Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin was a Palestinian politician and imam who founded Hamas in 1987. He also served as the first chairman of the Hamas Shura Council and de facto leader of Hamas since its inception from December 1987 until his assassination in March 2004.
A ceasefire, also spelled cease-fire, is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may be between state actors or involve non-state actors.
The Arab–Israeli conflict is the phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between various Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century. The roots of the Arab–Israeli conflict have been attributed to the support by Arab League member countries for the Palestinians, a fellow League member, in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict; this in turn has been attributed to the simultaneous rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism towards the end of the 19th century, though the two national movements had not clashed until the 1920s.
The Gaza–Israel conflict is a localized part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict beginning in 1948, when about 200,000 of the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes settled in the Gaza Strip as refugees. Since then, Israel has been involved in about 15 wars involving organizations in the Gaza Strip. The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza war (47,000+) is higher than the death toll of all other wars in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict combined.
The Gaza War, also known as the First Gaza War, Operation Cast Lead, or the Gaza Massacre, and referred to as the Battle of al-Furqan by Hamas, was a three-week armed conflict between Gaza Strip Palestinian paramilitary groups and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that began on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January 2009 with a unilateral ceasefire. The conflict resulted in 1,166–1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths. Over 46,000 homes were destroyed in Gaza, making more than 100,000 people homeless.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1860, adopted on January 8, 2009, after recalling resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003) and 1850 (2008) on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the Council called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza War following 13 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani is a Qatari diplomat, economist, and politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Qatar since 7 March 2023 and Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2016. He has also been serving as Chairman of the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) since 2014, and is a member of Qatar's Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investments (SCEAI) since 2014.
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
The 2022 Gaza–Israel clashes code-named as Operation Breaking Dawn lasted from 5 to 7 August 2022. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted some 147 airstrikes in Gaza and Palestinian militants fired approximately 1,100 rockets towards Israel. The operation, ordered by Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz without prior Cabinet discussion or approval, followed a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in which Israeli forces arrested Bassam al-Saadi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in that area. On 6 August, Israel arrested 20 people in the West Bank of whom 19 were members of PIJ and a further 20 on 7 August according to an unnamed Israeli official.
Events in the year 2023 in Palestine.
The clashes between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in May 2023 started on 2 May 2023 when Khader Adnan, a former Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) spokesman, died in an Israeli prison following an 87-day hunger strike protesting his continual administrative detention and PIJ militants fired around 102 rockets towards southern Israel, injuring seven individuals in Sderot. On 9 May 2023, Israel conducted a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, called Operation Shield and Arrow that lasted until 13 May.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/21 is a resolution of the tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly relating to the Israel–Hamas war.
Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes in densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Al-Maghazi refugee camp was struck several times.
The Gaza war sparked a major diplomatic crisis, with many countries around the world reacting strongly to the conflict that affected the momentum of regional relations. At least nine countries took the drastic step of recalling their ambassadors or cutting diplomatic ties with Israel. The conflict has also resulted in a renewed focus on a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict.
During the Gaza war, calls for a ceasefire have been a common feature of international reactions to the conflict. Many international actors perceived an urgent need for a ceasefire due to the severity of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the increasing death toll of civilians, primarily due to the Israeli blockade and invasion of the Gaza Strip. Notably, the leaders of some European governments that generally support Israel in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict were among the voices calling for a ceasefire, including France, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, alongside Turkey, Russia, Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, among others.
A temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip took effect from 24 November 2023 to 30 November 2023, during the Gaza war.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/22 is a resolution of the tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war, "immediate and unconditional" hostage release, "ensuring humanitarian access" and that "all parties comply with their obligations under international law".
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2720, adopted on 22 December 2023, called for increased aid for the 2023 Gaza humanitarian crisis, including the provisioning of fuel, food, and medical supplies. It also explicitly demanded the opening of all Gaza border crossings to humanitarian aid, including the Kerem Shalom border crossing, and proposed the immediate appointment of a Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza. The resolution received approval from 13 members, while Russia and the United States abstained from voting.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2735, adopted on 10 June 2024, calls on Hamas to accept a proposed hostage and ceasefire agreement in the ongoing Israel–Hamas war. The resolution, presented by the United States, details the three-phase proposal and notes Israel's acceptance thereof. The implementation of the described agreement would result in the release of all hostages held by Hamas, establish a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and advance a multi-year reconstruction plan. Additionally, the resolution rejects any demographic or territorial changes in the Gaza Strip and reaffirms the Security Council's support for a two-state solution, envisioning the unification of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under Palestinian Authority governance.
