There has been much conflict and mixed feelings in Israel’s past with Hamas. It is clear from recent studies that, in the 1980s and 1990s, Israel discreetly supported Hamas as a way to balance against the secular PLO and its main grouping, Fatah. The aid was crafted for an Islamist opponent to weaken the PLO.
Many Israeli leaders and academics have publicly agreed with this observation. For example, the former director of religious affairs in Israel, Avner Cohen, said that Israel pushed Hamas into taking action against Fatah and the PA. Back in 2001, Yasser Arafat described Hamas as a “creation of Israel” in an interview. Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, some of Israel’s recent steps have, inadvertently, assisted Hamas.
Netanyahu believed Hamas helped keep Palestinians divided between areas controlled by the PA and Hamas, stopping the creation of a Palestinian state. To maintain a fragile truce and ensure Hamas remained focused on the government, he supposedly allowed Qatar’s money to enter Gaza via Israeli crossings.
International pressure on Israel regarding Hamas
International bodies are putting added pressure on Israel after its recent actions in Gaza, which have led to the deaths of many people in recent days. If Israel refuses to end the attack and continues blocking supplies for Gaza, the leaders of the UK, France, and Canada threatened Monday to use targeted economic measures.
Just after US President Donald Trump left Gaza without concluding a ceasefire and hostage agreement, Israel unleashed a new, catastrophic ground offensive over the weekend. As part of the “Gideon’s Chariots” operation, the Israeli military said its forces had advanced into northern and southern Gaza throughout the previous day. Israel threatened to carry out this operation if Hamas refused to accept a new hostage agreement on its terms.
The ground operation followed days of intense bombardment that killed entire families in the Gaza Strip, according to local health officials. In response to strong pressure from allies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intimated that Israel might permit a “basic amount of food” to enter the beleaguered enclave. The Israeli agency that authorizes assistance supplies into Gaza said that five trucks had entered the territory.
What is Israel’s new strategy towards Hamas?
Gideon’s Chariots is the title of the recent military operation Israel launched in Gaza, happening since May 2025. There are major attacks on both northern and southern Gaza, supported by lots of airstrikes. The declared goals include defeating Hamas, returning hostages held by the group, and placing pressure on Hamas in the current negotiations, all intended to help Israeli forces increase their control over much of Gaza.
The next part of this letter details important facts about Operation Gideon’s Chariots:
- It comes after Israel abandoned a ceasefire deal with Hamas in March 2025, which led to an escalation and a complete blockade of Gaza that lasted more than two months.
- Hamas and Israel started indirect talks on a ceasefire in Doha, led by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, at the start of the operation.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that operations in Gaza are meant to control its activities, and he is ready to move Palestinians within the area if there is a need.
- Many Palestinians, including reporters and unarmed people, have died because of fierce shelling in the fighting. Since the operation began, 144 Palestinians have lost their lives, and much of their infrastructure has been heavily damaged.
- To ensure the military effort is not endangered by a humanitarian crisis, Israel has agreed to send in a “basic amount of food” to Gaza.
- Despite the absence of big urban offensives in Gaza’s centers, satellite maps suggest that Israeli tanks have gathered near Gaza’s western and southern borders as well as close to Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Rafah.
- The United States maintained pressure for this operation to happen sooner, and it matches a larger strategy to convince Hamas to give up or negotiate with Israel only on Israel’s terms.
What is the situation with aid to Hamas?
Israel will permit a “basic amount of food” to enter Gaza due to “operational need,” according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, to avoid famine in the enclave, which Israel claims would endanger its military operation. The UN admitted that although some of its trucks were permitted entry at the Kerem Shalom crossing, considerably more assistance was required. According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza requires at least 500 assistance trucks every day.
The UN had warned that after 19 months of fighting and widespread displacement, starvation was a real threat to Gaza’s entire population of over 2.1 million people. The Israeli government has been urged by leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada to halt its military actions in Gaza and permit the passage of humanitarian aid. “We will take further concrete actions in response if Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid,” the leaders said in a joint statement. They cautioned that those measures might involve specific penalties.
In response, Netanyahu charged that the leaders were “inviting more such atrocities” to occur and “offering a huge prize” to the Hamas fighters who attacked Israel on October 7. 23 foreign ministers, including those from France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, as well as EU representatives, called on Israel to permit “a full resumption” of aid into Gaza right away and to give the UN and humanitarian organizations the freedom to “work independently and impartially to save lives” in a separate joint statement.
International pressure
Growing pressure from international allies, such as the US Senate and other Western governments, worried about the humanitarian catastrophe and pictures of hunger in Gaza, affected Israel’s decision to permit limited aid. Far-right lawmakers in Israel, on the other hand, have denounced the action, claiming that permitting aid compromises the military effort against Hamas.
There are severe food, medication, and gasoline shortages as a result of the siege and continuous military operations. According to UN concerns, many Palestinians have already perished from malnutrition and a lack of access to healthcare, and 14,000 newborns in Gaza might starve to death within 48 hours.
With intentions to begin operations by the end of May 2025, a Gaza Humanitarian Fund has been established to oversee the disbursement of aid.
Why is there a conflict between Israel and Hamas?
The armed organization and political movement Hamas came into being in 1987 as a part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas rejects Israel and prefers the creation of an Islamic state, encompassing all the areas of ancient Palestine, including Israel’s territory, the West Bank, and Gaza. Now and then, it has suggested that it could recognize a temporary Palestinian state within the West Bank and Gaza without giving up its original ambitions.
Hamas’ victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections came after bloody clashes with the opposition Fatah movement, and it took over Gaza in 2007. After 2007, its power over Gaza began, and it has regularly engaged in violent hostilities with Israel.
Palestinians protest against the growth of Israeli settlements and the occupation of both the West Bank and East Jerusalem, acts forbidden by international law. Palestinian claims to becoming a state are rejected by Israel, which says it must consider its safety, especially when the right wing holds power.
Hamas has struck at Israel by firing rockets and carrying out raids across the border with Israel. Because of this, Israel has invaded areas, conducted air raids, and used the military to weaken Hamas’ capacity. There have been big losses on both sides because of these repeated instances of violence.
Final words: Did Israel support Hamas?
Differences over land, identities, and guarantees play the most important role in the violent conflict between Israel and Hamas. Israel tries to defend its population and keep the lands in dispute, but Hamas opposes Israel’s existence and demands that Palestine be a sole state over all of historic Palestine. Repeated phases of fighting and broken attempts at peace have resulted in terrible suffering for people on both sides.
