TOCORDS OF ABRAM
The Abraham Accords is the agreement reached by Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020 under the auspices of former US President Donald Trump. They represent the frame of reference for the work to normalize relations between the Jewish state and the countries of the region. Saudi Arabia is the most important piece of the puzzle. A few weeks before the attack on October 7, Riyadh had expressed its clear willingness to sign the agreement. The agreements also aim to isolate the Ayatollahs’ Shiite Iran through a “Sunni belt.” The sabotage of this route could be the basis of the massacre: Tehran would have “used” the weapon of Hamas (a group that has always supported and financed it) to destabilize the area.
bID
The United States has always been Israel’s closest ally. President Joe Biden has expressed full support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (with whom relations have never been optimal) and has sent the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, ships, fighter jets and sustained munitions supplies to the region. The United States is ready to do its part, but without sending troops on the ground.
CHUMANITARIAN HORRORS
After the massacre, Israel sealed off Gaza with an unprecedented military force. The population inside Gaza has no way to leave the bombed-out enclave except through the creation of humanitarian corridors. The American government, in coordination with Israel, is trying to activate channels for the escape of civilians. The “gate” would be the Rafah border crossing on the border with Egypt, which is administered by Cairo. But President al-Sisi does not want an uncontrollable flow of refugees on his territory. And Hamas will not allow the evacuation of the population it protects.
A girl mourns the Israeli victims – Portal
DETERNITY
After suffering an unprecedented attack, Israel must restore the deterrence mechanism that has always ensured the state’s survival. Netanyahu is called upon to deliver a response that can send a clear deterrent message to potential future enemies. On this basis, a reaction is conceivable that involves a use of force that has never been seen before in the ground offensive against Gaza.
ANDARMY
The army has called up 360,000 reservists. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) can count on 177,000 active soldiers who complete military service (Sadir: three years for men, two for women). However, there are more than 400,000 reservists – the miluim – who are called up if necessary. Exemption from the reserve requirement occurs at the age of 40 for ordinary soldiers, at 45 for officers and at 49 for reservists who perform certain tasks (e.g. doctors).
FAUDA
Fauda (in Arabic: Chaos), the Israeli series that is one of the most watched in the world, has become a reality. It tells the story of a special counterterrorism unit that operates with men who have been infiltrated into the territories or the Gaza Strip. Now many of the actors are no longer on set: they are at the front. Lior Raz (Doron) explained on social media that he was in the Sderot area with Avi Issacharov, the creator of the series, and other volunteers. Idan Amedi (Sagi) said in the post: “As you can see, I am dressed differently today. This is not a scene from Fauda, this is real life.”
GAZA
The Gaza Strip is a 360 square kilometer strip of land with the highest population density in the world: two million people. Over the centuries it has seen the succession of many “masters”. First Turkish rule, then British rule. Then the Egyptians. In 1947, the UN partition plan assigned it to the future – never born – Arab state. Israel occupied it in 1967 during the Six-Day War. In 1994, the Oslo Accords handed it over to Palestinian control. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the enclave. The following year, Hamas won the elections. And after eliminating the rival Fatah group with a violent campaign, he began controlling Gaza with a regime of terror. Til today.
HAMAS
Hamas is the Arabic acronym of Ḥarakat al-Muqâwama al-Islâmiyya, meaning “Islamic Resistance Movement,” but the combined initials also mean “enthusiasm, zeal, fighting spirit.” It is a Palestinian Islamist extremist organization considered terrorist by Israel, the United States and the European Union. In its statutes it calls for the destruction of Israel. It was founded in 1987 during the first Intifada, committed suicide attacks against civilians and attacked Israel hundreds of times with rockets. It has controlled Gaza by force since 2007. It is financially supported by Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah.
THERAN
Iran (Shiite country) supports the Hamas group with economic and military aid (although the movement is Sunni), because it uses it when necessary as an element of regional destabilization and as a weapon against the “Zionist enemy”. The country welcomed the October 7 attack, but ruled out any direct involvement in it. Tehran has a keen interest in undermining the region, which united on the basis of the Abraham Accords. Iran also funds the Lebanese Hezbollah, which threatens Israel on its northern border.
