Orientul Mijlociu

Overview

On the morning of October 7, 2023, hundreds of armed Hamas terrorist operatives breached the border security fence and began pouring into Israel from the Gaza Strip, driving pickup trucks and motorcycle, on foot and using motorized hang gliders, heading towards IDF bases and the Israeli villages surrounding Gaza. To cover the invasion, massive rocket barrages were fired at south and central Israel. As of this writing, IDF forces are still battling terrorists in several towns and villages near the Gaza Strip and the rocket attacks continue.
The IDF declared a state of preparedness for war. A few hours after the invasion began, IDF aircraft started attacking Hamas terrorist targets and symbols of the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip
Apparently Hamas’ military-terrorist wing had been planning “Operation al-Aqsa Storm” for several months but very few people knew about it and they successfully kept it secret. According to Hamas spokesmen, the operation was intended to “convey a message to Israel” regarding Jews going to pray on the Temple Mount. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist operatives joined Hamas in invading Israel.
So far, Hamas calls for operatives in Judea and Samaria to join the attack have been unsuccessful. However, there was considerable glee in Judea and Samaria, expressed by support marches of armed operatives, distribution of pastries to passersby in the streets and chants of encouragement for the terrorists invading from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is focusing efforts at the “diplomatic” level and making preparations to help the Gazans.
In the northern arena, Hezbollah operatives fired mortar shells at Mount Dov; the IDF responded with artillery fire. The Arab world expressed support for Hamas. The United States condemned the Hamas attack and gave its full support to Israel, as did other Western countries.

The Palestinian militant group has struggled to govern Gaza and remains committed to violently resisting Israel. Its surprise attack against Israel in 2023 threatens a wider conflagration in the Middle East.

Summary

• A spin-off of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1980s, the Islamist militant group Hamas took over the Gaza Strip after defeating its rival political party, Fatah, in elections in 2006.
• The United States and European Union have designated Hamas a terrorist organization because of its armed resistance against Israel, which has included suicide bombings and rocket attacks.
• Israel has declared war on Hamas following its surprise assault on southern Israel in 2023, the deadliest attack on the country in decades.

Atacul surpriză al Hamas asupra Israelului, la cea de-a 50-a aniversare a războiului de Yom Kippur, va fi ţinut minte veacuri de-acum încolo ca un eşec al serviciilor israeliene de informaţii, scrie în „The Observer” Peter Beaumont, fost corespondent la Ierusalim al cotidianului „The Guardian”.

Abstract: This paper deals with the question of the extent to which a security partnership between European and the Arab states increases mutual security on the one hand, and on the other hand, how such cooperation affects the development of the Arab developing states. Finally, it asks whether a new relationship of trust can grow between the two different cultures after a difficult historical “journey.”

This past week Palestinians carried out seven terrorist attacks. Shots were fired near
Kibbutz Meirav on the Gilboa, and at an IDF post in Deir Sharaf (Nablus), at an IDF post in Salem
(Jenin), at an IDF post near Tulkarm and in Hawwara, where two Israelis were wounded. There
was a stabbing attack at the Mizmoria Crossing (south of Jerusalem) and an IED exploded in
Tel Aviv; no casualties were reported. A stabbing attack was prevented at the Tel Aviv train
station. The Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities, focusing on Jeninn
and Jericho; five Palestinians were killed. Meanwhile, the Palestinian security forces continued
to detain wanted persons in Jenin.

The reports came as Turkish forces pounded strategic economic installations today in the Kurdish-run zone, including oil installations and power stations.

A US F-16 fighter jet has downed an unmanned Turkish drone close to a coalition facility in northeastern Syria, where 900 US special operation forces are deployed, a move that is likely to escalate tensions between the two NATO allies, the Pentagon has confirmed.

It’s a new October war. Early Saturday morning, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its biggest assault on Israel in decades. Thousands of rockets arced from Gaza into Israel; black towers of smoke rose from where they struck. On motorcycles, trucks, and even paragliders, Palestinian militants darted into Israeli communities. Reports indicate that more than a hundred Israelis have been killed, and hundreds more have been injured. “We are at war, not in an operation, not in rounds of fighting—at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, as Israeli forces began air strikes in Gaza in response to Hamas’s assault.

Lately there have been growing indications that a war against Israel may break out in September or October 2023. The trigger may be spiraling violent clashes resulting in many casualties, or the use of new weapons leading to many fatalities on the Israeli side, in the face of which Israel will be unable to suffice with its regular counterterrorism measures.[1] While neither Hamas nor Hizbullah are eager to start a comprehensive confrontation with Israel,[2] such a confrontation could result from an uncontrolled deterioration on the ground[3] or from the use of new and unusually deadly weapons by these movements.

Hamas is the largest Palestinian extremist Islamic group, characterized as a terrorist organization by most of Europe, but many other countries. Now it has come to the fore again after entering southern Israel this morning in a surprise attack that is still ongoing at this moment .