Content warning: This article contains descriptions of violence and mentions of anti-Semitism.

Origins
This is the second article published in The Monitor about the Israel-Hamas war (2023-present). The first was written by Alee Dickey and is available on The Hilltop Monitor’s website or in last semester’s Issue 7 print edition. Dickey does an excellent job of explaining Israel’s rise to statehood. It does not, however, address the rise of Hamas – the other main agent in this conflict. This article will examine the rise of Hamas and its involvement in Palestine.

Maps are critical to understanding this conflict, and this article would not be complete without one. The Monitor has created such a map for this article. For the cartography connoisseurs who are not satisfied with just one map, here are multiple other maps from other news outlets on the subject.

Jewish involvement in Palestine dates from between eighty to three thousand years ago. We have to start somewhere, though, so the scope of this article begins in 1967  with UN Security Council Resolution 242. The resolution came out of the Six-Day War between Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Syria. The details of the Six-Day War are beyond the scope of this article. In practice, the resolution demanded “termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force”. In part, if this resolution had been adopted, each state in the region would have maintained its recognized borders at that time. UNSCR 242 did not include a specific list of states, but the UN’s website implies that Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Israel would have been included.

This resolution was not legally binding, however. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), then the recognized government of Palestine, initially rejected Resolution 242. According to the PLO, Resolution 242 implied Israel’s “sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence,” which the PLO would not accept.

Later, though, the PLO became more open to input from the international community. In 1988, the PLO began talks with the US government shortly after the start of the First Intifada. Intifada is an Arabic word that literally means “shaking off [Israeli invasion],” although the term can also be used to generally refer to revolutions or revolts. Around this time a group now known by an acronym, Hamas (short for Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-Islāmiyyah, which translates to English as “Islamic Resistance Movement), split from the PLO. In 1993, the PLO signed the Oslo Accords, which, among other things, called for a two-state solution via “arrangements for a smooth and peaceful transfer of authority from the Israeli military government and its Civil Administration to the [PLO].” 

Overthrow
Hamas is not solely a military organization, as it has political aims and represents “one of the Palestinian territories’ two major political parties.” Given its Islamist origins, Hamas rejected the PLO’s vision of a secular state, claiming in its original manifesto that “we are unable to exchange the present or future Islamic Palestine with the secular idea.” Hamas called for the destruction of Israel as a state: “Our struggle against the Jews [will continue],” reads their 1988 manifesto, “until the enemy is vanquished and Allah’s victory is realised.” This anti-Semitic slant has caused multiple countries and regional entities to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Hamas updated its manifesto in 2017, stating that “its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion. Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine.” Hamas does not define Zionism in this manifesto, however.

In 2006, Hamas won a majority of seats in parliamentary elections. On June 15, 2007, Hamas took complete control of Gaza with violence and by force. Hamas representatives announced via radio that “the past era has ended and will not return… The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived.” Hamas has ruled in the Gaza Strip and West Bank ever since. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, “Palestinians have not voted for a legislature since 2006, nor a president since 2008.” For comparison, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was elected to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in 2009. He has been the Prime Minister from 2009-2021, and then again from 2022-present.

As of the time of writing, Israel has only declared war on Hamas. However, another entity must be understood for a full picture of the conflict: Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which backs Hamas.

Hezbollah claims direct involvement in the conflict: its leader, Syed Hassan Nasrallah, claimed in a Nov. 3, 2023 speech that “[t]he Islamic resistance in Lebanon started operation the very next day” after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Nasrallah further described the Oct. 7 attack as “a big event to shake this oppressive … occupying, usurping Zionist regime and its supporters in Washington and London.” Hamas has not explicitly accepted or rejected this labeling, though.

Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Israeli government represent the major players in this conflict.

Goals
Each side of the conflict has stated goals, which are briefly explained here.

Hamas, according to its 2017 manifesto, “believes that no part of the land of Palestine shall be compromised or conceded, irrespective of the causes, the circumstances and the pressures and no matter how long the occupation lasts. Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea.” It is willing to consider the 1967 borders as a possibility, though it rejects Israel as a state. Its stated goals involve destruction of the state of Israel, which it labels as “the Zionist project” and thus as an occupying power.

Israel’s goals are threefold. Israeli ministers have spoken about the war as a three-stage operation. The first stage – invading Gaza – has been ongoing since the Hamas attack on Israel in Oct. 2023 that killed approximately 1,200 people. According to AP reporting and the Gaza Health Ministry, as of Feb. 5, 2024, the Palestinian death toll as a result of the ongoing war is 27,478 people. 

Israel’s second stage, according to Netanyahu, is “to destroy Hamas’s governing and military capabilities and to bring the hostages home,” referring to the more than 200 hostages Hamas took in its initial attacks. More information about the hostages Hamas took will be published in part two of this series.

Israel also seeks to maintain security in Gaza. According to Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, “The third step [of the invasion] will be the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, the removal of Israel’s responsibility for day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip, and the creation of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel and the residents of the [area surrounding Gaza].” Gallant did not provide further details as to what this “security reality” meant.

Iran-backed Hezbollah supports Hamas. Its role in this conflict would likely be as a spoiler. Hezbollah has little involvement in this war so far, but its strategic location – to Israel’s north – would force Israel to fight on two fronts if Hezbollah were to invade.

This article serves as background for the Israel-Hamas war. In this series of articles, I will address the initial attacks, war crimes committed by both parties and the path to a sustainable peace. 

If there is something in this conflict you believe needs featuring or would like Mr. Naber to write about, please contact the Hilltop Monitor’s email address. He will respond to comments as he is able.

