People of Israel and Palestine have been hearing the sound of rocket attacks, gunfire and mortars since October 7, 2023. The Palestinian Hamas Movement initiated the ongoing conflict by launching rocket attacks on Israel on October 7 morning. In addition to carrying out attacks from air, ground and water, Hamas reportedly fired more than 5,000 rockets toward Israel from the Gaza Strip. Israel did not take much time to retaliate, as the armed conflict between the two parties has been going on since that eventful day. The situation is constantly getting dire, with Israel attacking the entire Gaza Strip from all directions. They are targeting the secret camps of Hamas with rockets and missiles. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu warned Hamas, saying: “They (Hamas) have started a war. We will finish it.“

The biggest question is: How could Hamas launch surprise attacks on such a powerful country, like Israel, which has strong intelligence agencies and sophisticated weaponry? Most importantly, Hamas is resisting the Israeli attacks with all its might. It proves that the Palestinian Movement has sufficient arms to continue the war. The tension between Palestine and Israel has been going on for decades. There is nothing new in clashes between the Israeli Armed Forces and Hamas. The Gaza Strip, which is the source of the conflict, is still under the control of Hamas that wants to erase Israel from the map. The Palestinian outfit got involved in wars with Israel several times in the past.

After its formation in 1987, Hamas took two decades to take control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. They are fighting against Israel from Gaza, as the West Bank has long been occupied by the Israelis. The Hamas fighters are trying hard to capture the West Bank with the help of Iran and Turkey. The US and its Western allies have claimed that Iran, Turkey, Syria and Qatar provide Hamas with financial, as well as defence, support. Washington DC suspects that Iran has handed over deadly missiles to Hamas. According to some reports, several Western countries, too, send financial aid to Hamas under the name of Islamic charity on a regular basis. Hamas receives the foreign money through the Palestinian National Authority, the administrative authority of the Gaza Strip.

As per a report prepared by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), taxes on essential goods that arrive through secret roads and tunnels are a major source of significant cash for Hamas. One report has even claimed that Iran has financially strengthened Hamas in recent times, as the Islamic Republic provides 70% of the total financial support to the Palestinian outfit. The report has further mentioned that Hamas receives USD 100 million in financial support from foreign countries every year.

A number of reports have stated that although Hamas is weaker than Israel as far as military strength is concerned, the outfit is equipped with sophisticated weaponry. The Elite Unit of Hamas has been seen using anti-tank guided missiles. Israel has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying Hamas with advanced weapons technology. As expected, Tehran has denied the allegation.

On October 7, Hamas was able to successfully carry out deadly rocket attacks on Israel, without allowing Mossad and other Israeli intelligence agencies to sense the danger in advance. According to various sources, Hamas prepared the blueprint of the attack by building people-to-people contacts, instead of relying on technology. The Palestinian Movement was well aware of the fact that Israel was closely monitoring its movements with the help of advanced technology. As a result, even Israeli intelligence officers could not detect the action of Hamas.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das