Israel-Gaza violence: The conflict explained

HEZIEL SEBASTIAN
A ceasefire was agreed on 21 May between Israel and the Palestinian militant group
Hamas.
It came after 11 days of fighting, which left at least 255 people dead. Most of those killed were
Palestinians in the territory of Gaza.
Israel and Hamas both claimed victory in the latest conflict.
The violence in May followed a month of rising tensions in Jerusalem. But the fighting has gone
on for decades.

So far the ceasefire has been upheld and both sides have claimed victory. But there is
little disagreement amongst experts that peace will continue to elude both Israelis and
Palestinians unless a two-state solution is implemented. Israel can wish to merely
manage the conflict but if it wants an end to the violence then it would have to
accommodate the Palestinians’ wishes too.

A 100-year-old issue ANGELYNE VALDEZ

Bethlehem in the early 20th century
Britain took control of the area known as Palestine after the ruler of that part of the
Middle East, the Ottoman Empire, was defeated in World War One.
The land was inhabited by a Jewish minority and Arab majority.
Tensions between the two peoples grew when the international community gave Britain
the task of establishing a "national home" in Palestine for Jewish people.
For Jews it was their ancestral home, but Palestinian Arabs also claimed the land and
opposed the move.

Between the 1920s and 1940s, the number of Jews arriving there grew, with many
fleeing from persecution in Europe and seeking a homeland after the Holocaust of
World War Two. Violence between Jews and Arabs, and against British rule, also grew.
In 1947, the UN voted for Palestine to be split into separate Jewish and Arab states,
with Jerusalem becoming an international city. That plan was accepted by Jewish
leaders but rejected by the Arab side and never implemented.
The creation of Israel and the 'Catastrophe'
MARITELA CAMATA

In 1948, unable to solve the problem, British rulers left and Jewish leaders declared the
creation of the state of Israel. Many Palestinians objected and a war followed. Troops
from neighbouring Arab countries invaded.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced out of their homes in what
they call Al Nakba, or the "Catastrophe".
By the time the fighting ended in a ceasefire the following year, Israel controlled most
of the territory. Jordan occupied land which became known as the West Bank, and
Egypt occupied Gaza.
Jerusalem was divided between Israeli forces in the West, and Jordanian forces in the
East. Because there was never a peace agreement - with each side blaming the other -
there were more wars and fighting in the following decades.

The map today PRINCESS KATE VIGILIA

In another war in 1967, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as
most of the Syrian Golan Heights, Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula.
Most Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in Gaza and the West Bank, as well
as in neighbouring Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Neither they nor their descendants have been allowed by Israel to return to their homes
- Israel says this would overwhelm the country and threaten its existence as a Jewish
state.

Israel still occupies the West Bank, and although it pulled out of Gaza the UN still
regards that piece of land as occupied territory.
Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim East
Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The US is one of only a handful of
countries to recognise Israel's claim to the whole of the city.
  What is Hamas? Maui Postre

 Hamas is the largest of several Palestinian militant Islamist groups.

 Its name is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, originating
as it did in 1987 after the beginning of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising,
against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Under its charter, it
is committed to the destruction of Israel.
 Hamas originally had a dual purpose of carrying out an armed struggle against
Israel - led by its military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades - and delivering
social welfare programmes.
 The child victims of the Israel-Gaza conflict

Of the 219 people who have been killed in Gaza, at least 63 are children,
according to its health ministry. Of the 10 people killed in Israel, two children
are among the dead, the country's medical service says.

