The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has provoked an all-out war with Israel following a massive invasion from Gaza which has killed over 600 Israeli soldiers and civilians.
Heavily armed fighters from the Islamist group stormed through the border Fence surrounding the Gaza Strip on Saturday, October 7 after a massive volley of rockets was fired into Israel.
Attacks on Israeli settlements near the Gaza Strip spread terror as the Palestinian gunmen from Hamas and other Gaza-based militant organisations opened fire on civilians and soldiers, taking hostages and forcing captives back over the border at gunpoint.
Hamas has been at war in Isreal since the group’s founding in 1987 during the First Palestinian Intifada but the scale and complexity of Saturday’s attack is seen as unprecendented.
Emerging out of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group adheres to a hardline Islamic doctrine and desires the establishment of a Palestinian state encompassing the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.
Hamas seeks the establishment of a Palestinian state in the territories of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.
The group’s militant armed wing is known as the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and is believed to receive support from various countries and groups, including Iran and Qatar.
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades has been designated as a terrorist organisation by various countries and organisations due to their involvement in inciting violence, as well as direct attacks, on Israeli civilians.
The military wing of Hamas is overseen by Mohammed Deif, who made a rare public statement on Saturday to announce the start of “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm” in a communique posted on social media.
Deif is believed to have been the subject of numerous assassination attempts by Israeli intelligence and remains at the top of the country’s most-wanted list.
Native to Gaza, Deif was born in 1965 in the Khan Yunis refugee camp which at the time was under Egyptian control.
He is believed to have joined Hamas in the late 1980s before rising to take command over the Qassam Brigades in 2002 following the death of the previous leader Salah Shehade in an Israeli airstrike.
In response to “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm” Israel has moved reinforcements to the area surrounding Gaza looking to regain control and force Hamas terrorists back into Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Government has declared a state of war with a full-scale land invasion of Gaza anticipated to follow.
