Analysis: Why did Hamas attack now and what is next?

AL JAZEERA A number of factors led to Hamas’s operation in southern Israel.

Palestinians wave their national flag and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis southern Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday. (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)
Palestinians wave their national flag and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis on October 7, 2023 [Yousef Masoud/AP Photo]

By Joe Macaro Published On 11 Oct 202311 Oct 2023

On October 7, Hamas launched a massive military operation into Israeli territory. The shooting of thousands of rockets into Israel was followed by an attack by land, air and sea, with fighters penetrating deep into territory under Israeli control. They attacked military installations and temporarily took over various settlements. The death toll among Israelis has exceeded 1,200, including more than 120 soldiers; dozens of Israeli hostages were also taken into the Gaza Strip.

The planning of the operation took somewhere between a few months and two years, per different accounts from Hamas leaders. The depth and magnitude of the attack were unprecedented and took Israel by surprise. It was a reaction to changing regional dynamics and growing Israeli aggression.

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Thiếu điện là nguy cơ hiện hữu trong cả ngắn hạn và dài hạn

dantri.com Thứ năm, 12/10/2023 – 06:05

(Dân trí) – Thiếu điện trong giai đoạn từ ngắn hạn đến dài hạn (từ 2024 đến 2050) là nguy cơ hiện hữu. Trong 6 chỉ tiêu đảm bảo an ninh năng lượng quốc gia, có 3 chỉ tiêu biến động theo chiều hướng bất lợi.

Nhận định này được Đoàn giám sát của Ủy ban Thường vụ Quốc hội đưa ra trong báo cáo giám sát chuyên đề “Việc thực hiện chính sách, pháp luật về phát triển năng lượng giai đoạn 2016-2021”. Đây là nội dung được cho ý kiến tại phiên họp của Ủy ban Thường vụ Quốc hội sáng 12/10.

3/6 chỉ tiêu về an ninh năng lượng “biến động bất lợi”

Đoàn giám sát cho biết trong giai đoạn 2016-2021, ngành điện đã đạt nhiều kết quả đáng ghi nhận.

Sản lượng điện sản xuất toàn hệ thống hàng năm đều tăng trưởng, năm sau cao hơn năm trước, đảm bảo cung cấp điện cơ bản đầy đủ. Hệ thống điện vận hành an toàn, ổn định.

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UN condemns attacks on civilians in Israel and Gaza


From CNN’s Caitlin Danaher in London

The United Nations has “unequivocally condemned” attacks on civilians in Israel and Gaza, and also Israel’s “further tightening of the unlawful blockade,” in a statement released Thursday.

The killings and hostage-taking by Hamas “constitute heinous violations of international law and international crimes, for which there must be urgent accountability,” the statement read.

There is no justification for such violence in Israel or Gaza, the statement said.

The UN also focused on the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.

“We also strongly condemn Israel’s indiscriminate military attacks against the already exhausted Palestinian people of Gaza, comprising over 2.3 million people, nearly half of whom are children. They have lived under unlawful blockade for 16 years, and already gone through five major brutal wars, which remain unaccounted for,” they said. “This amounts to collective punishment.”

The experts also warned the withholding of essential supplies, such as food, water and medicine, will “precipitate a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where its population is now at inescapable risk of starvation.” They called for the establishment of humanitarian corridors to allow people to leave Gaza.

The UN urged the international community to “address the root causes of the current conflict, including the 56-year-old occupation and the annexation pursued by Israel.”

Here’s a brief history of the US support for Israel over the last 75 years

From CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf

Biden speaks during a roundtable with Jewish community at the White House on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.
Biden speaks during a roundtable with Jewish community at the White House on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. Susan Walsh/AP

President Joe Biden’s promise for the US to “stand with Israel” continues a special relationship that dates back to 1948, when President Harry Truman became the first world leader to recognize the Jewish state, moments after its creation.

There’s now a kibbutz named after Truman in Israel, and the US provides billions in military support to Israel each year.

