KOCHI: Gaza-based regional militant outfit Hamas shot to international infamy after its brutal attack on Israel last week. The Sunni Islamist extremist outfit, proscribed in multiple countries, shocked the powerful Israeli military when it managed to breach the seemingly impregnable border security fence by land, air and sea, killing over a thousand Israelis, and maim many more.
Hamas' barbarism in the early morning of October 7 shattered the notion that Israel’s security apparatus was top-notch and its border infiltration-proof. On the other hand, the stature of Hamas, so to speak, rose among the terror merchants with experts the world over speculating how they managed to pull it off in arguably the most security-conscious nation. There are countless conspiracy theories, including some suggesting that Israel had prior knowledge but chose to ignore it, but none of them stands the test of scrutiny.
So, what happened on October 7? Clearly, there was intelligence failure on the part of Israel but the country’s political leadership has refused to offer any immediate explanation. As for the military, it wouldn’t talk now as its priority is to finish off Hamas once and for all. “First, we fight, then we investigate,” is how Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, cryptically put it when asked about the security breach.
The evacuation
Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Hamas targets have so far been from the air, though the military has already started small raids into the Gaza Strip. Israel ordered the evacuation of the one million-plus residents in the northern part of Gaza within 24 hours in what is considered a signal that it is all set to launch its ground assault.
Hamas sought to take insurance by abducting an estimated 150 people, including foreigners, from Israel and took them to Gaza ostensibly to use them as bargaining chips to ward off a ground attack and force Israel to release the outfit’s operatives currently in jail. But Israel apparently has other ideas. It intends to scorch the earth in Gaza to ferret out the terrorists and rescue the hostages instead. Israel's stated policy of no negotiation, no compromise on hostages is under severe test. Whether or not it would soften its stance later because scores of innocent civilians, including citizens of other nations, have been abducted will depend on its ability to smoke out Hamas from its vast network of underground tunnels in Gaza.
Tactical deception
Hamas’ stated objective is to establish an independent Islamic state in historical Palestine, a geographic area that includes Israel, by obliterating the state of Israel and removing non-Muslims. It has launched numerous attacks, including suicide missions, against Israel but has not been successful beyond making regional headlines. In the past two years, it had toned down both its actions and rhetoric against Israel and feigned to focus on governing the impoverished Gaza Strip, which it took control of in 2007 through violent means. It carefully created the smoke screen of turning comparatively passive and not plotting terror attacks.
Israel fell hook, line and sinker for the ruse. There were occasional small-scale attacks and a few rocket launches that were routinely foiled by Israel, giving the country the false confidence that it’s very much under control. In recent months, Israel even allowed some 18,000 Palestinians to work in Israel in return for a relative phase of peace. On the surface, the prospects of employment and better pay in Israel seemed to work as no major attacks were launched from Gaza nor did Israeli intelligence agencies pick up any chatter on Hamas worth worrying about. However, as it turned out, Hamas had much bigger plans. It was just biding its time to prepare for the biggest onslaught in its history.
To avoid Israel’s sophisticated intelligence radar, Hamas operatives went completely offline shunning mobile phones and other electronic devices while plotting the attack. They passed messages in-person through private and even public meetings clandestinely. Its operatives trained in full public view without drawing concerns. Israel’s defence personnel too became complacent, roiled as the nation was for months in the harebrained idea of reducing its Supreme Court's powers. Hamas chose the day of attack to coincide with the end of the week-long Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which is celebrated from September 29 to October 6, to inflict maximum casualty.
What provoked Hamas?
Experts believe Hamas may have been piqued that the Palestine issue was getting sidelined by the global community, especially the Arab world which was getting cozier with Israel. Hamas was vehemently opposed to the Abraham Accords that Israel signed with the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, and Sudan to normalise ties. The accords were signed during 2020-21 with the support of the Trump administration to counter common rivals such as Iran. The larger objective, of course, is to secure the release of all 5,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, get the 16-year-old blockade on Gaza lifted and prevent Israeli raids on Al Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. By doing so, Hamas wants to convey to all Palestinians that their interests are best protected under its umbrella.
Violent ideology
Hamas, the Arabic acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement) was founded by Ahmed Yassin in 1987 shortly after the first uprising against Israel. Yassin was a cleric associated with the Palestinian branch of the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas staunchly opposed the secular approach of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and projected itself as an entity that genuinely cared for the Palestinian cause. It unabashedly advocated violent means to fulfill its objectives and pitted itself against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which had a similar ideology. Hamas chose to differentiate itself from other politico-religious outfits and is today considered the biggest militant group in Palestine. Hamas first used suicide bombing in April 1993, five months before PLO leader Yasser Arafat and then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the historic Oslo Accords. The pact established limited self-government for parts of the West Bank and Gaza under a new entity called the Palestinian Authority. Hamas condemned the pact as well as the PLO and Israel’s recognition of each other.
Early days
Since the late 1970s, activists connected with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood established a network of charities, clinics and schools and became active in the Palestine territories of Gaza Strip and West Bank. In Gaza, they were active in many mosques while their activities in the West Bank were limited to universities. The Brotherhood’s activities in these areas were generally nonviolent, but a number of small groups began to call for jihad, or holy war, against Israel. With the launch of Hamas, which was formed by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and religious factions of the PLO, sentiments against Israel grew stronger in Palestine.
