The fierce rain of fire missiles that has dominated the skies in Gaza over the past week even shook up CNN’s veteran reporter Anderson Cooper.
On Sunday, Cooper was reporting on the violence and missile attacks in Gaza, a Palestinian city, when a sudden loud explosion went off, causing the CNN show host to shout and duck down nearly off camera. The violence erupted almost a week earlier, after Israel killed a top Hamas leader last Wednesday.
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Since then, Palestinians have relentlessly been firing back at Israel and even sent a missile at Jerusalem. Israel has also returned the fire, and as a result, 87 Palestinians and three Israelis have died.
President Obama weighed in on the matter yesterday in Thailand, confirming that the US supports Israel’s right to defend itself, being that Israel is one of our closest allies.
Ongoing tension within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been around for decades, but the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas, a militant Islamic group in Gaza, began in December when a cease-fire that was negotiated over the summer began to break down, and Hamas decided not to renew it.
In 2005, Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of Gaza, a city on the Gaza strip dominated by Sunni Muslims and Palestine refugees. However, Hamas continued to attack Israel on a daily basis, claiming that although Israel pulled out, it still controls and occupies Gaza. On the other hand, Israel feels like they gave Hamas a chance to govern itself, but instead they are wasting their effort and energy on war.
After Israel’s ground forces came into Gaza, Palestinians suffered greatly. Many of the Israeli civilians were hit by rock fire by the Gaza border.
On top of that, Israel is trying to recover from a war two years ago, when it was defeated by Arab militia. Because of pride, the country feels it must prove that it is resilient and won’t be defeated again. In effect, its mission is to stop the Hamas and show its strength.
On the contrary, Hamas is trying to show that it can stand up to the most powerful army in the Middle East and fight against Israel.
The endless tension between Israelis and Palestinians does not show any signs of letting up, even if the violence in Gaza does stop. Everyday children are dying, mothers are crying and more and more people want to seek vengeance. It’s a senseless war, and the status quo won’t cut it.
Even though it’s overseas, the cries, screams and bombs are louder than ever. No one deserves to die, and those with a voice to speak out against it, need to let those voices be heard.
