Dubai: Violence has exploded across Israel and the Gaza Strip after Hamas, the ruling militant group in Gaza, launched an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel on October 7.
Israel has since declared war against Hamas and death tolls on both sides are soaring as the conflict rages on. Thousands of Israeli reservists have answered a call to serve, and a fierce airstrike campaign is bombarding Gaza.
Hamas militants fired up to 5000 rockets from Gaza into Israel on Saturday, overwhelming its Iron Dome defence system and giving fighters a chance to breach security barriers and infiltrate several towns across the border, killing Israelis including families, young and old, and kidnapping others.
An estimated 900 Israelis have since been killed. Israel in turn has killed at least 680 Palestinians after declaring war and conducting air strikes, vowing to exact revenge. At least 130 Israelis are being held hostage by Hamas.
Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist militant group dedicated to the creation of an independent Palestinian state. The group operates from and controls the Gaza Strip.
It has been declared a terrorist organisation by Australia, the United States and the European Union for its long-running armed resistance against Israel, for which it receives financial and material backing from Iran.
Read the article by Lucy Cormack in The Sydney Morning Herald.