Tag: Gaza

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-48

About: the world this week, 24 November to 30 November 2024: a belligerent Russia; Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire; rowdy Bangladesh; Australia under-16; India State Elections; Earth’s tilt; small in Argentina; and India’s cricket, down under.

Everywhere

Russia Ups The Ante

The Russia-Ukraine war moves on fiercely, with the threat of escalation and spill-over in the region a dangerous possibility.

Last week, Russia demonstrated its Oreshnik (hazel tree) hypersonic weapon system-without a warhead-to checkmate NATO and the United States, and also issue a warning to the West. It is a devastating, unstoppable surgical strike weapon that basically drops metal lightning out of the sky like Thor’s Hammer or the comets of God. The Oreshnik missile is capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 10 and currently lacks any known countermeasure in missile defense systems.

This week, Russia escalated the conflict in Ukraine with more lethal weaponry and deploying troops from Yemen to bolster its front-lines.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘opened a door’ to end the conflict, praising US President-elect Donald Trump as ‘intelligent and experienced’ and capable of finding solutions. Trump had pledged, during his campaign, to end the war in Ukraine ‘within 24 hours’. Of course, without saying how!

It’s absolutely clear that this war cannot end in a victory by either side. Talks and negotiations are the only means of stopping the madness-before it engulfs the world.

Israel and Hezbollah Ceasefire

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah-operating out of Lebanon-took effect this Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France. Israel’s security cabinet approved the deal in a 10-1 vote.

The deal stipulates a 60-day halt in hostilities, and hopefully lays the foundation for lasting truce in the region. It requires Israeli ground troops to withdraw from south Lebanon, and, on its turn Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River and retreat 40 kilometers away from the Lebanon-Israel border. The vacated spaces will be filled by Lebanon’s Army, which will be deployed in the region-originally a Hezbollah stronghold-within 60 days.

The agreement will maintain Israel’s freedom of operation to act in defence to remove threats posed by Hezbollah and enable displaced Israeli residents to return safely to their homes in northern Israel. On its part, Lebanon would implement a more rigorous supervision of Hezbollah’s movements in the border areas and south of the Litani River to prevent Hezbollah militants from regrouping. Will the ceasefire hold?

Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he was ready to implement the ceasefire and would respond forcefully to any violation by Hezbollah. And added that the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on the threat from Iran, replenish depleted arms supplies and give the army a rest; and to isolate Hamas, and focus more on war in Gaza and release of the hostages.

Netanyahu said, “We have successfully killed approximately 20,000 Hamas terrorists in Gaza since the war began”.

On the other side, it’s estimated that Israel lost 806 IDF soldiers in the process.

Rowdy Bangladesh

The boil in Bangladesh ever since the widespread political violence, which led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, continues. And tensions over minority rights and deadly violence against Hindus in particular, bludgeons the headlines. The new military-backed interim government led by Nobel Prize Winner Mohammed Yunus has faced criticism for failing to curb a spike in violence against minorities. In recent months, Hindu businesses, homes, and temples have been vandalised, with the unrest worsening every day.

Hindus comprise about 8% of Bangladesh’s 170 million people.

This week, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a Hindu priest, an ISKCON monk, and a religious minority leader in Bangladesh, was arrested in Dhaka when he staged a peaceful protest against attacks on Hindus by radical Muslim outfits.

The arrest follows protests led by Hindus in the city of Rangpur, about 300 km north of the capital Dhaka, demanding stronger legal protections and a ministry dedicated to minority affairs.

Chinmoy Brahmachari was detained at Dhaka airport and his arrest comes after a sedition case was filed against him earlier this month – said to be for his outspoken stance against violence targeting Hindus. Earlier this month, sedition charges were filed against 19 people who participated in a minority rights rally in Chittagong.

Later in the week, the Government prosecutor argued that the ISKCON – International Society for Krishna Consciousness – is a ‘religious fundamentalist organisation’ and should be banned. That’s a horrible thing to say given the global nature of ISKCON and its humanitarian services in Bangladesh itself – during the recent floods – and the world over. Bangladesh’s High Court rightfully refused to go into the ban and volleyed the case back to the Government.

Australia’s New Under-16 Law

This week, Australia’s Parliament after an intense, emotive debate, approved and brought into law a Social Media Ban for children under the age of 16 years. This is now one of the World’s strictest laws of the kind.

The Law forces Tech Giants such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and X to stop minors from logging in to their platforms, or face fines up to USD 32 million. Gaming and messaging platforms are exempt, as are sites that can be accessed without an account, say YouTube. A trial of enforcement methods will start in January 2025, with the ban kicking-in within a year.