In its 1988 charter, Hamas maintained that Palestine is an Islamic homeland that can never be surrendered to non-Muslims and that waging a holy war to wrest control of Palestine from Israel is a religious duty for Palestinian Muslims. This position brought it into conflict with the PLO, which in 1988 recognised Israel’s right to exist. Hamas somewhat moderated its stand later but still refused to recognise Israel.
Gaza capture
In 2006, Hamas contested elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council, the legislative body of the Palestinian Authority, winning 74 of 132 seats, beating Fatah that controlled the Palestine Authority at the time. This led to a power struggle between Hamas and the rival Fatah party founded by Yasser Arafat.
Hamas’ takeover of Gaza was violent as its fighters took control of the Gaza Strip and removed Fatah officials. The fight between the two groups went on from June 10 to 15, 2007 and resulted in the dissolution of the unity government. It also caused the division of the Palestinian territories into two—West Bank governed by the Palestinian National Authority and Gaza governed by Hamas. At least 118 people were reportedly killed during the week-long fight.
The leaders
Hamas’ founder Yassin was a quadriplegic who was also nearly blind. His mobility was restricted to a wheelchair ever since he suffered a sporting accident when he was 12 years old. Yassin was eliminated by Israel in 2004 when a helicopter gunship fired a missile at him as he was being wheeled from Fajr prayer in Gaza City. The attackwas internationally condemned. Over 2 lakh Palestinians attended his funeral procession in Gaza.
One of the early leaders of Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, was Salah Shehade. He quickly rose to become a very influential leader and was arrested twice by Israeli authorities, in 1984 and 1988. After the death of Hamas military leader and bomb expert Yahya Ayash in 1996, Shehade became a top leader in the group, along with Mohammed Deif and Adnan al-Ghoul. Shehade was taken out by an Israeli airstrike on his house on July 22, 2002, which also killed his wife and daughter. Hamas’ current leaders include Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh. The first two are believed to be holed up in one of the tunnels in Gaza, leaving the residents to face the fury of Israel’s attack. Haniyeh is in exile and splits his time between Doha and Cairo.
Of these, Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh is the Islamist group’s best known leader, having served briefly as Palestinian prime minister following the group's upset 2006 parliamentary election victory. Considered a pragmatist, Haniyeh maintains good relations with the heads of various Palestinian factions, including rival ones.
As for the elusive 'chief of staff' Mohammed Deif, he has survived at least six attempts to liquidate him. He has also been on the US list of international terrorists since 2015. It was Deif's audio message that announced the start of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab al-Masri, was born in 1965. He was appointed head of Hamas's military wing in 2002 after the death of Salah Shehade in a raid. Sinwar, 61, is a former commander of the Hamas military wing. Sinwar spent 23 years in Israeli jails before his release in 2011 in a prisoner exchange involving French-Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was held captive by Hamas. Sinwar is also on the US list of wanted "international terrorists".
Who funds them
Hamas is believed to get funding from Iran. Besides, rockets and other explosives from Iran are routed via Sudan and Egypt. They enter Gaza through tunnels beneath the Sinai Peninsula. Iran first reached out to Hamas in 1992 when Israel deported about 400 of them to Lebanon. Lebanon is where Hamas got military technology and training to build bombs for suicide attacks.
GENESIS OF THE CRISIS
What is at the root of the Israel-Palestine conflict?
The land we know as Israel-Palestine today was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire during the 1900s. The empire collapsed after World War 1 and Britain took control of Palestine. At the time, this land was inhabited by an Arab majority and Jewish minority along with other ethnic groups. Tensions between the two groups grew as Jews started strategically immigrating to Palestine
What was the Balfour Declaration?
In 1917, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote a letter to a prominent Jewish figurehead Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild expressing his support of establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This letter came to be known as the Balfour Declaration. This declaration was included in the British Mandate for Palestine and was endorsed by UN’s predecessor, the League of Nations, in 1922
What happened during World War II?
The advent of World War II saw persecution of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. Between 1920 and 1940, many Jews fled Europe and arrived in Palestine to seek refuge and establish their homeland. As the number of Jews immigrating grew, violence between Jews and Arabs also started increasing
What was UN’s proposal?
In 1947, the UN devised a proposal for the state of Palestine to be split into two: a Jewish state called Israel and an Arab state named Palestine. The city of Jerusalem would become an international zone since Jewish, Christians and Arabs have religious significance attached to the place. The plan was accepted by Jews but was rejected by the Arabs. So, it was never implemented
When was Israel created?
In 1948, as sectarian violence grew between the two communities and tensions failed to resolve, Britain withdrew and Jews declared the creation of the state of Israel. However, a day after its creation, five Arab nations - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria - attacked the new country as they were totally against its creation.
What happened after war?
Israel emerged victorious in the war. It took control of most of the territory with the western half of Jerusalem coming under their rule as also much of the Palestine territory. This resulted in many of the Palestinians being expelled from their homes creating a huge refugee crisis. The territory of Gaza was controlled by Egypt while the West Bank was controlled by Jordan
What was the 1967 war?
In 1967, after fighting another war with the Arab states, Israel took control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as most of the Syrian Golan Heights, Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula. Most of the Palestinian refugees still live in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel claims the entire Jerusalem as its capital while Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as their capital. Israel created settlements in West Bank and East Jerusalem for Jews, which are seen as illegal by international organisations
HAMAS CHARTER