Since Hamas expelled the Palestinian Authority from the Gaza Strip and took over power there in 2007, violence has regularly flared up between the terrorist organization and Israel; there were two short but fierce wars.
This time, the scale and nature of the attacks are particularly striking. Hamas not only launched thousands of rockets, but also sent groups of dozens of fighters across the border. This has never happened before and the number of Israeli victims is much greater than during previous outbreaks of violence.
Israel appears to have been taken completely by surprise by the attacks. There is already criticism in the country that the intelligence services apparently did not know that something was about to happen.
There is little doubt that the Israeli forces will not let these surprise attacks pass without an overwhelming response.
There has been rising tension between Israelis and Palestinians for months. This unrest was mainly concentrated in the occupied West Bank. The focus is now on the Gaza Strip, but the question is also what the explosion of violence will mean for the situation in the West Bank and in Jerusalem.
2023-10-07 11:01:00
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