‘We are making sure that Mums and Dads can have that different conversation today and in future days’, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

India’s State Elections

It’s awfully stale and tiring, these elections in India: some people, somewhere are forever voting and the political class is dashing all over the country to make speeches and attend rallies. And makes one wonder whether all this voting works and the people get what they vote for. Or, is democracy only about elections and voting? The Air Quality Index in the New Delhi, for example, flirts above the danger mark ever so often while political parties sound the election bugle-adding noise to the already heavily polluted air-and blame each other.

Late last week, the results of Elections in the State of Maharashtra, which holds Mumbai the commercial capital of India, were declared. And it was a thumping landslide for the ruling The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance, which secured an overwhelming mandate. The BJP won 132 out for the 149 seats it contested – an impressive strike rate of 89% – and partners, the Shiv Sena won 57 and the Nationalist Congress Party, 41.

The Opposition MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) Alliance bit the dust, getting a paltry 49 seats. India’s Grand Old Party, the Congress, part of the MVA, won just 16 and was decimated. The House has a total of 288 seats and the majority mark is 145.

This is a shocking turnaround for the Devendra Fadnavis led BJP in the State after an underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. Maharashtra becomes the 6th state in India where the BJP has won back-to-back three elections. Others being Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, and Haryana.

However, in the State of Jharkand the BJP was pushed to second place with 21 seats and the local Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) winning 34 seats, and along with its Alliance partner, the Congress’ 16 seats (another 16 for the Congress!) will form a coalition Government. It was a mighty comeback for the JMM after its leader Hemant Soren was arrested and jailed by the Enforcement Directorate in January in a land scam case, which caused his resignation as Chief Minister. However, he obtained bail from the Jharkhand High Court and returned as Chief Minister to lead the INDI Alliance to victory. 2024 has become Soren’s comeback year.

The Jharkhand Assembly has a total of 81 seats with 41 being the majority mark.

The JMM in particular stressed on adivasi asmita (tribal pride) and showcased its Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana Scheme, which provides Rs 1,000 per month to eligible women. The turnout of women-4% higher this time-seems to have put the JMM over the top. Credit must also go to Kalpana Soren, who entered politics after her husband was sent to prison. Though the BJP derisively dubbed the power couple ‘Bunty aur Babli’ ahead of the polls, she is credited with revitalising the party and keeping the cadres ‘warmed-up’, in Soren’s absence.

In the bye-elections of various States, it was a wonderful comeback victory for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh State winning 7 out 9 seats in the Assembly. This, after a surprise loss in the Lok Sabha Elections, which was responsible for the BJP falling short of a majority on its own at the Centre.

The Earth’s Tilt

When an object the size of Mars, named Theia is thought to have crashed into the newly formed planet Earth around 4.5 billion years ago, it knocked our planet over and left it (dazed and) tilted at an angle. Ever since this impact, Earth has been orbiting the Sun at a slant. This slant is the axial tilt, also called obliquity and is measured as 23.4 Degrees.

Since Earth orbits the Sun at an angle, solar energy reaching different parts of Earth is not constant, but varies during the course of the year. This is the reason we have different seasons, and why they are opposite in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Now Scientists have found that the Earth has tilted 80.01 centimetres (31.5 inches) over the last two decades. But the tilt had nothing to do with weird space phenomena, mysterious asteroids, the sun’s gravity, or solar flares, and everything to do with how people are pumping groundwater and shipping it across the planet, a study found. The findings of a study from June 2023 are making headlines over a year after it was published. The planet continuing to tilt is because humans are pumping and moving an obscene amount of groundwater across the planet and redistributing it, according to the study’s press release. This pumping contributed to about 6 centimetres rise in global sea levels. The water was pumped for drinking, agriculture, and industrial use. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Everything you do on the Planet counts, mind it!

While the current shift in Earth’s tilt is not ‘great enough’ to affect weather patterns or seasons immediately, researchers caution that continued groundwater depletion could have long-term climatic impacts.

Oh Deer!

Argentina is celebrating in a small way, of things small.

A rare Pudu fawn was born in a Biopark in Argentina earlier this month, giving scientists and conservationists a unique chance to study and collect data on the tiny deer. We are learning about this after almost a month – giving time for the tiny fawn to get on its feet.

Weighing just 1.21 kilograms the delicate, fragile, and white-spotted male pudu fawn was named Lenga after a tree species endemic to the Andean Patagonian forest of Chile and Argentina.