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What was Hamas thinking? For over three decades, it has had the same brutal idea of victory

FILE - A Palestinian Hamas supporter attends a protest against Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, on March 3, 2008. In the three and a half decades since it began as an underground militant group, Hamas has pursued a consistently violent strategy aimed at rolling back Israeli rule. Despite bringing enormous suffering to both sides of the conflict, it has made steady progress. But its stunning incursion into Israel over the weekend marks its deadliest gambit yet, and the already unprecedented response from Israel threatens to bring an end to its 16-year rule over the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

BY JOSEPH KRAUSSUpdated 1:56 AM GMT+7, October 12, 2023Share

JERUSALEM (AP) — In the three and a half decades since it began as an underground militant group, Hamas has pursued a consistently violent strategy aimed at rolling back Israeli rule — and it has made steady progress despite bringing enormous suffering to both sides of the conflict.

But its stunning incursion into Israel over the weekend marks its deadliest gambit yet, and the already unprecedented response from Israel threatens to bring an end to its 16-year rule over the Gaza Strip.

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A look at Russia’s deadliest missile attacks on Ukraine

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESSUpdated 3:30 AM GMT+7, October 6, 2023

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, firefighters work to extinguish a fire after the deadly Russian rocket attack that killed more than 40 people in the village of Hroza near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, firefighters work to extinguish a fire after the deadly Russian rocket attack that killed more than 40 people in the village of Hroza near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, emergency workers search the victims of the deadly Russian rocket attack that killed more than 40 people in the village of Hroza near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Ukrainian Police Press Office via AP)

2 of 3 | 

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, emergency workers search the victims of the deadly Russian rocket attack that killed more than 40 people in the village of Hroza near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Ukrainian Police Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Police Press Office, emergency workers search the victims of the deadly Russian rocket attack that killed more than 40 people in the village of Hroza near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Ukrainian Police Press Office via AP)

3 of 3 | 

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14,000 displaced in Myanmar after record rain sparks floods

Residents of Myanmar’s flood-hit Bago city navigate the city’s submerged streets, salvaging food and belongings from their waterlogged homes, after record rainfall triggered floods that authorities said have displaced 14,000 people. “My house is flooded. This is the first time my house has been flooded in my life,” says Phwar Than Hme, a 101-year-old resident of Bago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NC-aNirB5k

What Is Hamas?

cfr.org

The Palestinian militant group has struggled to govern Gaza and remains committed to violently resisting Israel. Its surprise attack against Israel in 2023 threatens a wider conflagration in the Middle East.

WRITTEN BY Kali Robinson UPDATED Last updated October 9, 2023 1:27 pm (EST)

Summary

  • A spin-off of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1980s, the Islamist militant group Hamas took over the Gaza Strip after defeating its rival political party, Fatah, in elections in 2006.
  • The United States and European Union have designated Hamas a terrorist organization because of its armed resistance against Israel, which has included suicide bombings and rocket attacks.
  • Israel has declared war on Hamas following its surprise assault on southern Israel in 2023, the deadliest attack on the country in decades.

Introduction

What are the group’s origins?

Who are its leaders?

How is Hamas funded?

How does it govern Gaza?

How do Palestinians view Hamas?

How has Hamas challenged Israel?

How is Hamas’s attack on Israel in 2023 different?

Recommended Resources

Introduction

Hamas is an Islamist militant movement and one of the Palestinian territories’ two major political parties. It governs more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but the group is best known for its armed resistance to Israel. In October 2023, Hamas launched a massive surprise attack on southern Israel, killing hundreds of civilians and soldiers and taking dozens more as hostages. Israel has declared war on the group in response and indicated its military is planning for a long campaign to defeat it. 

Dozens of countries have designated Hamas a terrorist organization, though some apply this label only to its military wing. Iran provides it with material and financial support, and Turkey reportedly harbors some of its top leaders. Its rival party, Fatah, which dominates the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and rules in the West Bank, has renounced violence. The split in Palestinian leadership and Hamas’s unwavering hostility toward Israel have diminished prospects for stability in Gaza.

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