On Saturday, October 7, the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas infiltrated several hundred of its fighters into Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking hundreds of hostages. Later that day, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and launched a bombing campaign against the Gaza Strip as well as a "complete blockade" of the territory, banning the entry of essential items like food, water, medicine, fuel and electricity. The war has already cost the lives of thousands of Gazans (more than 7,000 as of October 26, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza).
To understand this war, the latest in seven decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, we need to look at its historical roots as well as the current political tensions in the region. Le Monde breaks it down in six explainer videos.
What is the Gaza Strip and how did it come to be?
Home to 2.3 million Palestinians, Gaza, wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, has been under blockade for 16 years. This enclave is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and is often compared to an "open-air prison."
What is Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel?
Hamas, whose full name is the Islamic Resistance Movement, originated from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and was created in the wake of the First Intifada in 1987, the conflict between the Israeli army and the Palestinian population. The main goals of this movement, which does not recognize the state of Israel, have always been to reclaim the militarily occupied Palestinian territories and establish an Islamic Palestinian state.
What are the main reasons behind this latest escalation?
The Israel-Hamas war marks a turning point in Israeli-Palestinian tensions, and the Gaza Strip is central to this conflict. Hamas and Israel have for years clashed with rocket fire and strikes. From 2008 to August 2023, over 6,400 Palestinians were killed, the vast majority in Gaza, while over 300 Israelis were killed in the same period, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
How was the State of Israel born?
The State of Israel unilaterally proclaimed its existence in 1948, following a failed plan by the United Nations to partition Palestine into independent Arab and Jewish States, at the end of the region's British rule under a League of Nations mandate. This event was the result of European political choices made during a period of growing anti-Semitism and the birth of Zionism.
Why does Israel build colonies in the occupied West Bank?
The West Bank, which is a Palestinian territory under international law, is dotted with numerous settlements where Israeli families and communities live. Under international law, they are illegal, but Israeli law recognizes a number of them and the Israeli army protects their inhabitants. These settlements, which Israel wishes to integrate into its territory, complicate attempts to resolve the conflict.
Peace between Israel and Palestine: What is the two-state solution?
Israel and Palestine as two independent states, coexisting side by side − this was the principle of the Oslo Accords, signed in 1993 by then-Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, former chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. But since the agreements' failure, some consider this solution unrealistic and look to other proposals, like that of a bi-national state.