Palestine Faced With Attack, Hours After A “Ceasefire”

By: Kylie Hapuarachchi

The Israel and Palestine fight continues as Israel forces attack. Credit: The Washington Institute

After about 11 days of carnage and death, Israel and Palestine came together for a ceasefire. Until, Israel forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Palestine, attacking the Palestinians. 

The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into effect in the early hours of Friday morning. This came after the countless missile strikes from Israel into Palestine. Gaza, now, completely damaged and taking years to recover. 

Over hundreds of innocent civilians have died and thousands more injured from missile strikes. 

The fight for the land has been a fight fought for over 100 years. 

It had started when Britain took power over the area which at the time was known as Palestine after the Ottoman Empire’s ruler had been defeated in World War I. 

At the time the area was inhabited by a Jewish minority and an Arab majority. There was tension between these groups and it grew when pressure from the outside international community made Britain create a “national home” inside of Palestine for the Jewish people.

The land was considered the ancestral home for the Jews, however, Palestinian Arabs also claimed ownership of the land opposing the decision.

Over time especially during the 1940s, the population of Jewish people grew, as many fled their homes during the persecution during the Holocaust. 

Moreover, the violence that festered between the Arabs and Jews grew as well. The hostility between those groups grew as more and more migrated over. 

In 1947, the UN created a plan in which Palestine would be separated between Jewish and Arab states with the exception that Jerusalem would be an international city. 

Jewish leaders thought that the plan was acceptable however, Arab leaders refused it and the plan was never implemented. 

In 1948, tensions were so high that the British decided to leave which left the Jewish leaders to declare the creation of the state of Israel. Palestinians refused this idea and a war broke out among these two groups.

Neighboring countries invaded, forcing the Palestinian people to flee from their homes, what is now known as the Al Nakba. By the time there was a ceasefire, Israel controlled most of the land. 

Since there was no official peace agreement, both sides still had turmoil between them. They blamed each other for the destruction and countless deaths that had occurred. 

Another war broke out in 1967, in which Israel had the occupation over East Jerusalem and West Bank. At this time the Palestinians that were now refugees were not allowed to go back to their homes.

They had been barred from Israel to enter the regions where they had once lived. 

In the present time, during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan there were constant attacks from Israel to Palestine. Gaza is ruled by a militant group known as Hamas.

Hamas continues to be tired of the fact that Israel has continued to make restrictions on the Palestinian people. They also continue to threaten further eviction of the people from their homes. 

Israel claims that they are only doing this because of the imminent threat from Hamas.  

They also claim that Hamas has also fired hundreds of missiles towards Israel which were all stopped from the Iron Dome defense system.

However, Israel has continued to attack Palestinians even after there was a ceasefire called upon both sides. Israeli forces tear-gassed and attacked Palestinians as they were finishing up their Friday prayers. 

The ceasefire continues to hold even with this horrid attack that happened. 

The lives of the Palestinian people fall in the balance of what is good and wrong. The lives of the innocent fall in the hands of those that have the power to make a change.