 Life in the Gaza Strip

 KIM ANDREI DESCALZO

Tensions between Gaza and Israel have recently escalated into the worst violence for
several years and led the UN to warn of "a full-scale war. Originally occupied by Egypt,
Gaza was captured by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war. Israel withdrew its troops
and around 7,000 settlers in 2005. It is under the control of the militant Islamist group
Hamas, which ejected forces loyal to the then governing Palestinian Authority (PA) after
a violent rift in 2007. Since then, Israel and Egypt have restricted the movement of
goods and people in and out in what they say are security measures against militants.
Hamas and Israel fought a brief conflict in 2014, and in May 2021 hostilities between
the two sides broke out again.
In the past 50 years Israel has built settlements in these areas, where more than
600,000 Jews now live.
Palestinians say these are illegal under international law and are obstacles to peace, but
Israel denies this.
What triggered the latest violence?
PRINCESS ALLEA ALEJO
The Gaza fighting began after weeks of rising Israeli-Palestinian tension in occupied
East Jerusalem that culminated in clashes at a holy site revered by both Muslims and
Jews. On 10 May Hamas began firing rockets after warning Israel to withdraw from the
site, triggering retaliatory air strikes. Exchanges intensified and hostilities quickly
escalated into the worst violence between Israel and Gaza since 2014.

Rockets damage power lines JEANELLE GOMEZ

Power cuts are an everyday occurrence in Gaza. Before the latest upsurge in fighting,
households in Gaza were receiving power on eight-hour rotations.
Power cuts in Gaza disrupt almost all aspects of daily life
The latest violence is said to have damaged power lines and disrupted fuel supplies.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), most
homes are now receiving power for only three-four hours per day.
The Strip gets most of its power from Israel together with further contributions from
Gaza's only power plant and a small amount from Egypt.
Both the Gaza Power Plant (GPP) and many people's individual generators depend on
diesel fuel, but supplies brought in via Israel are frequently blocked causing more
disruption.

Border crossings often closed NICA SANTOS

Since Hamas came to power in Gaza in 2007, Egypt has largely kept its border with
Gaza closed.
Last year additional restrictions were imposed to try to restrict the spread of
coronavirus.
The Rafah crossing into Egypt and the Erez crossing into Israel were both shut on about
240 days and opened on only 125 in 2020, according to Ocha figures.
image caption Egypt has largely kept its border with Gaza closed since 2007
In 2019 about 78,000 people left Gaza via the Rafah crossing but in 2020 that fell to
25,000.
In the north, crossings into Israel at Erez also fell dramatically in 2020 - partly due to
pandemic restrictions. This year about 8,000 people have left Gaza via the Erez
crossing, most of them patients or people accompanying them for medical care in
Israel.
Until the latest violence, traffic had begun to pick up again. Some aid convoys have
since been allowed through, but otherwise crossings have remained shut.
Tunnel network targeted Le anne santos
About 80% of the population of Gaza depends on international aid, according to the
UN, and about one million people rely on daily food aid.
The blockade imposed by Israel has severely impacted movements in and out of the
Strip and the ability to trade.
Tunnels were dug under the Egyptian border to bring in all kinds of goods and weapons
To try to get round the blockade, Hamas has built a network of tunnels which it uses to
bring goods into the Strip and also as its underground command centre. Israel says
tunnels are also used by militants to move around out of sight and are being targeted
by air strikes.
Coronavirus has also had an impact on the local economy, but it was just beginning to
show signs of recovery, according to the World Bank, when the fighting broke out.
 Israel destroys 'longest' Gaza tunnel
 Israel releases 'Gaza tunnel footage'

 Overcrowding and damaged homes
 Rose Ramos
 Gaza has one of the highest population densities in the world. According to the
UN, almost 600,000 refugees in Gaza are living in eight crowded camps.
 On average there are more than 5,700 people per square kilometre - very similar
to the density of population in London - but that figure rises to more than 9,000
in Gaza City.

 Israel declared a buffer zone along the border in 2014 to protect itself from
rocket attacks and infiltrations by militants. The zone reduced the amount of land
available for people to live or farm on.
 The UN estimated about 140,000 houses were damaged or destroyed in the
2014 violence and it has since supported almost 90,000 families with help to
rebuild their homes.

