Hamas is an Islamist resistance movement that governs the Gaza Strip. They formed in Gaza in 1987 as a spinoff of the group the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. On Oct. 7 Hamas executed a series of attacks against Israel’s militant members and civilians.
This attack killed hundreds who attended a music festival and communities near the border. It is also noted that Hamas took hostages back to Gaza, these civilians including at least 20 children. In response to this attack, there is a pending ground invasion from Israel on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“Israel’s goal in a ground invasion is to erase Hamas completely so they cannot rule Gaza, what happens after they do that we do not know,” said International
Relations professor Isil Akbulut.
Gaza is one of two Palestinian territories, the other
being the West Bank which is located further northeast of Israel and controlled by the group Fatah. A major difference between Fatah, operating in West Bank, and Hamas, operating in Gaza, is that Fatah recognizes the state of Israel and accepts their right to exist whereas Hamas does not.
When Israel performs this pending ground invasion, they will be hurting civilians, although this is not the goal. Israel has been dropping leaflets informing Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip to go south, as the ground invasion will only occur in the north.
“It is wrong to say that Gazans support Hamas, they don’t want to live in fear, they’re civilians,” said Akbulut.
The United States is supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and providing anything necessary. Both the US and Arab countries aim to support in a way that ensures the conflict is contained in Gaza so it does not become a regional conflict.
“I believe for a long time the Israeli government thought they were able to contain Hamas” said Akbulut. In Gaza, which is one of the most densely populated areas of the world, electricity, fuel and water sources have been completely cut off. Over a million civilians have already fled their homes in Gaza pending the Israeli ground invasion.
“If they go ahead with the ground invasion it may lead to a humanitarian crisis,” said Akbulut.
The Rafah border crossing is the border connecting the Gaza Strip to Egypt. Numerous Israeli airstrikes have damaged the access roads that link the border. Israel controls most crossings into Gaza and will allow Egypt to deliver limited amounts of aid to Gaza as well as resources from the international Red Cross.
“They’re saying foreign passport holders are expected to be allowed out of the Rafah border crossing under a deal between Israel and Gaza,” said Akbulut
“If Egypt opens the border, it will be for a short period of time and only for certain people.”
The United Nations has said that the southern region of Gaza will not be able to settle these fleeing civilians in such a short amount of time. The UN is urging Israel to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Gaza City Hospital was hit by an airstrike, killing hundreds of wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter. The Israel military said they had no involvement in this explosion, and that the blast resulted from a misfired Palestinian rocket.
The second aid convoy reached Gaza civilians on Oct. 22 as Israel expanded their attacks to include locations in Syria and West Bank.
“How this unfolds will affect the possibility of future attacks,” said Akbulut. “If it leads to more hatred on both sides, it will not solve the problem.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article. All information included is as of press time.
