A REPORT ON WAR : A Historical Perspective on the Conflict

by Santosh Kumar

A Brief History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a long-standing and complex dispute over land, identity, and sovereignty in the Middle East. This report provides a historical perspective on the conflict, highlighting key events and turning points.

1. Historical Background:

Late 19th Century: The Zionist movement, seeking a homeland for Jews, gained momentum in Europe, particularly in response to rising antiSemitism.

Balfour Declaration (1917): The British government expressed support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

2. Post-World War I:

League of Nations Mandate (1922): Britain was given the mandate to govern Palestine, leading to increased Jewish immigration.

Tensions between Jewish and Arab communities grew as both sought control over the territory.

3. 1947 UN Partition Plan:

The United Nations proposed a plan to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem under international administration.

The plan was accepted by Jewish leaders but rejected by Arab leaders.

4. 1948 Arab-Israeli War:

The State of Israel was declared on May 14, 1948, leading to a conflict with neighboring Arab states.

Armistice agreements were signed in 1949, leaving Israel with expanded territory, and displaced Palestinians in refugee camps.

5. 1967 Six-Day War:

Israel launched a preemptive strike against its Arab neighbors, resulting in the capture of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and other territories.

The occupation of these territories remains a major point of contention.

6. Peace Process:

Multiple attempts at peace negotiations have occurred, including the Camp David Accords (1978) and the Oslo Accords (1993).

Despite efforts, a lasting peace agreement has remained elusive, with issues like borders, refugees, and Jerusalem remaining unresolved.

[ NOTE] - The group Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by various countries and international bodies, including the United States, the European Union, Israel, Canada, and Japan. This designation is primarily due to its history of engaging in acts of violence, including suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and other forms of terrorism, particularly targeting Israeli civilians. Hamas’s charter calls for the destruction of Israel, and it has been involved in numerous conflicts with Israel, leading to the loss of civilian lives on both sides.

7. Current Situation:

On October 7, 2023, group of Hamas terrorists from Gaza strip attacked Israel. They killed innocent civilians and beheaded hundreds of young babies, looted the home of people and raped women. They even took 203 people hostage. They fired atleast 7000 rockets from their base in Gaza destroying many houses and killing people. The rocket attack was so much intense that even Iron Dome, the defense system was overwhelmed and didn’t delivered much.

One the same day, thousands of people gathered for a Nova music festival , in the northern part of the country, terrorists saw this as a potential to wage a war against Israel and the Jewish people and infiltrated in to the country. Many border cities like Sderot are completely destroyed, all the houses are burnt, there is a pile of dead bodies and those who have remained alive have migrated to the cities like Telaviv and the southern part of the country.

But still, there is no peace, every time people have to go into the underground banker to save them after the air raid sirens are heard. There is a continuous rocket attack and one can hear a continuous sound of shelling every now and then.

It seems Jewish community has been given a death sentence by the people surrounding the Israel. Also Iranian proxies and terrorists groups like Hizbulloh have been on a offensive and killed many people in the northern borders of the country. Till now, according to the government data, atleast 7000 people have been killed in the ongoing war and this number is supposed to go up in the coming days as the government is going to launch the counter offensive in the Gaza city to flush out terrorists from there. At the same time, thousands of people have been displaced. There is a grim feeling of sorrow and distress in the people. Families of those who have been kidnapped are pleading the government and the IDF ( Israel Defense Forces) for their release and safety.

There is a great economic and personal loss to each and every people of this country as life will not be the same which used to be earlier after this war.

Jewish people ask this question to every person in this world that Up to how much long we will be attacked on the name of our religion and faith , do we not have the same right as the other human being present on this earth? This type of question is asked by each and every child of Israel, from every world leaders. Why is there so much AntiSemitism among the world?

Despite all these things the people of Israel are very much resilient and confident. In this hour of difficulty, you can see that every Israeli is standing firmly against all the atrocities and would fight back till the last man as this fight is for the sake of humanity and the existence of the Jewish people.

8. Testimony of Victims:

There are many stories of people who have been the victims of this war, one such is JoRuthchild, she is a mother, who has lost her two children and her husband in this brutal attack, she was attending the Nova music festival and all of a sudden, terrorist launched attacks and in this attack her everything was ruined but she survived somehow but her life is not same as earlier. She describes how brutally her children were beheaded infront of her and she was raped infront of her husband and later her husband was shot dead.

Another story is of Johenesh, who lost his family but went to the war as a soldier and said he had not time for mourning rather have the call for the duty in armed forces.

Like this there are many stories of people who have be through this suffering and distress. But still standing firmly for the country because they think this is the war for their existence.

Conclusion:

So the bottom line is that there is a deep suffering and grim feeling due to the war, many children have become orphan and many mothers have lost their children, many lost their loved ones and families but still standing firmly against all the atrocities. The government has called 300000 reservist for deployment at the border. The street and roads which ones used to be giggling with people are now empty and the cities have became ghost towns. All the schools and businesses are closed. People are living in bankers. But still they believe that every thing will return to normal as always peace prevail at last.