What to know about the Israel-Hamas war

Militants from the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7. This escalation in a previously high-tension region began in the morning with at least 3,000 rockets being flung into Israel, and militants breaching the Gaza-Israeli barrier. 

260 Israelis were killed at a music festival, and more civilians were taken as hostages. The Government of Israel, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responded by declaring war on Hamas, clearing Hamas militants from the Israeli side of the area and launching airstrikes on densely populated segments of the Gaza Strip. 

The United States responded by standing in support with the Israeli Government. 

President Joe Biden expressed his solidarity with Israel during this time.

“So, in this moment, we must be crystal clear: We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel. And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself, and respond to this attack,” Biden said.

Although the international community is grieving for Israel and condemns the abhorrent attack committed by a small group of fundamental Islamic radicalists, not everybody is convinced that Israel’s response has been or will be entirely proportional. 

Reactions on campus at Elmhurst University have been tentative and cautious. This is a topic that requires more nuance than simply siding with a particular group or cause. In EU’s Political Discussion Club, many opposing viewpoints emerged.

Opinions ranged from Israel’s response to the matter affecting an entire majority-Muslim community in the Gaza Strip for the actions of a few radicalized militants, to the United States’ involvement in funding Israel’s Iron Dome defense system ($1.5 billion in missile defense in 2022) and Iran’s possible involvement in coordinating the strike. 

English Professor Ann Frank Wake emphasized the importance of remembering to separate the governments’ actions from the citizens who reside under those governments.

“We need to remember that Hamas and Netanyahu’s Government are involved in the conflict, but the Palestinian and Israeli people, who don’t by and large support either regime, are paying the biggest price alongside the hostages,” Wake said. “We need to condemn all terrorist attacks on whichever side that they occur.”

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most complicated topics in the Middle East. Christians, Muslims, and Jews all consider the land that Israel occupies and the city of Jerusalem as the “Holy Land.” 

Jews, after being expunged from the region, spread all over the planet in what is known as the Jewish Diaspora. Following World War II and the Holocaust, the early roots of Zionism saw many Jewish immigrants move to the land that was at the time occupied by Palestinian Muslims. 

Many wars in the area have been started since the creation of a Jewish state in 1947 and 1948. The First Arab-Israeli War, the Six Day War, and the Yom Kippur War all saw conclusive Israeli victories against coalitions of Arab states. 

Following numerous different exoduses by Zionist militias, Palestinians were pushed into the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The uprising of Palestinian citizens against the Israeli government was known as the Intifadas. 

Recently in 2020, the Abraham Accords oversaw the normalization between Israeli and other Arab states, but a majority of the older generations of both Palestinians and Israelis do not want a two-state solution.