1. Who is Hamas, what is their goal, (and what kind of popular support do they enjoy from Palestinian civilians across Gaza, the West Bank, and the diaspora, if any? - I have wrapped this part into other questions)

Hamas emerged in the 1970s, as activists established charities, schools, and medical centers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a response to Israel occupying both territories in 1967. It was officially established as a liberation group in 1987, alongside the First Intifada (the uprising). Hamas, who favor armed resistance, didn't enter politics until 2005, in opposition to the Fatah party, which favored negotiations with Israel. In 2006, an armed conflict left Hamas in charge of Gaza and Fatah in charge of the West Bank. Hamas’s goal is Palestinian liberation.

2. To what degree is the Gazan governmental structure democratic, and why have there been no elections since 2006?

I want to stress - without supporting Hamas's actions - that people living under colonial occupation, without sovereignty or freedom, do not constitute a country. Palestine does not have independence, and so these occupied territories cannot be viewed as a sovereign nation. Palestinians living under Israeli occupation are people without citizenship. If we only define democracy as election by popular citizen’s popular vote , then democracy in the occupied territories is impossible. That being said, it is first important to note that there are two wings of Hamas - the political wing, which does conduct limited negotiations with Israel, holds elections every four years. The armed wing, which is responsible for the attack ion October 7th, believes that no solutions can be achieved through negotiations with Israel - their sole purpose is the liberation of Palestine. I’d also like to note that Israel is not a democracy but a theocracy. A Jewish state, which limits citizenship and rights based on religious and ethnic identity. cannot, by definition, be a democracy.

3. How has this round of fighting differed from past rounds, such as those seen in 2021, 2014, 2008-9, and 2006?

To begin, the language of "rounds of fighting" or "cycle of violence" erases the fact that Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank live under the daily terror of Israeli occupation. Palestinians experience this as the chronic terror of tanks tearing through their towns; homes searched unprovoked in the middle of the night; civilians disappeared and imprisoned without reason; and civilians, particularly children, murdered by settlers and the Israeli army on a regular basis, with no repercussions. As context, two weeks prior to the October 7th attacks, Save the Children estimated that at least 38 Palestinian children had been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2023. That's more than one Palestinian child killed per week this year and this is likely an under-estimation. So when Palestinians respond - both violently and peacefully - these are not unprovoked attacks. Any form of resistance is evacuated of historical context and framed by Israel and the US as terrorist attacks. While the Hamas attacks earlier this month were violent, the Israeli army uses violence regardless of whether resistance is peaceful or violent. For example, on March 30, 2018, peaceful Gaza civilians began protesting every Friday at the border fence between Gaza and Israel. They were demanding an end to the 12-year-long Israeli blockade of the territory (a form of collective punishment on civilians after Hamas forcibly took control of the region), as well as the right to return to their ancestors’ homes, which they were expelled from in 1948 during the Nakba (“catastrophe) when Zionist militias forcefully removed 750,000 Palestinians from their villages to clear the way for Israel’s creation. In response to these peaceful protests, Israeli snipers regularly opened fire at protesters during the demonstrations. The army killed 266 people and injured almost 30,000 others in one year (2019).

4. There is little question that the biggest losers of any fighting in Gaza are the Gazan civilians. Why haven’t we seen a movement of people to escape violence via Egypt, a fellow Arab nation? What is preventing Egypt, or any other Arab states for that matter, from taking a more active role in this conflict, particularly pertaining to humanitarian efforts?

 Israel is committing war crimes by forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza while also destroying key infrastructure so they cannot move. The question isn’t what Egypt ought to do, the question is why is the US allowing this to happen? According to the United Nations, the third definition of genocide (there are five points) is: “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

5. What is the context for the long-standing blockade on Gaza?

6. What was the state of Israeli domestic politics prior to the outbreak of this round of violence, and to what degree has it played a part in Hamas’ decision-making?

I’m combining these questions:

Palestinians have been living under apartheid for decades. Gaza is known as the “largest open-air prison in the world.” The Israeli blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip, in its current form, has been in place since June 2007, when Israel imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the area. Israel controls Gaza’s airspace and territorial waters, as well as two of the three border crossing points; the third is controlled by Egypt. Both Israel and Egypt have kept their borders almost entirely closed, which results in the devastating economic and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But Israel has restricted the movement of Palestinians in and out of Gaza for much longer than the past 17 years. Beginning in the late 1980s (with the first Intifada), Israel began to impose restrictions on movement by introducing a permit system (similar to South Africa under apartheid) requiring Palestinians in Gaza to get permits in order to work or travel through Israel or access the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. These permits were almost impossible to obtain. Beginning in 1993, Israel has used “closure” tactics on the Palestinian territories on a regular basis, at times barring any and all Palestinians in certain areas from leaving, sometimes for months at a time (again, similar to South Africa under apartheid). In 1995, Israel built an electronic fence and concrete wall around the Gaza Strip, entirely isolating Gaza from the West Bank (again, just like South Africa under apartheid). In 2000, when the Second Intifada began, Israel canceled many of the existing travel and work permits previously issued in Gaza, and even further reduced the number of new permits issued. In 2001, Israel bombed the airport in Gaza, further limiting movement in and out of the territory. In 2006, the Hamas movement won the general elections in Gaza and seized power in a violent conflict with its rival party, Fatah, after the Fatah refused to recognize the outcome of the vote. Since Hamas established control in 2007, Israel has dramatically intensified its siege. Israel’s blockade has cut off Palestinians from Jerusalem, where Gaza’s previously traveled for specialized medical care, foreign consulates, banks and other vital services. It’s critical to note that this violates the terms of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which stated that Israel must treat the Palestinian territories as one political entity and that they cannot be divided. It’s also important to note that the ongoing blockade violates Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits collective punishment. This violation, ongoing now, has been a constant. Of critical importance, the siege has led to life-threatening shortages of food, water, medicine, and fuel (to name a few basic needs). Since the beginning of the siege, Israel has launched four military assaults on Gaza - in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021. Each of these attacks has exacerbated Gaza’s already dire situation. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed, many of whom are children, and tens of thousands of homes, schools and office buildings have been destroyed. We cannot understand what is happening this month in Gaza without understanding this history. Similarly, without condoning the actions of Hamas, this context helps us understand the dire and desperate situation Gaza’s live under. And Israel has no intention of changing this - prior to the attacks of October 7th, both peaceful and violent resistance was met by the full weight of the Israeli military. The only thing Israel will allow Gaza’s to do is slowly and quietly die. Every time they resist, they are met with the full weight of the Israeli military, one of the most powerful in the world. Most Gazans want peace, attained through a peaceful solution. Israel has no intention of allowing this. With such a reality in mind, it’s understandable that some people in Gaza - particularly members of Hamas - would feel they have nothing to lose. Hence, the attacks on October 7th.

7. What are the wider impacts of this War, particularly in regard to long-term American Foreign Policy interests?

This is not a war, this is genocide. If the US continues to support Israel's actions of revenge as ethnic cleansing, this catastrophe is our responsibility, as much as theirs.