AIJAC

A major conflict between Israel and Hamas-ruled Gaza has been ongoing this week, after Hamas launched a large-scale rocket barrage against Israel on Sunday evening  following weeks of tension in Jerusalem. Since then, at least 1750 rockets have been launched toward Israel from Gaza, with some 300 landing within Gaza. Seven Israelis have been killed, as have more than 100 Palestinians – though Israel says at least 60 of them are fighters from terrorist groups, while many of the civilians are known to be victims of Hamas rockets that fell short. Meanwhile, there has also been unprecedented violence in some Israeli cities by Arab and Jewish mobs over the past few days, resulting in many injuries and arrests.

Earlier this week, AIJAC published a factsheet that explained what’s behind the current outbreak of major conflict, which we recommend as a starting point.  A slideshow version is here, 

This Update looks at how things got to this point, and what may happen now.

We first provide readers with a summary of what has happened since Sunday and what people are saying about it, from BICOM. It is only up to date as of yesterday afternoon – but is still highly useful. 

Our first analysis piece comes from Haviv Rettig Gur of the Times of Israel, who addresses what Hamas believes it has accomplished by launching the current war. He says it set out to seize leadership of the Palestinian national movement from Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement by posing as defenders of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa mosque – and appears to have largely succeeded. He says Hamas’ ability to incite some Israeli Arabs to set out to commit violence in Israeli cities is another unexpected shock and part of the group’s larger effort to seize Palestinian leadership – though he also reports on the pushback from most Israeli Arabs. For Rettig Gur’s must-read analysis,  CLICK HERE.

Next up, Israeli Arab affairs analyst Oded Granot looks at the military conflict since Sunday. He argues that, despite Hamas’ political achievements amongst Palestinians, Hamas will now be starting to regret its gamble in starting this war as Israeli attacks on Hamas personnel and infrastructure take out much of its capabilities in Gaza. Hamas is now seeking a ceasefire, Granot notes, but Israel will be reluctant to agree to one until it has done even more to reduce Hamas’ capabilities and deter future attacks. However, a large-scale ground operation would be necessary to finish this task, he says, and will likely be avoided as too costly. For Granot’s full discussion of the current strategic situation,  CLICK HERE. For more on Israel’s need to establish deterrence against future attacks, see strategic analyst Eran Lerman. 

Finally, veteran Palestinian Affairs reporter Khaled Abu Toameh looks at Iran’s extensive role in empowering Hamas to carry out its current wave of attacks. He details how both Iran and the Palestinian terror organisation have acknowledged Iran’s essential role in enabling it to fire so many missiles at Israel, after years of denying it, and how the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal was used as cover to facilitate arms smuggling.  Abu Toameh says the current war should be seen as part of Iran’s larger war to attempt to eliminate Israel. For his detailed reporting on the essential Iranian role,  CLICK HERE. Abu Toameh also had an excellent analysis of the radical weakening of PA President Mahmoud Abbas as a result of Hamas’ gambit in launching the current war. 

Readers may also be interested in…

  • Palestinian human rights activist and Jerusalem resident Bassem Eid explains that, contrary to Palestinian and media claims, the property dispute over some houses in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah is not at the root of the current conflict. More info on the Shwikh Jarrah court case and controversy is here and here. 
  • Strong comments from Israeli Arab writers Jalal Bana and Yoseph Haddad about the Arab mobs rioting in some Israeli towns. Plus, a warning how dangerous these events are for Israel’s future from Jerusalem Post editor Yaakov Katz. 
  • A couple of pieces – here and here –  on the severe challenge being faced by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system, which is stopping most of the rockets hitting populated areas, but not all.  
  • Strong comments on media and left-wing double standards on Israel from British writer Brendan O’Neill. 

Some examples from the many stories and comments now appearing at AIJAC’s daily “Fresh AIR” blog:

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