Currently, The Israeli–Hamas war is being fought near the Gaza Strip. Hamas is an Islamist political and military organization that currently has reign over the Gaza territory.

On October 7th, Hamas launched a military operation onto Israeli land. Firing thousands of rockets into Israel, as well as attacking them by land, air, and sea. Hamas attacked several military installations and temporarily took over various posts. The current Israeli death toll is listed as over 2,300 and several Israeli hostages have also been taken into the Gaza Strip. Over 1,055 Palestinians have been killed during this time.

Many believe that the Hamas attack was due to three factors. One, they disagreed with the policies of the Israeli government. Two, the Hamas leadership felt the need to act due to the rapid speed of Arab-Israeli normalization. Finally, Hamas was feeling good after repairing its relationship with Iran, slowly becoming allies once more.

Israel and Palestine have had a bitter past with one another, dating as far back as 1949.

From fighting over who has the rightful claim of Jerusalem — an ancient city in Western Asia — in which they would like to name as their capital, to now, fighting once again, near the root of their decade long problems.

The Gaza, or the Gaza Strip is currently a Palestinian exclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. As a consequence of British colonial rule coming to an end in Palestine towards the late 40’s, extreme violence between Jews and Arabs had begun to escalate. (Palestinians are generally Arab while Israelis are generally Jewish.)

This had led to the newly formed State of Israel partaking in a war with its Arab bordering countries in May 1948. Thousands of Palestinians took refuge in Gaza after seeking safety or even being forced out of their homes.

In 1949, this strip had been under the control of Egypt for nearly ten years. However, in October 1956, Israel had invaded the Gaza Strip due to Egypt cutting off their access to the Suez Canal. While being ordered to withdraw from the Strip by the United Nations, Israel stayed stubbornly, claiming that the Gaza Strip was never truly Egypt’s.

In 1987, Palestinians living in Gaza started the First Intifada, an uprising, against Israel. This, in turn, led to the founding of Hamas.

Just ten years later, in 1997, there were two suicide bomb attacks led by Hamas that killed 27 Israelis. Israel’s prime minister, Shimon Peres, claimed he would wage a war against Hamas.

As tension between the two continued to fester, a Second Intifada had begun in September of 2000. Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli police and support for Hamas continued to grow.

In September 2005, Israeli troops pulled out of Gaza. In 2007, Hamas won political power and seized control of Gaza.

However, Israel tried to seize control of Gaza once more and launched an attack that killed 200 Palestinians. After that, Israel launched a ground war. This led to the death of 1,200 Palestinies and 13 Israelis.

In January 2009, Israel once again withdrew from Gaza and redeployed along the perimeter.

As tensions grew on, both Palestine and Israel went back and forth, kidnapping and killing important figures and citizens, all of this leading up to now. The full fledged Israel-Hamas war, which is garnering a lot of attention in the media.

Now, all anyone can do is wait and see what happens next.