Who is Israel fighting against

Who is Israel fighting against?

1. Who is Israel fighting against?

Israel is fighting against Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups. Hamas is a huge terrorist organization. Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, one of the founders of Hamas, once said that the goal of this organization is to “erase Israel from the map” (link – 1*). Since then, virtually nothing has changed.

2. Who attacked whom and when?

On October 7, at 6:30 am, Saturday, during the religious Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, Hamas attacked Israel.

3. What happened during the attack?

Among other things:

a) More than 5,000 rockets were fired into Israel;

b) More than 2,500 terrorists entered Israeli territory from land, sea and air, including kibbutzim bordering Gaza and the southern city of Sderot;

c) At least 1,300 Israelis were killed, often with incredible brutality. This is the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust.

d) Both soldiers and civilians (more than 100 people) were taken hostage and driven to Gaza;

e) There have been cases of sexual violence against Israeli women (references: 2*, 3*, 4*, 5*);

f) Many children were not just killed, but beheaded (links: 6*, 7*, 8*).

4. Has martial law been declared in Israel?

Yes, for the first time in 50 years, since the Yom Kippur War.

5. How does Israel respond from a military point of view?

Almost immediately after the attack, Israel declared war on Hamas. Among other things:

a) First of all, in the first days after the attack, the Israeli army fought to clear the country of terrorists who had penetrated it.

b) Secondly, Israel has been bombing Hamas-related targets in the Gaza Strip all these days;

c) Thirdly, more than 300,000 reservists were drafted into the Israeli army.

6. What does it mean when the Israelis talk about “shelling from the south” and “shelling from the north”?

“Shelling from the south” is when Hamas or other terrorist groups from the Gaza Strip fire into Israel. “Shelling from the north” is when representatives of terrorist organizations (for example, Hezbollah) shoot from the territories of Lebanon or Syria.

7. Could Hezbollah, Syria, Lebanon, Iran or anyone else also go to war against Israel? Really, seriously start military operations, like Hamas started them?

Anything is possible, but most experts don’t believe it will happen.

8. Gaza civilians may be harmed in a ground operation. Is he being evacuated?

Israel calls on the population of Gaza to evacuate. Hamas prevents the evacuation of Gaza civilians:

a) Directly – by blocking the roads along which people move (link – 9*);

b) Indirectly – by spreading information that the warning about an upcoming ground operation is an Israeli fake, and there is no need to leave your homes. This is not the first time Hamas has used Gazan civilians as human shields in Israel’s anti-terrorist operations. Casualties among the civilian population of Gaza is an opinion that Hamas only benefits from: the more they are, the easier it is to accuse Israel of inhumane behavior.

9. What does the Gaza Strip have to do with it?

The Gaza Strip is officially completely under Hamas rule. The sector contains Hamas’ military infrastructure, weapons production facilities, artillery installations used to shell Israeli territory, terrorist training camps, Hamas military bases, and so on.

10. What do the words “blockade of Gaza” mean?

Over the years, the Gaza Strip has been very dependent on Israel for its economy and resources. Now, in order to prevent Hamas from fighting, Israel has declared a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip on its part, ceasing to supply water, electricity and gas there. In addition, without special permission from the Israelis, a number of goods cannot now enter the sector through the Israeli border, because they could be used by Hamas to prepare new attacks on Israel. Certain restrictions of this kind (partial blockade) existed even before the start of this war. Now the blockade has become complete. Israeli authorities said it would last until the kidnapped Israelis were returned home.

11. Why are the words “humanitarian corridor” constantly repeated?

Because the opening of such a corridor, that is, free passage, to Egypt could now protect many Gazans. But Egypt has not yet agreed to open a humanitarian corridor.

12. What is happening to the Israeli government?

An emergency government has been formed (also known as the “government of national unity”). This government included both representatives of the ruling coalition and representatives of the opposition. This is a significant step for three reasons:

a) So society feels that in these difficult days it is widely represented in power;

b) So the expertise of members of the opposition (among whom there are experienced military personnel) can serve the country;

c) This is how the authorities are trying to demonstrate that any internal political disagreements (which were very acute in Israel before the start of the war) are now being pushed aside.

13. The mobilization of reservists has been announced in Israel. 300,000 people were drafted. Are they ready to serve?

Yes. In Israel, almost all reservists are now striving to get into their military units at any cost; many are trying to return from abroad for this purpose, despite the high cost of tickets and difficulties with flights.

14. What is happening to Israeli society?

People react to things differently, but there are probably a few common things that can be identified.

a) The terrible killings and hostage-taking taken into Gaza in the first days shocked the country. Israel is experiencing tremendous pain and grief.

b) Added to these are the grief and pain of the losses suffered by the Israeli army. In Israel there is no division into “army” and “society” (as it seems, if you think about it, there is none in any country): the army is flesh and blood of almost every Israeli family. The country mourns every fallen soldier.

c) A huge number of people are now striving to be useful to their country in some way. They donate money, volunteer at collection points and distribution centers for soldiers and families affected by the invasion and bombings, conduct free online classes to support each other – and so on.

d) At the same time, there is very strong indignation in society against the government, which allowed the war to happen and even these days is making, in the opinion of many, dangerous strategic and tactical mistakes. This outrage is spilling over into online and offline protests, and many are already thinking about how difficult the domestic political consequences of the war will be for Israel.

15. How does the world react to what is happening?

Differently. Western countries, primarily the USA, Great Britain, Germany, and France, supported Israel. Particularly important was the support of the United States, which sent warships to the shores of Israel and guaranteed military assistance to Israel if necessary. But this does not mean at all that the entire population of countries whose governments supported Israel took a pro-Israeli position. There are a lot of demonstrations and actions in support of Hamas going on around the world these days. The war is waged not only in the physical space, but also in the information space.