
Since October 7th, 2023 the Israeli-Hamas war has been revived in a more extreme way than before. On the morning of October 7th Hamas-led groups attacked multiple areas of Israel, mostly in the south, near the border of Gaza. Around 1200 people were killed, most of which were Israeli, however also including tourists that were neither Israeli nor Jewish. This was the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Not only were people murdered but Hamas also took around 250 hostages.
Since October 7th, both Hamas and the Israeli army have continued attacks, resulting in more casualties in both Gaza and Israel, including at least 41,455 deaths and 95,878 wounded by Israeli military action, as well as around 1332 Israeli deaths, including 395 IDF soldiers and at least 1271 have been wounded.
Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, is rumored to be working on a plan to force Palestinians out of at least the northern part of Gaza, most likely to release more hostages and to stop Hamas from further military action by denying them access to the tunnel system that they are using not only as as passage and transports ways but also as a place to hide out.. Former Israeli Defence force major general, Giora EIland, explained the plan in a published video a couple of weeks ago:, he said: “In a week, the entire territory of the northern Gaza Strip will become military territory. And this military territory, as far as we are concerned, no supplies will enter it. That is why 5,000 terrorists who are in this situation, can either surrender or starve.” He believes it is the right thing to tell the citizens of Gaza, most of whom are already displaced persons, to leave because the goal is to attack Hamas, not civilians. A ceasefire, or even peace in the near future is not realistic, as both Hamas and the IDF do not plan on doing anything that might cause them to lose any power.
Eyal Zisser, the vice rector of Tel Aviv university and an expert on Lebanon and Arab-Israeli relations, said: “Since there is no chance in the near future for a deal or a ceasefire, this means that the current situation will continue as it is – limited military operations by Israel in the Gaza Strip, but not full occupation.” This will lead to further conflict, further wounding, and definitely more deaths, as is evident by the all-time-high death toll in both Gaza and Israel. This is certainly not the end of the end of the war, and we can expect it to go on much longer.
Hamas is supported by Hezbollah, who rule vast parts of Lebanon. Recently, in Lebanon there were explosions of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, a Lebanese shia Islamic political party and paramilitary group backed by Iran. It is believed that Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence services, were behind this attack. Now, Israel has bombed Lebanon, killing around 365 people, including at least 24 children, wounding over 1000 though the numbers are ever growing and people are still being searched for. These deaths include high-ranking Hezbollah members, one being Ibrahim Aqil, who was an elite force- commander. Citizens in the south of Lebanon have been told to leave by Hezbollah to stop further deaths. This is the highest death toll in a day since the civil war (1975-1990).
The conflict between Lebanon and Israel has been around for decades, and although the last major outbreaks were years ago and there was no direct conflict, this might change now as both countries have announced military action to be taken. This poses the possibility of a new conflict between Lebanon and Israel, with Gaza inbetween, not geographically but rather politically. While Hamas and Hezbollah are known to support each other, not every Palestinian and not every Lebanese person agrees. Revolts in Lebanon and Gaza are incredibly unlikely, it’s not unheard of for people outside of the countries to revolt, causing not just issues and violence in the Middle East and its countries but also in other regions of the world. As tensions in the always incendiary region, it’s important to pay attention to the news and stay informed on the latest updates to the conflicts.
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