Mid-east turmoil: Israel-Hamas confrontation sparks global concerns

Ongoing war for over 100 days: Why did it happen and what is the world's reaction

On Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on Israel, striking near the village of Gaza in what has escalated into the largest confrontation between Israel and Hamas since the 2014 Gaza conflict, marking the most extensive clash since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

More than 28,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed in Gaza as of Feb. 13, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, while Israel has reported over 1,200 fatalities, including military personnel, according to Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu Agency (AA).

The Israel-Palestine conflict traces its roots to British control over Palestine following World War I. Tensions between the two communities were exacerbated by the Balfour Declaration promising a “national home” for Jews in the Palestine region. The declaration was influenced by Zionism, a nationalist movement aimed at establishing a Jewish state in the Palestinian region.

Although the United Nation’s 1947 partition plan called for the separation of Jewish and Arab states with international control of Jerusalem, it was never implemented due to opposition from the Arab community.

Following British withdrawal in 1948, Israel declared independence, sparking war with its Arab neighbors. At the end of the war, Israel had gained control over most of Palestine, with Jordan and Egypt occupying some of the territories. Subsequent conflicts, notably in 1967, further entrenched the dispute, with Israel occupying East Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.

The dispute’s core issues include the fate of Palestinian refugees, the dismantling of Jewish settlements, the status of Jerusalem, and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The process to settle the dispute has faltered following the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 and failed negotiations at Washington D.C. in 2014.

Hamas, a militant Islamic faction seeking Israel’s destruction, has continually sabotaged peace efforts through attacks including suicide bombings. Since winning the 2006 Palestinian elections, Hamas has controlled Gaza, using it as a base for attacks against Israel.

Tracking back to the current situation, the primary attack saw hundreds of Hamas militants infiltrating southern Israel, using tactics such as gliding in via paragliders to strike military outposts, farms, and even a music festival, resulting in a total of 1,400 casualties and hostages taken back to Gaza. The attack followed heightened tensions, including Israel’s blockade and airstrikes on Gaza.

In terms of such ongoing devastation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced support towards Israel’s right to defend itself based on proportionality against Hamas and solidarity with the country, while also expressing its concerns regarding unjustifiable and brutal acts of terror that are indiscriminately harming the innocent civilians. NATO considers it wrongful for Israel to conduct groundless ravages that ignores the rules of war.

Similarly, according to Reuters’ report on Oct. 21, Joe Biden, the president of the United States, assured his unwavering support for Israel and continuous military assistance amid the war, expressing his strong attachment to Israel by repeating that he is a Zionist despite the increasing political opposition he faced from his own party.

On Jan. 16, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared additional humanitarian aid worth $8 million to help civilians affected by the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Strong criticism against massacre and abuse also arose from international human rights organizations.

The United Nations strongly reprimanded Israel and Hamas for their ongoing hostage taking. Hostages mostly consisted of women and children, and captives reported cases of physical, mental, and sexual abuse. Despite Israel’s sufferings on account of massive civilian casualties due to retaliatory wars, their collective punishment of Palestinian civilians is also considered a condemnable war crime.

More specifically, the United Nations Security Council has recently sought out an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, along with a demand for an urgent suspension of hostilities and speeding aid deliveries for desperate civilians. However, the United States has vetoed the draft resolution created by the United Nations regarding the ceasefire as such a proposal might increase pressure on Hamas in the course of the war.

The war was also criticized for its genocidal nature. Recently, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has compared the Israel-Hamas war to Adolf Hitler’s holocaust that strongly abused and massacred the Jews. International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanded Israel to take measures in pausing accusations of ethnic cleansing and follow the Genocide Convention.

Amnesty International has also explicitly stated the need for an immediate and unconditional release of illegally held civilians. Adding on to this issue, Human Rights Watch indicated that it is a war crime for Israel to use the hunger of uninvolved hostages in Gaza as a weapon and intentionally hurt the civilians as a means of captivity by depriving essential supplies for survival and blocking aid. Even after being released, civilians are forced to remain quiet and not make any actions.

