Unprovoked Attack by HAMAS on Israel: India Adopts a Just and Righteous Posture
NewsBharati 14-Oct-2023 15:20:41 PM
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On 7 October "Harakat al Mukwana al Islamiya'' (HAMAS), a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist organization which has a militant wing called lzza din al Qassam, launched an attack on its arch enemy, Israel with 3000 rockets fired at various towns of western Israel from hideouts in the Gaza strip. The rockets breached the protection of the Iron Dome Air defence umbrella created by Israel.
Simultaneously, about 1,500 HAMAS terrorists in groups of 40-50 breached the fortified border fencing on the Gaza Strip at multiple points adopting assorted modes. In north Palestine, HAMAS teams entered through tunnels, and physically demolished fencing by Dozers/JCBs using Bikes/SUVs to go deep and take hostages and in the south it used Motorised Para hang Gliders/Speed boats to assault a desert festival musical event, killing approximately 220 participants.
The people of Israel were in a holiday mood as 6 October was Yom Kippur day and 7 October was Sabbath day, the most important religious festival of the Jews. Israel has confirmed at least 1200 were killed and about 100 taken hostage by HAMAS in Gaza. After the initial shock, Prime Minister M Benjamin Netanyahu ordered mobilization and retaliatory action by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Warplanes bombarded the HAMAS Headquarters, camps, anti-air batteries, rocket launch pads, and tunnel networks.
Israel, the homeland of Jews, is located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle East. It is surrounded by Lebanon in the North, Syria in the Northeast, Jordan in the East and southeast, and Egypt in the southwest and south. Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital but de facto center of power is Tel Aviv. The total area is 21,643 sq km. It is the only Jewish nation in the world and has a history rolling back to the pre-biblical era.
There was a heavy migration of persecuted Jews from all over the world towards Palestine in the World War II period of holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany. However, the arrival of the Jews under the protection of the British flared up into clashes with Arab native clans. The United Nations planned to partition Palestine into two separate Jewish and Arab states on 29 November 1947 but the Arabs rejected the plan. Israel achieved statehood on May 14, 1948. A new nation was born but with hostile Arab neighbors.
In 2005, the then-prime minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, unilaterally decided to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. The Jewish settlers were forced to leave their homes in spite of resistance and evacuated to the mainland for safety reasons. Gradually, all elements of the IDF also were withdrawn as a goodwill step towards providing autonomy to Palestinians to run their own affairs. The whole world welcomed it including the Arab fraternity.
The Gaza strip is approximately 363 km long. It is located on the south-western corner of Israel linking with Sinai in Egypt to the southern edge and the Mediterranean sea coast to the west. It has a population of 10 lakhs . It was handed over to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1993/94 and permitted self rule as part of a peace agreement under the UN. Similarly in the West bank, (5900 sq km area), also partial self rule was initiated with the aim of lasting peace.
Yasser Arafat, founder chairman of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) from 1969 to 2004 established the Palestine state with Ramallah declared as the capital. A Palestine legislative council was formed. Mahmoud Abbas is the current chairman and president of Palestine.
HAMAS won legislative elections in 2006 and took over control of the Gaza strip. This group has overshadowed PLO and taken over the role of continuing the so-called freedom struggle. Their main arsenal is Qassam I and Qassam 2 rockets for attacking in-range Israeli towns.
Israel has launched a number of operations to neutralize the HAMAS menace since 2008. The never ending story of Gaza continues even after bloody rounds of 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and now 2023 . Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed, in his address to the nation, that Israel will now go full blast after HAMAS. He has said that HAMAS has started the War and we will finish it on our terms and Israel will go out full blooded to eliminate the menace forever.
India officially recognized the State of Israel on 17 September 1950 and permitted the country to open a consulate in Mumbai in 1953. Yet the relationship remained informal in nature till 1992.
Once formal ties were established in 1992, defense and trade relations took off and Israel quickly became India’s second-largest defense partner. However, the two nations still did not enjoy a close relationship. Ariel Sharon became the first Israeli prime minister to visit India in 2003, he met with large protests by the Indian public, mainly Muslim.
After the formation of the BJP-led NDA government in the centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, the relationship between India and Israel began to take a friendly turn. In 2015 and 2016, India abstained from a UN vote that discussed whether Israel should be brought before the International Criminal Court for its alleged war crimes during the 2014 crisis in Gaza. In 2017, Modi became the first Indian prime minister to ever visit Israel. Today, the relationship spans a broad spectrum, from tourism to defense.
From not recognizing Israel to becoming friends, and now balancing relations with different countries, India has followed the principles of righteousness and justice. Publicly, India still supports the Palestinian cause and hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New Delhi in 2018.
It is very clear that the HAMAS attack is unprovoked and barbaric in nature. As a principled response, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on X, “deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.” Condemnation of the terrorist strike by HAMAS by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and offer of support to Israel is looked upon by the civilised world as a step in the right direction.
Simultaneously, about 1,500 HAMAS terrorists in groups of 40-50 breached the fortified border fencing on the Gaza Strip at multiple points adopting assorted modes. In north Palestine, HAMAS teams entered through tunnels, and physically demolished fencing by Dozers/JCBs using Bikes/SUVs to go deep and take hostages and in the south it used Motorised Para hang Gliders/Speed boats to assault a desert festival musical event, killing approximately 220 participants.
