Israel, Palestine, the militant organization Hamas, and Gaza have recently been making the headlines as war in the middle eastern part of Asia broke out. For some who are not yet familiar with what's happening in the conflict, it may be confusing to know what is what or which is which.
So here is the crash course on the terminologies:
Israel - Israel is a country in the Middle East, bordering Gaza in the West, Egypt in the South, Jordan in the East, and Lebanon in the North. Its capital is Jerusalem, home to many religious sites and holy for three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared that Israel is in a "state of war" with Hamas, which attacked the nation by surprise on Saturday morning, Oct. 7.
Palestine - Palestine is located in the Middle East. It is recognized as a state by the majority of UN members. Its territories are the Gaza Strip—or simply Gaza—and the West Bank.
Palestine used to occupy a big part of what is now Israel. But it lost its territory after Zionists in the mid-90s launched a movement to establish a Jewish nation, which eventually led to social, political, and religious conflicts that pushed for the creation of various international agreements on partition plans.
The said plans were received with much backlash that persists up to this day.
Gaza Strip - The Gaza Strip is one of the two Palestinian territories located west of Israel.
On its north and east is Israel; on the south is Egypt; and on the west is the Mediterranean Sea.
In the current conflict, Israel has already laid siege on Gaza by cutting off its food, water, and electricity supplies. All of Gaza's borders are also sealed off.
There are 131 Filipinos in Gaza, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Most of them are Palestine spouses, children, and grandchildren.
West Bank - West Bank is the second Palestinian territory, which is separate from Gaza. It is located east of Israel, and shares its border with Jordan.
Currently, there are no hostilities in the West Bank, DFA said. There are 70 Filipinos in the West Bank, DFA added.
Hamas - Before understanding Hamas, we must first discuss the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian Authority or the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is the representative of the Palestinian people. It is supposed to govern Gaza and the West Bank.
However, disagreements on partition plans of Israel and Palestine led to political and religious factions that include Fatah, a Palestinian nationalist and social democratic party, and Hamas, a political and military organization.
Currently, the Palestinian Authority—mostly led by Fatah—only has control over the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Hamas has de-facto control over Gaza after its members won a legislative election in 2006, removed Fatah officials from their positions, and gained control over Gaza which led to the dissolution of the unity government.
Hamas is currently governing Gaza. It is tagged as a foreign terrorist organization by the US government, an Israel-ally, and by other countries, such as Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Paraguay, the UK, and the European Union.
Hamas stands for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, which means "Islamic Resistance Movement."
Over the weekend, it launched a multi-front attack—by land, sea, and air—on Israel due to the latter's alleged violence against Palestinian women and children, and the desecration of the Al-Aqsa mosque.
Hamas called its assault on Israel"Operation Al-Aqsa." Its militants broke into Israeli borders by bulldozers and by deploying members through paraglides. Witnesses and Israeli government officials said they opened fire and shot at people on the streets, while also taking people in Israel hostages to be brought to Gaza.