Exploring the History Behind the Turmoil in Gaza.

The scene in Gaza after Israeli airstrikes. (Source: Getty Images)

The current war between Israel and Palestine that has gained the world’s attention began on October 7, 2023 after Hamas launched missile strikes and opened gunfire on Israeli civilians. The question is why are over 30,000 people (30,228 Palestinians and 1,410 Israeli)  including children being slaughtered in these two nations. 

Despite the Israeli lives lost at the hands of Hamas, Hamas and the Palestinians have a valid reason for attacking Israel. These two groups have had brutal relations ever since the Balfour Declaration moved Jews onto Palestinian land. For decades, Palestine has suffered direct discrimination and mistreatment from Israel, leading to many uprisings and protests.

The region of Israel was once occupied by the Ottoman Empire and Palestine was one of its territories. Palestinians specifically lived in the current land of Israel. Everything was at peace, until after World War 1. In 1917 the British government created the Balfour Declaration.

This document supported the creation of a national home for Jewish people. 

Despite the fact that Palestianians continued to occupy the land of Israel, Britain pressed to make that land for Jewish people. After 1948, the Balfour Declaration caused the forced relocation of about 100,000 Palestinian residents who migrated to other areas such as Gaza, Bethlehem, and Jaffa while others went to other countries like Egypt or Lebanon. 

Biblical history explains how Israel was originally a group of people and the descendants of Jacob who became the Jews that are spread around the globe. This shows that the Balfour Declaration was inaccurate and discriminatory towards Palestinians.

Chapter Deuteronomy 7:6 of The Holy Bible says “Israel, you are the chosen people of the Lord your God.” This states that Israel was not originally a land but a group of people. The nation of Israel are the descendants of Abraham and his son Issac then Isaac’s son, Jacob who was also given a second name by God and was called Israel. Jacob/Israel had twelve children, thus creating the original twelve Hebrew tribes of Israel. 

Furthermore, James 1:1-4 in the Bible says, “….to the twelve tribes (of Israel) which are scattered abroad..”. This part of this verse tells the reader that the twelve tribes of Israel were spread across the globe, proving to believers of the Bible that Jew descendants are not just in the current country of Israel today, but are all around the world.

Also a few descendants of Israel who evolved in eastern or western Europe during World War II were moved back into ‘Israel’ by the Balfour Declaration partially as protection from further persecution at the hands of the Nazi Regime. 

Terror among Palestinians at the hands of Israel is not new. Israel’s leaders and military have been mistreating Palestinians in the Gaza strip for several decades. This type of discrimination that Palestinians have been suffering from can be defined as a system of apartheid. 

The first Palestinian uprising against Israel occurred in 1987, they called it “Intifada”, which means “civil uprising”. This particular battle resulted in 1010 Israeli fatalities versus 3354 Palestinian fatalities. Israel proved to be more powerful than Palestine with the help of the United States, which is Israel’s biggest supplier of military aid. Since the 1970s the US has given around $130 billion dollars in military supplies, and U.S President Joe Biden recently provided $14.3 billion to Israel.   

Furthermore, Palestine’s own militant group, Hamas (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya) was then formed after this first battle. It originally branched off of a Palestinian Muslim brotherhood resistance group. Hamas is known to use several methods of attacks against Israeli forces and other opposing terrorist groups. 

This current war has brought about so many deaths of Palestinians, that on December 29, 2023 South Africa brought Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations regarding genocide in Gaza. South Africa feels that Israel’s goal is to eradicate the Palestinian ethnic group. 

Despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wishes for the court to reject the new case, the ICJ accepted South Africa’s case.

Although South Africa’s bold step of confrontation received strong global attention, the court did not agree that Israel is inciting genocide and did not halt military operations in Gaza. Instead, the court so far made guidelines for Israel and instructed them to limit any direct harm towards Palestinian civilians.

The people around the world that are following the Israel-Hamas War should educate themselves on the history of these two nations to see from the perspective of the Palestinians and everything they have been through at the hands of Israel. 

There’s no telling when this war will end, we do know based on past evidence that this war will destroy at least one generation of Palestinians if they are not helped.