The War In Israel: What Caused the War Today? (Part II)

In order to answer this question, we will have to look at some of the modern history of Palestine. Through this historical survey of Palestine, I hope that you will have a greater understanding of what caused the war. While there has been conflict in the region for many thousands of years, there are particular events that led to the war that we are seeing today. 

The cause of the war today is over the disputed lands in Palestine. The Palestinians believe that the land called Israel today belongs to them. The Palestinians do not recognize Israel as a state and claim that the Jews are occupying the land that belongs to the Palestinians. The Jews believe that they have a rightful claim to the land which is Israel.

The modern-day conflict began at the beginning of the 20th century. The end of the Ottoman Empire occurred in 1914, which left a power vacuum among the Arab states in the Middle East. At the end of WWI in 1918, the British government took control of much of the land in the Middle East, including Palestine.

Then, in the 1930s and 1940s, there were many Jews who were fleeing the European content to escape the Holocaust. Many of them fled to Palestine seeking to establish a new Jewish state that could protect the Jewish people. The Arab people rejected the Jewish migrants claiming they had no right to be there and that Palestine was Arab land. The Jews claimed they had a right to the land and the right to establish an independent state in Palestine.  This resulted in violent attacks from both sides against one another.

After the British tried to offer a peaceful solution and realized that the violence would continue, they asked the United Nations (UN) to take over control of the land. In November 1947, the UN voted to accept the UN Partition Plan for Palestine.  This plan created two independent states: a Jewish state, and an Arab state. The Jewish state would receive about 56% of the land and the Arab state would control about 43% of the land. A small territory containing Jerusalem and Bethlehem would remain under the control of the UN.

Then, on May 14, 1948, the leader of the provisional government of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, announced the establishment of the state of Israel. The Arabs viewed this as Israel stealing their land. The very next day, May 15, 1948, five Arab nations surrounding Israel invaded Palestine but Israel emerged victorious and gained about half of the land that was partitioned for the Arab state. The result of this war led to Israel controlling about 78% of Palestinian land.

 The Arab nations met in 1967 and agreed on the "Three No's": No Peace with Israel, No Recognition of Israel, and No Negotiations with Israel. Israel has made many attempts to find a peaceful resolution with the Arab nations with no success. The Arabs have continually rejected any attempts at making peace with Israel.

From that time on, there have been many conflicts and wars over the Palestinian land. The Arabs still contend that Israel is occupying their land and they must be removed. The latest iteration of Arab rejection is known as Hamas. Hamas' constitution, which was established in 1988, speaks of Palestine being a "Holy Possession" and that Hamas will "obliterate" Israel. When Israel decided to leave Gaze for the Palestinians, it became the headquarters of Hamas and has fired thousands of rockets and missiles into Israel. The only goal of Hamas is the genocide of all Jews.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded Israel. This invasion was an attempt to slaughter as many Israeli people as possible. This was not Hamas soldiers attacking Israeli soldiers; it was Hamas soldiers attaching Israeli women, children, and other civilians. It was barbaric, terroristic, and absolutely evil. Hamas also took over 200 hostages back to Gaza with them. This act of aggression is not war; it is terrorism and Israel has every right to defend itself.

However, there is a problem for Israel. Hamas hides in schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings, essentially using Palestinian civilians as human shields. Israel seeks to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians and does not indiscriminately bomb or fire missiles into Gaza. In fact, when it prepares to destroy a known Hamas location, Israel contacts the people in that building through their cell phones and by dropping leaflets from the sky to warn the people that they are going to bomb that area to minimize civilian casualties. The conflict is ongoing today and we will have to wait to see how this conflict ends. 

The reason Hamas invaded Israel and has continued to aggressively attack Israel since its inception is that the Hamas terrorists believe that Israel is occupying their land. There are many others who would agree with Hamas, including many Palestinian civilians. However, just because some people do not agree with the state of Israel does not mean that they would agree with the horrific tactics that Hamas has utilized to initiate this war. Israel desires to defend itself and protect its people. This is not intended to be a comprehensive evaluation of the war or a complete history of these nations, but it is intended to help us understand why this war is happening. I hope this post has helped you have a better understanding of what is going on with the war and why it is happening.