The Rafah border the Gaza Strip has with Egypt is the only border that Israel doesn’t control. Proceeding the events of Gaza’s Hamas unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7th Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a “total blockade” of Gaza. The “total blockade” is deemed a war crime in the eyes of the United Nations. The Gaza Strip and West Bank are the Palestinian territories of Israel, and the Gaza Strip has been under land, air, and sea control since 2007. The territories separate Palestinians (Muslims) and Israelis (Jews). Hamas is the political group that runs Gaza and is designated by the US, Israel, EU, and other nations as a terrorist group.
Just days earlier Dozens of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of occupation forces, stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem. Jerusalem has been a contested site between these two religious groups for many centuries and is often the catalyst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is thought that the attack on Palestine fueled Hamas’s attack on Israel. Due to this attack on the Palestinians, Hamas may have been inclined to attack Israel due to decades of Israel violence and occupation. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was bound to happen due to their history and now the tensions Palestinians face day to day being trapped in Gaza. Surrounding regions such as Egypt and the Suez Canal, a major marine route connecting trade between Europe and Asia, will most likely be affected.
The Gaza Strip is not a country because it is a territory of Israel. The events conflict between Gaza and Israel can be analyzed at the individual level. Mohamad Dief (a part of Hamas) stated, “We have decided that the time has come to draw the line for the enemy [Israel] to understand their time is up and they can’t keep going without consequences”. This shows his individual as a leader to protect the Palestinians from further mistreatment from the Israelis. Similarly, Yoav Gallant’s “total blockade” shows his interest in protecting Israel from Hamas and initiating repercussions for the invasion.