Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his country is “at war” with Hamas after the militant group launched a massive terror attack from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing hundreds and prompting deadly rounds of retaliatory airstrikes on the Palestinian territory. The shocking escalation has left many people wondering why Hamas attacked, and why now.
Even before sweeping to power in Gaza in 2007, Hamas openly sought the “obliteration” of Israel as a matter of policy. Gaza, a narrow strip of land roughly twice the size of Washington D.C., has been sealed off since 2005 by both Israel and Egypt over fears of an attack, though smuggling tunnels have long left it notoriously porous.
With a population of 2.3 million people, Gaza is one of the most densely packed areas in the world. Because of the blockades, residents often call it the world’s largest open-air prison.
Hamas has said it was motivated to launch the attack essentially as the culmination of long-building anger over Israeli policy, including recent outbreaks of violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, but more generally over the treatment of Palestinians and the expansion of Israeli settlements.
Israel and the U.S. have made it clear that both governments believe there’s no “moral equivalence” to draw between Hamas’ attacks on Israeli citizens — including the slaughter of families in their homes and hundreds of young people at a music festival — and the measures the Jewish state says it has had to take to defend itself from terrorism.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that while he recognized “the legitimate grievances of the Palestinian people… nothing can justify these acts of terror and the killing, maiming and abduction of civilians.”
The full reasoning behind the scale and timing of the attack launched Saturday, as with everything in Middle Eastern geopolitics, is unlikely to be straightforward, but below is a look at some of the underlying factors that likely contributed to Hamas’ decision to lash out, despite the risk of drawing an overwhelming response from Israel.
