6:00 AM IDT (EST+7) Saturday, October 7th, 2023. Many Israeli citizens were just waking up to what seemed like a totally normal Saturday. It was also a very special day for Jewish people, because it was the holiday of Simchat Torah (the celebration to mark the completion of the annual reading of the Torah) as well as Shabbat. According to ABC News, around 6:30 am IDT Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group, launched an attack on Israel.
The attack shouldn’t have been as big of a surprise as it was, because there has been tension between Israel and Palestine (and all other Arab/Middle Eastern countries) for over 75 years. It may come as a surprise to some people, but Israel isn’t as old of a country as most people believe it is. Israel didn’t become a nation until May 14th, 1948. Once Israel became a nation, it was already off to a bad start with most Middle Eastern Countries, mostly because Israel was a predominately Jewish country and most other Middle Eastern countries were Islamic.
The Arab-Israeli War started on May 14th 1948, the same day Israel became a nation. Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia (though Saudi Arabia fought under Egyptian Command) invaded the former Palestinian area. These five countries invaded in an attempt to regain their territory.
According to Associated Press, in the current war, over 1,400 Israelis and visiting foreigners have had their lives taken, including 309 Israel Defense Force (IDF) Soldiers, 10 Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) agents, 58 Police officers, as well as 70 dead or missing Arabs living in Israel. At least 5,132 have also been injured. There have also been around 250 people taken hostage. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been confirmed to have been holding at least 30 captives.