JI HAD
Islamic Jihad (Harakat al-Jihâd al-Islâmî fî Filasṭîn or Movement for Islamic Jihad in Palestine) is the other terrorist group active in the Gaza Strip. It is much smaller than Hamas, but has hundreds of affiliates that are particularly involved in firing rockets against the south of the Jewish state. Their strategic goal is the destruction of Israel and its replacement with an Islamic Palestinian state. Jihad was founded in the 1970s as an offshoot of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. It is partly financed by Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah.
KIBBUTZ
The kibbutz (in Hebrew, “meeting”, “grouping”) was originally in the early 20th century (at the beginning of the Zionist movement) a form of voluntary association of workers, generally in the agricultural sector, which was based on strict egalitarian rules to the concept of collective ownership. Everything was shared: goods, financial resources, tools. Even the children did not live with their families, but in special accommodations where they lived until puberty. More recently, kibbutzim have developed as manufacturing settlements, each following a specific project, from agriculture to electronics.
LIBANO
He is the “special watchdog” of this conflict: a significant involvement of the Lebanese Hezbollah would lead to and, above all, “certify” a second war front for Israel on the northern border (in addition to the southern border with Gaza). “Iran’s entry into the scene, with the risk of a regional domino effect.” The Ayatollah regime has always funded Hezbollah (Arabic for “Party of God”), a Shiite Islamist and strongly anti-Zionist paramilitary organization. Hezbollah was founded in June 1982. She is also politically represented. It is based in Lebanon and its Secretary General is Hassan Nasrallah.
MOSSAD
The Mossad (the full name in Hebrew is “HaMossad leModiin uleTafkidim Meyuchadim,” or “The Institute of Intelligence and Special Services”) is the Jewish state’s intelligence agency that deals with operations abroad. Considered one of the best in the world, she was accused of failing to recognize the signs of what was brewing in Gaza. Many analysts have pointed out that the Mossad was bypassed on several levels. Especially given the fact that the October 7 attack must have required a long preparation in the Gaza Strip.
NOETANYAHU
He has been a protagonist of Israeli politics for almost 30 years: Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu was prime minister between 1996 and 1999, then from 2009 to 2021, and returned to the head of the right-wing extremist coalition in December 2022, which includes highly controversial figures in Israel. The months before the attack were marked by ongoing demonstrations against the judicial reform desired by the executive, which was seen as a threat to the country’s democracy. Netanyahu faces three trials on charges of corruption, fraud and abuse of office.
ORSTAGES
After the October 7 massacre, 120 Israeli hostages (although the number is not official) were taken to Gaza. They are soldiers, but above all civilians: men, women, children and old people. Their presence in the enclave is at the heart of any intervention Israel is called upon to undertake, with airstrikes and the land offensive in the pipeline. Hamas will use them as human shields and, above all, as bargaining chips. In 2011, the terrorist group demanded the release of a thousand prisoners from Israeli prisons in exchange for the release of soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured at the border in 2006. Many were later arrested again.
PALESTINA
It is the state that never came into being, the subject of a conflict that is over 70 years old. After the Second World War, the United Nations proposed a partition plan on November 29, 1947, which envisaged the creation of a Jewish and a Palestinian state. Most Jewish groups accepted and Israel was born. The Arab countries refused. Today, Palestine, spread without territorial continuity between Gaza and the West Bank, is a very fragile entity, in the grip of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and, in fact, without political representation in the West Bank, where Fatah is just trying to survive, trying to maintain control over the rival to take over the group. Palestinians have not voted in 17 years. President Abu Mazen has postponed it several times for fear of being undermined.
