Why Hamas and Hezbollah Attacked Israel!

Iran has been financing proxies on Israel’s border to eliminate the state of Israel. Israel faced continuous missile attacks from Gaza over the past few years, to which Israel responded in kind. On October 7^th/23 Israel was attacked by Hamas from Gaza, killing 1200 people, mainly civilians, even babies. Hamas captured 250 hostages on that day as well. Since then, Israel has attacked Hamas which threatened, and still threatens, to repeat that attack again. They have refused to surrender or release the hostages. They have even executed some of the hostages since that date. And they have continued to hide their efforts behind civilian infrastructure like schools, hospitals, U.N. facilities, mosques and civilian shelters.

Hamas hides in tunnels they have constructed over the past decades. They force civilians, sometimes at gunpoint, to act as human shields for their military activities and weapons storages. Although Israel attempts to shield civilians from harm in unprecedented ways, many have fallen victim to ongoing hostilities. Hamas was elected by Gazans as their government.

Hezbollah in Lebanon has been financed and supplied with arms by Iran during the last few years. Since Israel began its attempt to eradicate Hamas as a threat, Hezbollah in Lebanon began attacking Israel with missiles, explosive drones, and physical incursions by terrorists. Israel initially responded by evacuating its population (about 60, 000 -80,000 in number) from communities near the Lebanese border, and by launching attacks in the air in an attempt to halt the shelling and missiles. They attacked launchers and weapons storehouses. This did not halt the attacks from Hezbollah.

Israel has now attacked on the ground to push Hezbollah terrorists away from its border. The IDF found evidence that Hezbollah was planning an attack in the north like that seen on October 7^th from Gaza, and had tunnels crossing Israel’s northern border.

Israel has been eliminating terrorists on its borders and terrorist leadership wherever they can find them in Gaza, Lebanon, and elsewhere, with some success. As in Gaza, Hezbollah has been hiding their weapons stores, facilities, and their terrorists, behind civilian shields. Israel has been urging Lebanese civilians to evacuate areas held by terrorists. In Lebanon, Hezbollah power is such that they dominate Lebanon’s government. Their army is powerless to control the terrorists.

The IDF has been concentrating on eliminating Hezbollah’s top leadership, and their major stores of missiles and launchers. Some areas of Beirut, the capital, along with a number of villages in the south, have been subjected to heavy bombardment for these purposes.

It is clear that the terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah were following orders from Iran to destroy Israel. Israel’s troops on the ground (in Gaza and Lebanon,) are attempting to finish the job against Iran’s proxies on its borders. The enemy was not prepared, nor did it appreciate, what the strength of Israel’s response would be to their threat to Israel’s existence. But they are apparently winning the propaganda war on the backs of civilian suffering in affected areas. Israel’s friends are few and far between. The Sunni Arab nations who understand and applaud have been silent.

Israel continues with its effort to defend itself. Unfortunate civilians in the areas dominated by the terrorists they co-habited with, and supported, are also paying a heavy price. Israel continues to do what it can in the circumstances to minimize the impact of its actions on the civilian population in whose midst the terrorists embed themselves, with Israel’s efforts to avoid civilian casualties being used as a shield. The reverse can be said of the terrorist organizations.

Iran, the sponsor of the terrorist violence, has yet to confront its day of reckoning. It has launched two massive missile attacks on Israel, which, thanks to its technology, felt only a minimal impact. The U.S., fearful of a widening war affecting their upcoming election, has been trying to restrain Israel’s response. We await that response.

The death of Hamas head, Sinwar, in Gaza, may change the equation there. We await that development.

The situation is pregnant with possibilities to bring this war to a successful end in ways that will benefit all the civilians and soldiers, if Israel is allowed to work its will, may open paths to a more peaceful world. The Jews, constituting a tiny fraction of the world’s population, once again make up a hinge which may determine which direction the world takes.