Hamas launched a devastating and surprising attack against Israel on 7 October last year. During the attack, dozens of fighters from the Palestinian Jihadi group swarmed into Jewish settlements near and around the Gaza Strip.

In the aftermath of the bloody attack, more than 1200 people were reportedly left dead. Additionally, the terror group took another 250 victims as hostages.

Since then, Israeli forces have been conducting ground and air offensives in the area, claiming that they are trying to flush out Hamas members. More than 30,000 Palestinians have so far died in the attacks, with many being forced out of their homes and into overcrowded refugee camps.

Palestinians displaced from Gaza

But what historical events have led us to the current situation between Israel and the Palestinians?

The state of Israel came into being in 1948. Before then, the whole area was known as Palestine, under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

Britain assumed control of the area after the Ottomans were defeated in World War One.

Back then, the area was inhabited by Jews, who were the minority, and by the Arabs who by far outnumbered all the other ethnic groups.

In 1917, Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary promised the Jewish community in his country that he would establish a “national home” for them in Palestine. This promise was dubbed the Balfour Declaration.

The League of Nations, the forerunner of the current United Nations endorsed this declaration in 1922.

The declaration ramped up tensions between the Jews and the Arabs. The Jews insisted that Palestine was their ancestral homeland, but the Arab majority was vehemently opposed to this, insisting that the land belonged to them.

Then in 1947, The United Nations endorsed a vote for the creation of two states: Jewish, and Arab. While the Jewish leaders were okay with the proposal, the Arabs declined. The two-state plan was dead.

Meanwhile, more and more Jews were moving into Palestine from Europe, escaping Hitler’s campaign of mass murder against them.

The Creation of the State of Israel

Faced with unrelenting attacks from Jews against their occupation of the area, and unable to bring peace between the warring groups, Britain withdrew from Palestine.

In return, the Jewish leaders formally declared that they would form the state of Israel, a country that would be a haven for every Jew in the world.

One day after this bold declaration, five neighboring Arab countries declared war on the infant state of Israel.

The fighting went on for approximately one year. By the time a cease-fire was called, Israel was in control of a majority of the area formerly known as Palestine. Meanwhile, Jordan occupied the West Bank, and Gaza fell under Egypt.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, while Jordan was in charge of the west.

Because there was never a formal peace deal, intermittent fighting continued in the region. Another war broke out in 1967, leaving the increasingly powerful state of Israel in control of the West Bank, a huge chunk of the Syrian Golan Heights, the Sinai Peninsula, and the strategic Gaza Strip.

Until the war that started last year, most of the Palestinians had been living in Gaza. Israel refuses to let them go back to their original homelands, claiming that such a move would cause an existential threat to their Jewish state.

Israel claims the entire city of Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the heart of any future State of Palestine.

Former US President, Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. There have been fears that the move will only embolden the Israelis to further occupy more land.

Map showing palestinian land which was taken by the Israelites

Israel has been steadily building settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank over the years. More than half a million Jews currently live in the two disputed pieces of land.

The settlements are considered illegal under international law. But emboldened by her superior armed forces and steadfast support from the United States, Israel continues to spit in the face of critics.

Why Israel is Currently Waging War on Gaza

Currently, the militant group Hamas governs Gaza. Hamas took control of the area after the Palestinian elections in 2006. After emerging victorious, Hamas then ousted rival group Fatah which was under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Islamist militia group has the stated mission of wiping Israel off the map. It is in the list of terror groups in countries such as the UK and the US.

Since seizing control of Gaza, Hamas has engaged Israel in several skirmishes. Their attacks, especially by firing rockets toward Israel have led to the Jewish state and neighboring Egypt imposing a partial blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Ordinary Palestinians have always been critical of the blockades, saying they punish ordinary people for crimes they are not responsible for.

In response to rocket attacks from Hamas, the Israeli armed forces usually respond with deadly air raids, which often than not lead to the deaths of innocent Palestinians.

Man sitting looking at a city that has beeen destroyed

These are some of the reasons that could have led Hamas to carry out its deadly offensive against Israeli civilians

Additionally, an estimated 4,500 Palestinians are languishing in Israeli prisons. Hamas could have taken those hostages to force Israel to release those prisoners.

The United States, the European Union, and many other Western powers have steadfastly supported Israel in its never-ending conflict with Hamas and countries such as Iran.

For instance, the US, which is the Jewish State’s biggest friend, has pumped more than $300 into Israel, in the form of economic aid and armaments.

The US has also promised more missiles, precision bombs, and ammunition to Israel. Using this deadly weaponry, Israel has managed to turn a huge chunk of Gaza into rubble, killing thousands of Palestinian women and children in the process.

Meanwhile, Russia and China have avoided the temptation to criticize Hamas for its attack in Gaza last year. Vladimir Putin has even gone as far as to say the US is solely responsible for the strife in the Middle East.

Russia is also Iran’s greatest friend in the country’s ideological struggle against Israel and the US. Iran allegedly sponsors Hamas, with reports saying that the country greenlighted the group’s attack in Gaza.

Iran has denied those allegations strenuously.