Pudus are one of the smallest deer species in the world, growing up to 50 centimetres tall and reaching a weight of about 12 kg. They are enigmatic, elusive, hard to see, and flee in zig-zags when chased by predators. The tiny deer face threats from wild dogs and species introduced into southern Argentina and Chile. There are only about 10,000 Pudus living in the world and are classified as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Lenga is spending his days exploring the park with his mother Chalten and father Nicolino. He will be breast-fed for the first two months until he can handle a herbivorous diet. After that, Lenga will lose his white spots and grow the mottled colour that helps Pudus camouflage themselves in their environment from both daytime and nighttime predators. After about one year, hopefully, Lenga will develop antlers that typically- for Pudus- reach up to 10 cm.

Oh India!

India’s cricket team is touring Australia from November 2024 to January 2025. The plan is to play five Test matches and three first-class warm-up matches against the Australia’s cricket team. The Test matches form part of the 2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship.

The 1st Test was played at Perth between 22nd November and 26th November and India hammered Australia, down under, in a historic test win. This was Australia’s first loss in a Test match at the Perth Stadium, with India became the first visiting team to win a Test match at the ground. This was also India’s biggest victory in terms of runs in Australia. Records are made every day in cricket!

With the absence of skipper Rohit Sharma and star batsman Shubman Gill, the popular belief was that Team India would face a torrid time in the first test. However, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah stepped in as Captain and did a swashbuckling job.

India won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 150 runs in the first innings and blowing out Australia for 104 runs. With a 46 run lead, India went into the 2nd innings to score 487 runs, declaring with 6 wickets down. And giving the Aussies a run-chase of 533 to win.

In the chase, Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals as India bundled them out for 238. For India, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah scalped three wickets each, while Washington Sundar took two wickets. Centuries by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli, followed by Jasprit Bumrah’s magnificent bowling helped India thrash Australia by 295 runs.

India’s Jaiswal scored 161 while Kohli brought up his memorable 30th Test ton breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most test centuries (7) for India in Australia. India’s KL Rahul scored his 3,000th run in Tests.

With this win, India takes an early 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

More hitting stories – small and big – coming-up in the weeks ahead. Watch and grow with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-40

About: the world this week, 29 September to 5 October 2024: Hydra-headed Hezbollah; US Election Debates; India State Elections; Hurricane Helene; SpaceX’s Dragon docks with the ISS.

Everywhere

Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran

Last week, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a brilliant, precise strike on the terror organisation Hezbollah’s central headquarters, embedded under residential buildings in the heart of Dahieh, Beirut, Lebanon. Hassan Nasrallah, 64, the leader of Hezbollah – was without-doubt – the target of the attack. Initially, there were confusing reports that he had survived, however, after several hours, his death was confirmed by both Israel and Hezbollah. Nasrallah suffocated to death from toxic gases inside his secret bunker after it was demolished by about 80 tons of ‘bunker-busting’ bombs. A number of other commanders, including Ali Karaki, the commander of the southern front, who had all probably come over for a meeting, were also eliminated in the strike. This is a significant, game-changing development in the region terrorised by Hezbollah-which is solidly backed by Iran.

Hassan Nasrallah himself became the leader of Hezbollah after the Israelis knocked-off the previous leader, Abbas al-Musawi, in 1992. Nasrallah is well-known for his strident anti-Israel actions and has repeatedly called for the end of the State of Israel. He also has the blood of United States (US) citizens on his hands with Hezbollah being involved in numerous anti-US terrorist attacks in Beirut: the suicide truck bombings of the US Embassy in April 1983, the US Marine barracks in October 1983, and the US Embassy Annex in September 1984. Naturally, the US ‘welcomed’ his elimination.

Nasrallah played a pivotal role in various attacks and wars against Israel. In particular, the 2006 Lebanon War against Israel solidified his status as a resistance leader in the Arab world. He was also involved in regional politics, supporting the Assad regime in Syria during the Syrian Civil War. Under him, Hezbollah transformed from a guerrilla group focused on resisting Israel into a significant political player in Lebanon, holding seats in the Lebanese Parliament and participating in government coalitions.

Nasrallah believed that Islam holds the solution to the problems of any society, once saying, “With respect to us, briefly, Islam is not a simple religion including only prayers and praises, rather it is a divine message that was designed for humanity, and it can answer any question man might ask concerning his general and personal life. Islam is a religion designed for a society that can revolt and build a community”.

Israel has done the world a huge favour, and after Osama Bin Laden was killed in a special military operation by the United States, Hassan Nasrallah was one who deserved the same treatment.

