Israel-Hamas Recent Events | News

Today, we are discussing the recent events in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. Script: Hello everyone, and welcome back to Seeking Refuge News, a podcast sharing the human stories of refugees, and world events that affect them. Today, we will be discussing the most recent developments in the war between Israel and Hamas, an Islamic Jihad group originating out of Palestine, and escalating with a surprise attack by Hamas launched out of Gaza, a Palestinian exclave, early last week. Israeli military forces are still battling members of Hamas that are holed up in several locations. These events are not random; they stem from a much larger conflict and are part of an ongoing war in the region that has gone on for decades. This conflict can be traced back to the Balfour Declaration, established in 1917, committing the British government to create an “establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” This led to a mass Jewish migration to the area for the next 20 years, many of whom were escaping Nazism in Europe, and resulted in the displacement of many Palestinians. These conflicts continued to emerge in 1948, 1967, 1989, and 1993. Over 1000 Hamas militants opened fire on citizens and soldiers, taking over 130 men, women, and children hostage and asking in return for their release the thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Nearly 700 people have been killed in Israel, gunned down in towns, along highways, and hundreds were shot at a music festival in the desert. AP News states that “The Islamic Jihad group has said it launched the attack in response to mounting Palestinian suffering under Israel’s occupation and blockade of Gaza.” Citizens from several different countries are still unaccounted for or have been reported dead since the attack, including Canada, the Philippines, Italy, the UK and the US. These recent events are causing mass displacement in the region, and creating more danger for the refugees already displaced here. After a series of retaliatory Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, there have now been more than 900 reported dead in Gaza, including 260 children, with many Palestinians now fleeing to U.N. shelters in numbers between 140,000-200,000. Airstrikes also targeted the Al-Shati and Jabalia refugee camps on Monday, according to CNN, and killed a large number of people according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. As the conflict worsens and the death toll rises, people with a current refugee status in the region are in extreme danger, and many citizens that are now displaced will enter refugee camps in the region. Seeking Refuge News will keep posting updates on the situation as it progresses. This is Claire Mattes, and thank you for listening to Seeking Refuge News.  Liked this episode? Let us know! Subscribe and leave us a review below! Connect With Us If you or someone you know would like to share their personal refugee story, send us an email at [email protected] or connect with us on any of these social media platforms: https://twitter.com/refugepodcast. https://www.instagram.com/seekingrefugepodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/seekingrefugepodcast Our Team: Claire Mattes (Researcher/Scriptwriter/Host) Shireen Kaur Anusha Ghosh (Editor/Publisher) Thrisha Mote Rohit Swain Victoria Halsey Diana Clark Saanvi Somani Emily Jensen Shireen Kaur Archana Ramesh Yatin Nerella This podcast is powered by Pinecast.