Voices of university students in concern and outrage of the conflict have also been evident on campuses around the world.

Almost 400 students gathered at Toulouse-Jean Jaurès University’s Mirail Campus, located in Toulouse, France, to stand by the Palestinian citizens and show their support according to a report from AA. The students carried Palestinian flags, urging an end to the attacks and bombings in Gaza.

Similar protests have taken place around the world, with the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee even signing a statement that read that the students “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” according to Harvard Crimson’s report on Oct. 10.

This statement faced immense backlash, spreading quickly and reaching politicians, lawmakers, Harvard University professors, and other students who were quick to show their strong disagreement. Many critiqued the statement, claiming it was an attempt to justify Hamas’ attack on Israel that sparked the Israel-Hamas war.

Apart from these protests and statements, many university students have also joined a wide demographic of people in boycotting brands complicit in Israel’s armed violence against Palestinians. Multinational brands have been subject to these targeted boycotts led by those in solidarity with Palestine, especially after the brands’ releasing of statements alluding solidarity with Israel.

According to The Washington Post and Reuters, it was reported that on Oct. 18, McDonald Israel announced through X that they had donated 100,000 meals to security personnel and local hospitals, and are offering a 50 percent discount for rescue support and security personnel. Moreover, a Starbucks employee labor union, which posted on social media that they support Palestine, was sued by the company, sparking a major controversy.

Other than university students worldwide, Jewish communities have responded to the Israel-Hamas war by expressing deep sense of grief through their social media accounts, publicizing the ongoing terror attacks. Their stance on the issue of atrocities perpetrated against Israeli civilians is that the circumstance of the war does not consider human rights and universal values. However, according to Time Magazine’s report on Nov. 17, 2023, intense criticism also arose among the Jewish American community due to opposing opinions against the Israeli government, as even many amongst the Jewish community view its stance as an apartheid state.

According to a report by AA, Rabbis for Ceasefire protested on Jan. 9 inside the United Nations Security Council chamber, demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urging the United States to stop vetoing peace efforts. They emphasized the United Nation’s role in achieving a permanent ceasefire.

The war has sparked not only a deprivation of fundamental rights but also ethnic and racial discrimination abroad for both parties. Antisemitism, which refers to hatred and prejudice against Jews, encountered an immediate increase as the war unfolded. According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights organization, the war has also started an unprecedented rise in discrimination against Muslims worldwide.

A report from CNN on Feb. 12 revealed that Rep. Virginia Foxx demanded documents to aid the investigation on antisemitism on the campus of Columbia University. Rep. Virginia Foxx cited concerns over the university’s response to such an environment of pervasive antisemitism forming and the university’s failure to protect Jewish students. Foxx highlighted incidents of assaults, harassment, and vandalism at Columbia.

European Jews witnessed anti-Semitism not only on campus, but also on the streets and in the media, according to a report from AP on Nov. 26. The Community Security Trust in the UK reported that Jewish schoolchildren face harassment on their way to school and have been asked to explain Israel’s actions. In Russia, a riot erupted at an airport where a group of men chanted antisemitic slogans and displayed posters targeting passengers arriving from Israel. In Prague’s Little Quarter, staff at a well-known bar refused to serve beer to Israeli tourists and their Czech guides, leading to insults from some patrons and police intervention.

In summary, the Israel-Hamas conflict has led to devastating consequences, including loss of life, humanitarian crises, and geopolitical tensions. While there are diverse perspectives and responses to the situation, it remains imperative for global leaders and communities to prioritize efforts towards achieving a peaceful resolution and ensuring the protection of civilian lives and fundamental rights for all involved parties.

Professor Byung Won Min and Amnesty International expound on Israel-Hamas war’s nature and consequences

Professor Byung Won Min from the Department of Political Science & International Relations weighed in on the topic of the Israel-Hamas war, emphasizing the importance of defining the two entities of the conflict before all else.

