On October 7, the Israel-Hamas war started, writing another bloodied chapter in the century-old conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Hundreds of Hamas militants entered the border from Gaza, killing around 1,100 people, mostly civilians. They took back about 250 people as hostages with them.
The attack was the worst in Israel’s history. The Hamas militant reportedly raped women, killed babies, showing a horrible side of the war.
The brutality shown by Hamas was condemned globally, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he’s “deeply shocked”
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Modi said “our (India’s) thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour”.
Netanyahu’s pledge
After the Hamas attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “destroy” Hamas. Calling it retaliatory action, he launched a relentless campaign of air strikes in Gaza followed by a ground offensive that reduced the territory’s north to rubble.
The world saw some hope seven weeks into the war, when the two sides agreed to a week-long truce during which Hamas released 105 hostages, mostly women and children, and Israel freed 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel then resumed its offensive, shifting its focus to southern Gaza, including areas previously declared “safe zones” as it said that it feared Hamas could regroup.
History of Israel
David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, which was recognised by then-US President Harry S Truman on the same day. The United Nations on November 29, 1947, voted to partition British Mandatory Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, but the move was rejected by the Arab states. Their conflict led to a war with Israel after its creation.
During the eight-month-long war, Israel expanded its territory allotted to it by the UN as more than 760,000 Palestinians fled. Jordan occupied the West Bank including east Jerusalem, while Egypt took the coastal Gaza Strip.
The nation was formally created in 1948, but its history can be traced back to early Iron Age I, or maybe before that.
What’s the future?
An end to the ongoing war seems to be a distant dream, and it looks like it will keep West Asia on its edge for a longer period than expected.
A total of 129 hostages from the October 7 attacks remain in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. Around 20 are believed to be dead.
Israel would want a safe return of all the hostages in order to discuss the resolution.
The war in numbers…so far
Hamas health authorities claimed on Friday (Dec 22) that a total of 20,057 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza because of Israeli airstrikes and more than 50,000 Palestinians have been injured. A total of 301 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, Hamas said.
Latest data showed that around 250,000 Israelis have been displaced from the Gaza and Lebanon borders and more than 1.9 million Palestinians were displaced in Gaza, out of a population of 2.3 million.
(With inputs from agencies)
