It was a brief conflict but whose intensity generated alarm and concern throughout the world.
In May of 2021, the Islamist group Hamas and the Israeli Army (IDF) staged a hard confrontation that spread by 11 days.
In that period, armed groups launched from the Gaza Strip more than 4. 300 rockets towards cities and towns in central and southern Israel, while the IDF carried out about 1. 500 aerial bombardment of that densely populated Palestinian territory, according to figures from a report
Israel’s actions left a fatal balance of at least some 230 deceased, including 130 civil ; while the rockets launched by Palestinian groups caused the death of 13 people in Israel and -by accident- some 15 Palestinians in Gaza.
The conflict arose out of tensions generated by violent clashes between the Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in a place in Jerusalem that is both sacred for Muslims as Jews.
At this juncture, Hamas began firing rockets on Israeli territory and Israel responded with bombardments on the Gaza Strip .
Hostilities came to an end with a ceasefire agreement that has largely been maintained, despite small-scale attacks such as the November assassination of an Israeli tour guide in Jerusalem at the hands of a Palestinian teacher militant of Hamas.
BBC Mundo tells you four changes that have occurred since then s in the pulse between Israel and this Palestinian Islamist group.
1. Go up ( and low) the popularity of Hamas
The conflict in May ended with major structural damage in Gaza, including the affectation of about 1. 000 homes that were destroyed or damaged.
Despite this, Hamas proclaimed itself the winner of the conflict. And, at least in terms of Palestinian public opinion, it was.
A survey conducted in June by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) revealed that three-quarters of the Palestinians considered that this organization had won in its clash with Israel.
More importantly, the survey found that 53% from the Palestinians considered that this Islamist movement was the group that “most deserved to represent and lead” the Palestinian people, far ahead of Fatah, the party led by the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abas, which only achieved 14%.
That result put Hamas ahead in its historic pulse with Fatah by the Palestinian leadership .
However, a PCPSR poll conducted this December showed that much of Hamas’s popularity after the May conflict had declined significantly, and now only the 40% consider that this Islamist group deserves to lead to the Palestinians, while the 23% lean towards Fatah.
According to the pollster, these results reflect a “clear disappointment with Hamas leadership” compared to six months ago.
2. More work for Palestinians… in Israel
The unemployment rate in Gaza is higher than 40% and those who want to escape from that reality do not have it easy.
Multiple factors make economic conditions in that territory very difficult , including the strict border controls exercised by Israel and Egypt that limit the ability of Gazans to search for each other. life outside the strip.
That is why, when the rumor spread in October that Israel would grant more work permits to Gaza residents, thousands of them flocked to the sun.
Since the end of the conflict in May, the Israeli authorities began to issue work authorizations for Gazans again, the number of which gradually increased based on security considerations, but also in response to the state of relations with the Palestinians.
In September, Israel announced that it would grant up to 7. 000 work permits for Gaza residents , but in October it announced that it would add about 3. 000 additional, bringing the total up to 10. 000, the highest number of permits granted since Hamas took control of the Strip in 2007.
East gesture was interp challenged by experts as a sign of the will to preserve the fragile calm that exists in the region.
But it is not the only one: Israel also expanded the fishing zone in which the Gazatíes, is facilitating exports from the Strip and in November authorized the reactivation of the monthly transfers of about US $ 30 millions than the government Qatar delivers to Hamas.
3. A “smart” and underground wall
On December 7, Israel announced that it had completed the construction of a “smart” barrier around its border with Gaza.
The device, which includes an underground wall, fences, sensors, radars and even a maritime barrier , was designed after the war of 2014, the militiamen of Hamas managed to surprise the Israeli troops by crossing the border through underground tunnels.
The “smart fence” has an extension of 65 kilometers and six meters high. The Israeli authorities have not disclosed the depth of the underground wall.
Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz celebrated the completion of the device as a way to deprive Hamas of a mechanism they were using to attack Israel.
Critics of the wall, however, claim that its construction only serves to confirm Gaza’s status as “the largest open-air prison in the world. ”
4. An indirect dialogue
Since the end of the conflict, Hamas and Israel have held indirect negotiations that, with the mediation of Egypt , have made it possible to maintain the ceasefire in force.
The objective is to achieve a lasting truce, for which each side has its demands.
From he Palestinian side, apart from easing restrictions on the free movement of goods and people, the central objective is to promote the rehabilitation of Gaza, a project that could cost almost US $ 500 millions , according to a report by the World Bank, the UN and the European Union.
According to the Israeli press In addition to security guarantees, the government of that country is committed to achieving a prisoner exchange in which Hamas will release Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, two civilians with a history of mental problems, and hand over the bodies of the soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, captured and killed by Palestinian militants in 2014.
The negotiations indirectly involve numerous countries, as potential donors for the reconstruction of Gaza, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar or the United States , among others they also have have raised conditions for the delivery of funds.
Recently, the indirect dialogue between Israel and Hamas seems stalled due to the differences between the parties on the eventual exchange of prisoners.
In what is interpreted as a sign of dissatisfaction with the progress of the negotiations, Palestinian militant groups carried out military exercises in the past 15 from December.
Various media in the region have published statements attributed to Hamas spokesmen who accuse Egypt of unnecessarily delaying the process of rebuilding Gaza, with a view to obtaining greater concessions from that Islamist group.
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