The new year begins with a familiar battle in the Middle East: fighting between Israel and the Palestinians. The current battle is more specifically between the Israeli military and Hamas, the Islamist military group that controls the Gaza Strip. Here's a brief update of what's happening.
First, some background:
As you know, the Palestinian territories are divided into two areas separated by Israel: Gaza and the West Bank. Gaza sits along the Southwestern side of Israel, with the Mediterranean Sea to the west and Egypt to the south. There are two main factions (or political parties) that make up Palestinian government structure, Hamas and Fatah. Hamas rules Gaza; Fatah rules the West Bank, which borders much of Israel on the eastern side. The main difference between Fatah and Hamas is that Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist as a country.
Almost since Israel became a state in 1948, Fatah has led the charge for Palestinian statehood (since the 1950s). Then in 2006, barely a year after Yasser Arafat of Fatah died, Hamas won the parliamentary elections. In the summer of 2007 Hamas violently ousted Fatah from Gaza and claimed control, sparking a battle that sent the U.S. and the European Union to aid Fatah (we posted about this). Israel tightened controls at the border to Gaza, essentially freezing its 1.5 million people inside with little resources.
The latest battle
For months Hamas has routinely launched rockets into Israel, which Israel says have recently begun to reach further inside the country though there has been relatively little damage. Over the summer Egypt brokered a peace deal between Hamas and Israel, with Hamas agreeing to stop firing rockets and Israel agreeing to loosen border controls. But the cease-fire was fragile at best with each side testing the other. By Dec. 27, the truce was over and Israel launched air attacks on Gaza. So far some 400 Gaza residents—some Hamas personnel and some civilians—have been killed versus a handful of Israelis.
The big picture
First, some background:
As you know, the Palestinian territories are divided into two areas separated by Israel: Gaza and the West Bank. Gaza sits along the Southwestern side of Israel, with the Mediterranean Sea to the west and Egypt to the south. There are two main factions (or political parties) that make up Palestinian government structure, Hamas and Fatah. Hamas rules Gaza; Fatah rules the West Bank, which borders much of Israel on the eastern side. The main difference between Fatah and Hamas is that Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist as a country.
Almost since Israel became a state in 1948, Fatah has led the charge for Palestinian statehood (since the 1950s). Then in 2006, barely a year after Yasser Arafat of Fatah died, Hamas won the parliamentary elections. In the summer of 2007 Hamas violently ousted Fatah from Gaza and claimed control, sparking a battle that sent the U.S. and the European Union to aid Fatah (we posted about this). Israel tightened controls at the border to Gaza, essentially freezing its 1.5 million people inside with little resources.
The latest battle
For months Hamas has routinely launched rockets into Israel, which Israel says have recently begun to reach further inside the country though there has been relatively little damage. Over the summer Egypt brokered a peace deal between Hamas and Israel, with Hamas agreeing to stop firing rockets and Israel agreeing to loosen border controls. But the cease-fire was fragile at best with each side testing the other. By Dec. 27, the truce was over and Israel launched air attacks on Gaza. So far some 400 Gaza residents—some Hamas personnel and some civilians—have been killed versus a handful of Israelis.
The big picture
During the fighting Hamas' buildings have come under attack and a top leader was killed. Israel says its intentions are to stop Hamas from firing rockets into Israel. Certainly Israel's military is far more powerful than Hamas, and their campaign is angering many Muslims in the Middle East. The international community is discussing ways to halt the fighting and certainly this latest conflict will be top on the agenda for the new U.S. administration.