Health service under strain PRECIOUS GEM IBARRA

Gaza's public health system is in a precarious state due to various reasons. Ocha says
Israel and Egypt's blockade, lower health expenditure from the West Bank-based PA
and internal political conflict between the PA - which has responsibility for healthcare in
the Palestinian territories - and Hamas are all to blame.
The UN helps out by running 22 healthcare facilities. But a number of hospitals and
clinics were damaged or destroyed in previous conflicts with Israel.
Patients from Gaza needing treatment in West Bank or East Jerusalem hospitals must
first get requests approved by the PA and then exit passes approved by the Israeli
government - in 2019; the approval rate for patient applications to leave the Gaza Strip
was 65%.
ALLCIA VARGAS
Over the last few months, the health situation has been exacerbated by coronavirus.
In April, a spike in cases saw almost 3,000 a day in Gaza. There have been more than
104,000 cases since the start of the pandemic and more than 946 people have died
with the virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the border restrictions are not only
limiting access to life-saving treatment for victims of the hostilities, but they are also
hampering the coronavirus response.
The WHO says it is affecting the "critical" vaccination programme and increases the risk
of spreading the virus as people seek refuge with relatives or in emergency shelters.
 Gaza doctors mourn specialist killed in air strike


What's happening now? Mark kevin delos santos

Tensions are often high between Israel and Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, Gaza
and the West Bank.
Gaza is ruled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has fought Israel many
times. Israel and Egypt tightly control Gaza's borders to stop weapons getting to
Hamas.
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank say they are suffering because of Israeli actions
and restrictions. Israel says it is only acting to protect itself from Palestinian violence.
The threatened eviction of some Palestinian families in East Jerusalem has also caused
rising anger.

What are the main problems? Kaye cee ramos

There are a number of issues which Israel and the Palestinians cannot agree on.
These include: what should happen to Palestinian refugees; whether Jewish settlements
in the occupied West Bank should stay or be removed; whether the two sides should
share Jerusalem; and - perhaps most tricky of all - whether a Palestinian state should
be created alongside Israel.
Peace talks have been taking place on and off for more than 25 years, but so far have
not solved the conflict.
What does the future hold?
KYLIE CHELSEA MANZANO

In short, the situation isn't going to be sorted out any time soon.
The most recent peace plan, prepared by the United States when Donald Trump
was president, was called "the deal of the century" by Israel's then-Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu. But it was been dismissed by the Palestinians as one-sided and
never got off the ground.
Any future peace deal will need both sides to agree to resolve complex issues.
The BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, says the latest round of violence in May
was the fourth big war between Hamas and Israel since 2008.
He's seen previous wars end like this before: "Similar things have been said by both
sides in claiming victory and then essentially the seeds of the next conflict are sown.
"I can tell you one thing for certain - that if the status quo does not change favourably,
there will be another round of this."

HISTORY OF PALESTINE lady crizel saballo

Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I to 1948, Palestine typically referred to the
geographic region located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Arab people
who call this territory home have been known as Palestinians since the early 20th century.
Much of this land is now considered present-day Israel. Palestine is a small region of land that
has played a prominent role in the ancient and modern history of the Middle East. It history has
been marked by frequent political conflict and violent land seizures because of its importance to
several major world religions, and because Palestine sits at a valuable geographic crossroads
between Africa and Asia. Today, Arab people who call this territory home are known as
Palestinians, and the people of Palestine have a strong desire to create a free and independent
state in this contested region of the world.

ISRAEL rona mae corpuz

Israel is small country in the Middle East, about the size of New Jersey, located on the eastern
shores of the Mediterranean Sea and bordered by Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The nation
of Israel—with a population of more than 9 million people, most of them Jewish—has many
important archaeological and religious sites considered sacred by Jews, Muslims and Christians
alike, and a complex history with periods of peace and conflict. According to the text, Israel’s
origins can be traced back to Abraham, who is considered the father of both Judaism (through
his son Isaac) and Islam (through his son Ishmael). The word Israel comes from Abraham’s
grandson, Jacob, who was renamed “Israel” by the Hebrew God in the Bible.