ISRAEL – On October 7, Hamas fired rockets into Israel sparking another war between Israel and Palestine.  They targeted nearby settlements near the border and crossed the border into Israel to attempt to capture and hold Israeli soldiers as hostages.  For years the Palistinians and Israel have been in conflict since the creation of the Israeli state.  Palestine has been supported all these years by neighboring Arab countries like Iran and Egypt along with a few others.  During the Oct. 7 attack Hamas took 240 hostages from across the border along with killing 1,400 others.  Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that they will not allow this to happen again and have said that the goal is to remove Hamas from power in the Gaza strip.  Israel has cut off all essential services like power and clean drinking water which has caused hospitals and critical infrastructure in the Gaza strip to shut down.  Concerns for civilians stuck inside the Gaza strip as these services are no longer available and food has been running out.  Egypt has allowed some refugees to leave through the southern border and more continue to leave through other ways. 

Israel claims that they have killed top officials for Hamas as well as a weapon manufacturer for the group.  Unfortunately, civilians are in the crossfire of these attacks by Israel and so far it is estimated that over ten thousand people have died and an estimated 4,104 people under 18 years old have died.  G7 leaders today have heavily requested Israel to allow the passage of humanitarian aid and more civilians to leave to prevent more casualties.  Israel did allow more civilians to leave, but they have not allowed enough aid to get in.  Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they will not end the war until Hamas has been crushed and pushed out of power. 

On November 15 after weeks of fighting Israeli troops surrounded the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City which Israel has long claimed is the headquarters of Hamas fighters.  Hospital staff along with Hamas deny that it is their headquarters.  Staff from inside reported that they were not informed of when troops would enter the hospital and had to hide inside waiting.  Israel forces claimed to find weapons like grenades and other explosives inside but many say that it broke the international law of war.

Israeli forces have allowed more aid like fuel and water into the strip but it is still not enough.  Communication companies from within the strip say that backup generators have run out of fuel causing things like phone service and the Internet to no longer be available.  The situation is expected to continue to worsen as Israel begins to focus the war to the southern part of the strip.