The Explainer: What triggered the Gaza Crisis? (Israel-Hamas, Part 2)

Last week I wrote The Explainer: Gaza, Hamas, & Israel - Part I. Here is the second part of this Explainer series on the Gaza conflict.



What triggered the current crisis in Gaza?

Tensions between Israel and Hamas have been simmering for several years now. The latest conflict appears like just another episode in the long-running conflict between the two entities.



In the second fortnight of June, three Israeli Jewish teenagers, who were on their way from school, were abducted and killed. Their dead bodies were found a week later. Israel accused Hamas of abduction and killing of the Israeli teenagers, though the Israeli Government could not furnish any proof to substantiate their charges. 

While Hamas has consistently denied any role in this episode, many security experts believe it to be the handiwork of the Islamic Jihad, an extremist terror outfit. Islamic Jihad has major differences with Hamas, which it accuses of being too soft on Israel.

Soon after the dead bodies of the Israeli teenagers surfaced, a Palestinian Muslim teenager was killed by extremist Jews. (The perpetrators of this heinous crime were later arrested by Israeli security forces.)

Source: Mirror

How did Israel respond?
Israel launched a full-scale military assault against Hamas and other radical outfits in the Gaza Strip. 

For several days, Israel unleashed sophisticated
weaponry against the radical terror groups. Hamas traded fire for fire; it launched hundreds of rockets into Israel from Gaza. However, Hamas' firepower is no match for the highly advanced weaponry used by the Israeli defence forces. Also, Israel uses the highly effective Iron Dome interceptor to ward off the threat of Hamas' rockets.

While ground assaults backed by
air sorties helped destroy terror infrastructure, there has been massive civilian deaths. Unfortunately, over 2000 civilians, mostly innocent women and children, have been killed in the conflict. 

Hamas accused Israel of deliberately targeting schools, hospitals and mosques. But Israel blames Hamas of storing rockets in civilian venues, like schools and religious places.

After fighting bitterly for several weeks, currently there is a ceasefire between the two adversaries. The ceasefire was brokered by Egypt, a key member of the Muslim World and a neighbour of both Gaza and Israel.

More on the crisis in the Next Explainer.