QATAR
Doha is accused by many of playing an ambiguous role in the Middle East’s worst crises, including sending funds to Hamas in the form of “aid to the Palestinian population” of Gaza. Nevertheless, Doha has been offering itself to various international dialogue partners for years in the role of regional mediator: first in the negotiations between the White House and the Taliban on Afghanistan, then between the USA and Iran on the nuclear issue. And now ruler al-Thani has offered himself as a possible mediator on the issue of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
RAZZI
Thousands of rockets were fired by Hamas (but also by Islamic Jihad) from the Gaza Strip against the Jewish state. Most of these are Qassam, which are produced in the enclave using materials that can overcome the embargo to which the Gaza Strip is subject. Over the years, the missiles have become more sophisticated and their power and range have increased: while previously they could only reach the areas of Sderot and Ashkelon, they now threaten Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Israel counters them with the Iron Dome anti-aircraft system, which, however, can become saturated during particularly intense attacks.
SAGAINST
The October 7 attack sparked serious clashes around the world between supporters of the Palestinian cause and supporters of Israel. The origins of anti-Semitism, which never lay dormant in Europe, have regained strength and attacks on Jewish communities have multiplied. As is often the case, Israeli flags were burned in Iran, but also in Iraq and Syria.
TMISTAKE
Many have referred to the October 7 massacre as Israel’s September 11th. It was certainly one of the worst terrorist attacks ever recorded. Hamas attacked at 6:30 a.m. First it fired between 2,500 and 5,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip, then it blew up part of the border barrier and hundreds of terrorists poured into the kibbutzim and massacred the civilian population. Some of them arrived on hang gliders. The figure is 1,300 Israelis killed and 3,300 injured. Then there are 150 hostages. The terrorists shot innocent people indiscriminately. In some cases they burned alive in their homes. The horror reached its climax on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where 40 murdered children were also found, many with their heads cut off.
UNITY
Israel, divided after months of intense tension over controversial judicial reform, has found unity again. During the crisis, a national emergency government was formed: a wartime government tasked with tackling the biggest challenge facing the country after the Yom Kippur conflict. The government includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist opposition leader Benny Gantz. The other opposition leader, Yair Lapid, did not want to join the formation.
vATICAN
Pope Francis has called for Israelis held captive by Hamas to be “immediately released.” Vatican diplomacy got to work. As Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin explained, “the Holy See is, as always, ready for any necessary mediation.” In the meantime, the Vatican is trying “to talk to those bodies whose channels are already open” to end the conflict. “The attacks must stop,” the Pope demanded, “because terrorism and war lead to no solution.”
WEST BANK
The West Bank, or West Bank, is part of the Palestinian Territories, along with the Gaza Strip (with which it has no connection). It consists of cities or settlements between which there is no territorial continuity. According to the Oslo Accords, it is divided into three sectors: Area A, entirely under Palestinian control; Area B, Israeli control and Palestinian administration; Area C under Israeli control. It has always been a “fiefdom” of al-Fatah, President Abu Mazen’s party, and dialogue with Israel. But their control is being undermined by Hamas. This is exactly why Abu Mazen postponed the elections several times. The last ones took place in 2006.
YOM KIPPUR
The attack launched by Hamas has been compared to that of an Arab coalition against Israel 50 years ago on Yom Kippur (Hebrew for “Day of Atonement,” the most significant anniversary in Judaism). The dates are similar (and this is no coincidence): the conflict began on October 6, 1973, this one on October 7. In both cases the surprise effect was exploited. But that’s where the similarities end: it was a war declared by Arab states, led by Egypt and Syria, on Israel. This was a terrorist attack that targeted innocent civilians.
ZELENSKY
The outbreak of conflict in the Middle East is turning the world’s attention from Ukraine to Israel. President Volodymyr Zelensky (of Jewish origin) has expressed full solidarity with Jerusalem and plans to visit Israel to demonstrate the closeness between the two peoples. American President Joe Biden has said that the United States is fully capable of supporting both allies (who also have different war needs). However, it is clear that Kiev views the opening of this new front with concern. And also the world, which cannot afford a war in the middle of Europe and a war in the heart of the Middle East.