California has been experiencing a record-setting fire season with over 25 major fires and two extended attack wildfires. Washington and Oregon are also ablaze – 1 million acres have burned in Washington and 807,000 acres in Oregon. In California, 3.3 million acres have burned. At least 33 people have died and 22 are missing. 

This year, there have been a total of 7,900 wildfires in California alone. More than 17,000 firefighters have been working ceaselessly in an attempt to curb these wildfires. Some of these fires are at 98 percent containment. However, the continuing presence of smoke has created extremely dry conditions, which increase the likelihood of additional wildfires.

Though a cold front has recently made an appearance on the burning West Coast and has led to decreased temperature, this front nonetheless increases the likelihood of the spread of wildfires because it is accompanied by strong gusts of air. 

Furthermore, this cold front and its accompanying wind gusts have led to the spread of smoke across the country and beyond even our borders, with data collected by the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, suggesting that the smoke is going to make an appearance in parts of Northern Europe. 

The dangers of the smoke are made all the more clear during the pandemic. Lung specialists advise residents to wear N95 masks when outside and to stay indoors as much possible to avoid exacerbating their respiratory systems. People who have tested positive for COVID-19 are especially vulnerable to poor atmospheric conditions, as are children, people with pre-existing conditions such as heart and lung disease and elderly individuals. Furthermore, the damage that wildfire smoke wreaks over the respiratory system makes people more likely to contract lung infections, including those caused by COVID-19. 

Hundreds of thousands of homes and other structures have been destroyed. This has caused an enormous amount of displacement. In August, when the intensity of the fire-season reached its peak, roughly 10 percent of Oregon’s population was under some kind of evacuation alert.

Residents are having a hard time coping with the combined effects of the wildfires and the pandemic. In California, many still remember the devastating wildfire season of 2018 – this wildfire season is reopening wounds for residents, for their properties and livelihoods are once again being violently uprooted. 

Additionally, the demands of social distancing imposed by the pandemic have made the possibility of providing direct relief to people in need much more difficult. It has not been possible, for example, for many counties to set up traditional evacuation centers. Instead, people have been directed to “Temporary Evacuation Points,” where they must remain in their cars until a relief worker is able to help them. 

In between dealing with the pandemic and the wildfire season, government resources have been spread incredibly thin. Thus, mutual aid groups have become crucial to relief efforts in all three states. In Portland, restaurants, kitchens and other groups are providing food and other forms of wildfire relief to firefighters and people affected by the fire. Information regarding specific groups that are helping people in Portland can be found on Eater. 

What, precisely, is the difference between this fire season and other fire seasons? Experts say that this fire season, and other future fire seasons, are getting longer and longer. On average, fire seasons start earlier and last 75 days more than usual. Therefore, it may be that this fire season will last until November of this year. 

Daniel Berlant, a public information officer for CalFire, said, “It’s not that we’re seeing more fire, it’s that the fires are able to burn at a bigger size with more destruction.”

Though 95 percent of wildfires are started because of human recreational activities, many of the wildfires and their increased intensity are a direct result of climate change. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence to support the claim that wildfire seasons are worse, and will continue to get worse, because of climate change, President Donald Trump refuses to acknowledge the evidence. 

In a briefing on wildfires in McClellan Park, California, Sept. 14, Trump argued with Wade Crowfoot, the Californian Secretary for Natural Resources. Crowfoot insisted that climate change was in fact behind the exacerbated wildfire season. 

Trump stated that he didn’t think that “science knows” whether or not climate change has contributed to the fire season, and that, “it’ll start getting cooler.” Trump has repeatedly insisted that poor vegetation management is to blame for this wildfire season. As proof, Trump cites the forests of Europe, where less wildfires are seen. But in fact, this lack of wildfires is attributable to the difference in climate in Europe, and not at all to vegetation management. 

Trump’s comments have brought him criticism from the scientific and political communities. On Sept. 14, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden denounced Trump as a “climate arsonist” who endangered Americans by repeatedly denying climate change. 

Misinformation from fringe conspiracy groups has exacerbated the strain on governmental resources in coping with the fire season and the pandemic. Supporters of Donald Trump have been alleging online that Antifa – allegedly a left-wing anti-fascist political movement support by autonomous groups – have been starting the wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington. Such was the extent of the misinformation in Portland, for example, that the FBI division in Portland posted an official statement on Twitter debunking these contentious claims. 

Even officials seem to have bought into false claims involving arson, despite the fact that police departments take care to investigate each wildfire to determine that arson is not in fact the cause of them. For example, Sheriff’s deputy Mark Nikolai of Clackamas County, Oregon – who is now suspended from duty and is under investigation –was recorded urging residents to come forward and report any members of Antifa who were behind the wildfires. 

Facebook has pledged to remove false claims that Antifa is behind the setting of these wildfires, but misinformation has already had a marked effect on the capacity of local governments to cope with the crisis. 

For instance, Oregon state departments have had to work overtime to clear up these false claims, instead of working to contain the threat of the wildfires. Furthermore, the ability for investigative journalists to report on the wildfires has been extremely limited as many journalists have been threatened by residents who believe that the journalists themselves are Antifa arsons. 

To make matters worse, the possibility of looting has become a widespread problem during this wildfire season. Though this is only a rumor, many Oregon residents who have become paranoid about the possibility of their homes being ransacked by vandals have taken to staying at home and risking their lives to protect their possessions from looters. 

Some have also illegally stopped other residents who are trying to evacuate the area, using the threat of gun violence to deter those trying to leave. Some individuals believe that instituting these checkpoints and stopping unrecognized vehicles will protect their property.

These fears of looting and arson are unfounded, however. Though there has been a 400 percent increase in the rate of 911 calls made, nearly all have failed to result in evidence of either crime being committed.