN said Israel’s response to Hamas’s “horrific” war crimes was effectively “collective punishment” via “indiscriminate military attacks against the already exhausted Palestinian people of Gaza,” a war crime in violation of international law.
What happened this week?
On October 7, in a series of attacks that took Israel by surprise, Hamas militants stormed Israeli towns, killing and abducting civilians and firing thousands of rockets from Gaza. The coordinated strike included an attack on a music festival in Israel, where at least 260 bodies were recovered the following day.
How, exactly, Hamas caught Israel by surprise when the nation has such vaunted and well-funded security apparatus has yet to be answered. Some members of the international community, such as House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Michael McCaul (R-TX), and even an Egyptian intelligence official, have alleged that Egypt tried to tip off Israel about the attack; Israeli officials deny those claims.
Israel has since formed a unity government and war cabinet in spite of a year of complicated internal conflict and massive protests over the government’s intentions to dilute the power of the country’s highest court. Benny Gantz, a member of the opposition party to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s, said in an address televised to Israelis that the government was prepared to “wipe this thing called Hamas off the face of the Earth.” Overnight on October 11, following the formation of the unity government, Israel bombed Gaza.
Israeli officials have called for Gaza residents to evacuate amid the attacks, but international observers have pointed out that there’s nowhere for Gazans to go. Egypt, which also imposes a blockade against Gaza, has so far refused to take refugees, but representatives have been in talks with the US and other countries to provide aid through the Egyptian border, urging Israel to stop the bombing campaign at its crossing to allow aid to enter.
As of October 12, reporting indicated that Israel is preparing for an on-the-ground invasion into Gaza. The Israeli government said it will not allow humanitarian exceptions to its siege of Gaza until it is confirmed that all Israelis held hostage by Hamas have been released, Reuters reported.
What Is Hamas?
Hamas is an Islamist political and militant group that has a military wing called Al Qassam Brigades. Hamas was last democratically elected in 2006 to represent Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and in 2007, seized control of the region after a violent conflict with rival movement Fatah, a secular Palestinian party that “dominates” the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority governs the Palestinian West Bank, an area under Israeli military occupation since 1967.
Hamas has not allowed any elections in Gaza since 2006 and has been designated a terrorist group by countries such as Israel, the United States, the UK, countries in the European Union, and more. Hamas is funded by Iran, which also provides weapons and training.
The group’s original founding 1988 charter called for the destruction of the state of Israel and specifically blamed Jews for many of the world’s modern conflicts, a troubling mission statement that has many Jewish organizations worried given the global rise in anti-semitic hate crimes.
Who Lives in Gaza and the West Bank?
Gaza, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, is often referred to as one of the most densely populated places in the world, and has a median age of 18. It has been under a permanent and strict air, land, and sea blockade by Israel and Egypt since 2007, severely restricting access to goods and movement in and out of the strip. As of 2022, 65% of the population of Gaza lived below the poverty line, according to the UN, with many in need of “psychological and social support.”
Restrictions on movement also extend to the occupied West Bank. An August 2023 fact sheet from a UN body reported that there are some 565 “movement obstacles,” like checkpoints staffed by Israeli forces or private security, roadblocks, and walls, that make movement complicated and dangerous for Palestinians.
Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported that over half a million Israeli settlers live in the West Bank with an estimated 3 million Palestinians.
How has the US responded to the latest attacks?
For 75 years, Israel and the United States have maintained a strong diplomatic relationship “built on mutual interests and shared democratic values,” including under both the Trump and Biden administrations. On October 11, President Joe Biden condemned the attack from Hamas.
The US is providing military resources to Israel and has given the country $3.8 billion a year for its military apparatus. The Biden administration and Congress are currently discussing an additional aid package of $2 billion in support of Israel’s war effort.
On October 12, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Netanyahu, announcing, “As long as America exists, we will always be there by your side." At a press conference the next day, Blinken said that “Israel has both the right and even the obligation to defend its people,” but “at the same time, the way Israel does this matters.” According to The New York Times, Blinken said he has spoken with Israeli officials “about the need to ensure civilians are not harmed.”
To that end, the United Nations has called for humanitarian access to Palestine to aid civilians: “Humanitarian access must be granted immediately and unconditionally — let us deliver the aid that is needed.”
This is a rapidly evolving conflict being covered in real time by several news organizations, including the AP, Reuters, and the New York Times.
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