“It is difficult to view this conflict as a war between two nations,” Professor Min stated. “Palestine does not stand as its own state yet, with parts of it remaining under Israeli control; therefore it would be deemed more accurate to refer to this conflict as a conflict between civilizations, not nations.”

With the nature of the Israel-Hamas war defined correctly, the solutions, projected future, and degrees for ruling of the war can be determined. According to Professor Min, seeking solutions based on who is the original rightful owner of the concerned land is nearly impossible. A convincing argument on either side’s ownership of the land is difficult to make based on law or religion. And since this is not a matter between two independent nations, intervention by international organizations and law is made complicated. The only possible way to interpret this matter is through the lens of politics.

“The prevailing notion within this conflict is power politics,” Professor Min said. “Just as Israel won over their current territories through power, the current Gaza Strip conflict can be interpreted as a power dispute between the Jews and Hamas.”

Though power is not the only actor at play here, with moral, historical, and human rights issues also operating, it is highly unlikely that these other factors would trump the theory of power. With the strength of international organizations such as the United Nations recently diminishing due to various events threatening each nation’s autonomic economies and politics, it is likely that the Israel-Hamas war is also a consequence of the recent inclination of nations to prioritize only their own benefits.

“The United Nations, as it is not a world government, cannot provide a solution to this problem, making it difficult to expect positive outcomes from outside actors intervening with this war,” Professor Min added. “However, a ceasefire does not seem so unlikely since Israel has already achieved their goal of reaching the western end of Palestine, Rafah.”

Professor Min explained that as long as the international community or other developed countries propose offers, such as increased funding for Israel, that will make a truce worth it for Israel, a ceasefire is very much possible.

As various human rights violations including attacks on civilian facilities, killings of innocent civilians, and sexual violence continue, international human rights organizations are constantly analyzing the crimes in the war and trying to protect the citizens through petitions and campaigns.

Eunah Kim, a senior campaigner at Amnesty International, shared the devastation of civilian loss and the international non-governmental organization’s efforts to protect them.

“Recent attacks from Israel are different from those they have carried out since 2008,” Kim mentioned. “By the sixth day of the invasion, about 4,000 tons of explosives were used, killing 1,400 people.”

Kim expressed her concern about the ongoing deadly attacks that continued from Oct. 7, 2023, to Feb. 15, where 28,000 civilians were found murdered and 68,000 injured. These figures do not count bodies that could not be collected, however, leaving the possibility of the death toll doubling or even tripling. Kim expressed her concern since more than half of the population is cornered in the last city of the Gaza Strip, Rafah, and Israel is to intensify their air raids and start ground attacks there.

To better understand the situation, it is important to know the background of Gaza. After the borders have been closed, people living in Gaza cannot leave their homes without permission from Israel. After sealing the borders in 2007, Israel has been attacking the area since 2008.

Amnesty International follows international laws including the Fourth Geneva Convention, which indicates the safety of civilians during war. Although Amnesty International did not politically interfere with conflicts within a nation or war between different countries in the past, this time the organization made an exception due to the unprecedented death toll and the attacks’ alarming similarity to genocide. The petition named “Demand a ceasefire by all parties to end civilian suffering” was signed by about 4,000 people in South Korea. After 15 days of opening, 1 million people signed the petition, showing how desperate people are for the war to stop.

Kim stressed that all individuals should uphold responsibility as a global citizen to make efforts to protect Palestinians from illegal Israeli military occupation and racist policies.

Specifically for university students, Kim explained that informing the recent conflict and its problems in university media, discussing various human rights agendas in relation to the current conditions in the Gaza Strip, and standing in solidarity with Palestinian people in danger can be the ways. Moreover, Kim said that Urgent Action by the S.Korean Civil Society in Solidarity with Palestine, where more than 140 civic groups are gathering together to stop genocide in Palestine, is actively holding continuous protest, stressing that participating in such action is one of the ways in which individuals can contribute to preventing the current disaster.

“After ten years, no one should be able to say that they did not know about the war since the media is filled with news about it,” Kim said. “From now on, efforts to understand the situation of those dying in Rafah must begin.”