The people of Israel were in a holiday mood as 6 October was Yom Kippur day and 7 October was Sabbath day, the most important religious festival of the Jews. Israel has confirmed at least 1200 were killed and about 100 taken hostage by HAMAS in Gaza. After the initial shock, Prime Minister M Benjamin Netanyahu ordered mobilization and retaliatory action by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Warplanes bombarded the HAMAS Headquarters, camps, anti-air batteries, rocket launch pads, and tunnel networks.
Palestine President, Mahmoud Abbas has confirmed 2000 casualties, 4000 wounded, and mass destruction of buildings including residential complexes. The Israeli Defence Minister has ordered the mobilization of 3 Lakh troops to launch an offensive in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli Air Force fighter jets and Artillery have been carrying out selected destruction of HAMAS strongholds.
Israel
Israel, the homeland of Jews, is located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle East. It is surrounded by Lebanon in the North, Syria in the Northeast, Jordan in the East and southeast, and Egypt in the southwest and south. Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital but de facto center of power is Tel Aviv. The total area is 21,643 sq km. It is the only Jewish nation in the world and has a history rolling back to the pre-biblical era.
There was a heavy migration of persecuted Jews from all over the world towards Palestine in the World War II period of holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany. However, the arrival of the Jews under the protection of the British flared up into clashes with Arab native clans. The United Nations planned to partition Palestine into two separate Jewish and Arab states on 29 November 1947 but the Arabs rejected the plan. Israel achieved statehood on May 14, 1948. A new nation was born but with hostile Arab neighbors.
In 2005, the then-prime minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, unilaterally decided to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. The Jewish settlers were forced to leave their homes in spite of resistance and evacuated to the mainland for safety reasons. Gradually, all elements of the IDF also were withdrawn as a goodwill step towards providing autonomy to Palestinians to run their own affairs. The whole world welcomed it including the Arab fraternity.
The Gaza strip is approximately 363 km long. It is located on the south-western corner of Israel linking with Sinai in Egypt to the southern edge and the Mediterranean sea coast to the west. It has a population of 10 lakhs . It was handed over to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1993/94 and permitted self rule as part of a peace agreement under the UN. Similarly in the West bank, (5900 sq km area), also partial self rule was initiated with the aim of lasting peace.
Yasser Arafat, founder chairman of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) from 1969 to 2004 established the Palestine state with Ramallah declared as the capital. A Palestine legislative council was formed. Mahmoud Abbas is the current chairman and president of Palestine.
Israel War Against Hamas
HAMAS won legislative elections in 2006 and took over control of the Gaza strip. This group has overshadowed PLO and taken over the role of continuing the so-called freedom struggle. Their main arsenal is Qassam I and Qassam 2 rockets for attacking in-range Israeli towns.
Israel has launched a number of operations to neutralize the HAMAS menace since 2008. The never ending story of Gaza continues even after bloody rounds of 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and now 2023 . Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed, in his address to the nation, that Israel will now go full blast after HAMAS. He has said that HAMAS has started the War and we will finish it on our terms and Israel will go out full blooded to eliminate the menace forever.
84 Countries have supported Israel including USA and India for taking action against the terrorist outfit HAMAS, whereas, 14 Muslim countries including Iran and Pakistan have shown support to HAMAS and three nations have been neutral i.e Turkey, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
India on Israel-Palestine
In India, at the time of the creation of Israel, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar had supported the creation of Israel on both moral and political grounds and condemned India’s vote at the UN against Israel. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar admired Jewish nationalism and believed Palestine was the natural territory of the Jewish people, essential to their aspiration for nationhood.
India officially recognized the State of Israel on 17 September 1950 and permitted the country to open a consulate in Mumbai in 1953. Yet the relationship remained informal in nature till 1992.
Once formal ties were established in 1992, defense and trade relations took off and Israel quickly became India’s second-largest defense partner. However, the two nations still did not enjoy a close relationship. Ariel Sharon became the first Israeli prime minister to visit India in 2003, he met with large protests by the Indian public, mainly Muslim.
After the formation of the BJP-led NDA government in the centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, the relationship between India and Israel began to take a friendly turn. In 2015 and 2016, India abstained from a UN vote that discussed whether Israel should be brought before the International Criminal Court for its alleged war crimes during the 2014 crisis in Gaza. In 2017, Modi became the first Indian prime minister to ever visit Israel. Today, the relationship spans a broad spectrum, from tourism to defense.
From not recognizing Israel to becoming friends, and now balancing relations with different countries, India has followed the principles of righteousness and justice. Publicly, India still supports the Palestinian cause and hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New Delhi in 2018.
It is very clear that the HAMAS attack is unprovoked and barbaric in nature. As a principled response, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on X, “deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.” Condemnation of the terrorist strike by HAMAS by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and offer of support to Israel is looked upon by the civilised world as a step in the right direction.
Colonel Jaibans Singh
Colonel (Retired) Jaibans Singh, a reputed analyst of Indian defence and security affairs, has an abiding interest in issues related to national security, internal security, geopolitical developments and defence strategy in the context of the nation. His area of specialty encompasses Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan and China. Jaibans Singh contributes to a large number of newspapers, defence magazines, news agencies and web sites. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of www.defenceinfo.com, a popular web portal on defence news and views.