The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine exploded in May 2021. After 11 days of violence in Gaza, the Israeli military and the Palestinian militant group Hamas reached a cease-fire agreement on May 21. According to the Palestine Ministry of Health, in less than two weeks, 63 out of 219 people killed in Gaza were children.
The first rocket from Gaza was fired twenty-seven days before Israeli police blocked the access to the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on April 13. It was the first day of the Muslim month of Ramadan and Memorial Day in Israel.
According to Yazan Owieneh, a Palestinian resident, the trigger of the conflict was the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque: ‘This Mosque plays a significant role for us Muslims. ‘Aqsa’ means ‘farthest’ in Arabic, and here it represents the account of how the Prophet Muhammad traveled to the mosque from Mecca in one night to pray and then ascend to heaven. When the Israel Defense Forces blocked the access to the mosque, attacking the Muslim prayers, Palestinians started protesting in front of the sacred building’. In Islam, Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the most important mosques in the world. ‘IDF limited the access of Palestinians to the mosque, and suddenly, we weren’t allowed to enter. The anger of the Palestinians and of the IDF soldiers became worse and worse’, explains Yazan.
‘A friend got jailed for walking near the Al-Aqsa mosque’
As reported by the Palestinian paramedics and Israeli police, at least 163 Palestinians and six Israeli police officers were injured in confrontations in Jerusalem. Besides being Islam’s most essential location, the Al-Aqsa mosque complex is also the holiest site for Jews, called the Temple Mount.
‘I have a close friend that got jailed for walking near the Al-Aqsa mosque. He lives in those surroundings, and that day he was walking home when an IDF soldier stopped him and warned him not to get inside the mosque. They started arguing. The police abused him, so he pushed the Israeli officer. Based on that, he stayed in prison for a month’, says Yazan.
The second trigger of the violence
The Al-Aqsa mosque attack was followed by another series of protests that triggered the Israel-Gaza conflict. The crisis worsened when Palestinians started protesting in East Jerusalem over the possible eviction of six Palestinian families in Sheikh Harrah, decided by the Supreme Court of Israel.
Sheikh Jarrah is a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, near the Old City and holy sites. In the past few decades, Jewish settler groups have pursued evictions of Palestinian refugees who had settled in the area. ‘The main issue is the territory. Since the establishment of the Israeli state, Israelis claim that the Palestinian territory is meant to be part of their country, while Palestinians affirm that Israel has no right to take what’s not theirs. The Israeli people think this is their ‘promised land’, according to the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible’, explains Yazan.
First air strikes on the Gaza Strip
Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement dedicated to the establishment of an independent Islamic state in historical Palestine, fired rockets after warning Israel to evacuate the site. In response, the Israeli air force launched dozens of air strikes on the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, the Israeli military attacked 35 targets and destroyed more than 15 kilometers of Hamas tunnel network underground.
‘The mentality of IDF soldiers works in the following way, if they sense any sign of danger, no matter if it’s a child or a woman, they believe they have the right to shoot’, adds Yazan.
According to the United Nations, 40 schools and four hospitals have been ‘completely or partially destroyed’ in Gaza. As reported by the Ministry of Health, 63 out of the 219 people killed in the violence were innocent children. ‘In Gaza, people were frightened. The IDF targeted innocent places like schools, parks, beaches, or hospitals. For example, 40% of the victims in Gaza were innocent people’, says Yazan Owieneh.
The main issues
The first issue involving Palestine and Israel is the Palestinian refugee problem. Secondly, there is a question of whether Jews should remain or leave the West Bank – the Palestinian territory, and whether Jerusalem should be divided into two parts. In the end, the most crucial issue is whether Palestine should be a part of Israel or not.
Yasan explains that Palestinians have to face plenty of difficulties: ‘We face humiliation as we cannot cross borders in our own country. Also, we cannot fly because there are no airplanes. We always have to cross the borders to Israel, and sometimes Israel doesn’t let us pass to their airport. In an indirect way, Palestinians are controlled by the Israeli authorities’.
According to an official United Nations report, in the period from 2008 to 2020, around 5,590 Palestinians and 251 Israelis died during the Israel-Palestine conflict, while another 115,000 Palestinians and 5,600 Israelis were injured.
Text: Laurenția Jora
Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash
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