Nasrallah’s immediate successor, Hassan Khalil Yasinm was also ‘instantly’ taken down by the IDF. This is a culmination of a recent trend in which Israel has repeatedly targeted Hezbollah’s leadership structure and has wiped-out the entire command structure.

Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah is now Hezbollah’s new leader. The third since Nasrallah was killed. Wonder, how long he will last, but there is chance that all Hezbollah members will become leaders, one by one. But this is a hydra-headed problem, cut one head off another grows, and takes its place.

In Greek mythology, the Hydra is a gigantic water-snake-like monster with about nine heads, one of which is immortal. The monster’s haunt was in the marshes of Lerna, near Argos, Greece, from which it periodically emerged to attack people and livestock. Anyone who attempted to behead the Hydra found that as soon as one head was cut off, two more heads would emerge from the fresh wound.

The destruction of Hydra was one of the 12 Labours of Hercules. For that and other labours, Hercules enlisted the aid of his nephew Iolaus. As Hercules severed each mortal head, Iolaus was set the task of quickly cauterising the fresh wounds so that no new heads would emerge. When only the immortal head remained, Hercules cut it off too and buried it under a heavy rock. Further, he dipped his arrows in the monster’s poisonous blood to be able to inflict fatal wounds. It’s now up to Israel to find the cauterising fire… and the poison.

Israel’s breathtakingly ballsy strike on Hasan Nasrallah has opened up the possibility of a brand new Middle East: one where Iran doesn’t call the shots. Israel is making the moves the West hasn’t for decades: demonstrating that aggression will be countered with complete evisceration.

This week, Israel also begun the ground invasion in Southern Lebanon-a limited ground operation-against terrorist targets and infrastructure of Hezbollah. The start was bloody with eight Israeli soldiers being killed in combat as its forces pushed into Lebanon.

What has Iran got to do with all of this? Iran has probably crossed many a red line in supporting, arming, and providing safe haven for terrorists such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthi’s of Yemen, in an anti-Israel stance known as ‘The Iran–Israel proxy conflict, The Iran–Israel proxy war or Iran–Israel Cold War. In the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Iran has supported Lebanese Shia militias- the Hezbollah. In the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Iran has backed Palestinian groups-the Hamas.

In turn, Israel has supported Iranian rebels, such as the People’s Mujaheedin of Iran, conducted airstrikes against Iranian allies in Syria and assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists in a long history of tit-for-tat tactics.

Israel’s Prime Minster made a direct appeal to the people of Iran to throw out their tyrant rulers and work towards peace with Israel. But then someone else seems to have heard-got the opposite message-and on Tuesday Iran dispatched about 200 ballistic missiles into Israel, earning the wrath of Israel and the world. The war now grows in yet another direction.

Israel countered the aggression of the ‘Iran missile rain’ with perfect activation and synchronisation of its famous missile defence systems: The Iron Dome detonated the short range missiles within the 70 km range; The David’s Sling system dealt with the mid-range missiles up to about 300 km; and then the Arrow system, which can literally detonate missiles that can fly outside of the earth’s atmosphere in a range of about 2,400 km! The United Kingdom and the United States fell behind Israel and helped shoot-down some of Iran’s missiles.There were no deaths reported on the Israel side except for a lone Palestinian, in the West Bank.

Iran is definitely a menace in the region – a nation gone astray. They need to be dealt with, in a calibrated and wise manner. Maybe Israel (and the US) are upto the task this time around. Meanwhile, the world waits for Israel’s ‘promised’ response.

Towards the end of the week, in yet another attack, Israel not only eliminated Hezbollah’s new leader, but also the entire Shura Council, the committee that nominates Hezbollah leaders.

US Elections: Debates

This Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate between running-mates, Republican J D Vance and Democrat Tim Walz felt like a civil and relatively restrained conversation about the issues at the top of American voters’ minds going into the 5th November election. In that, it was unlike the two fiery presidential debates earlier this year.

If Vance was picked because he puts ideological meat on the bones of Trump’s conservative populism, during the debate he put a polite, humble face on them, as well. And the debate’s lasting impact may be to convince members of his party that the young, only 40 years old, Ohio Senator has a future in national conservative politics, given his ability to clearly advance their ideological priorities on the brightest of stages.

The overall view was that Vance trumped over Walz and made meat of him.

India’s State Elections

Elections in India’s State of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) ended on 1st October, which was the third and last phase for the 90 member Legislature. The first was on 18th September and the second on 25th September. Counting of votes will be on 8th October. This is the first assembly election since J&K’s special status was revoked and fully integrated with the rest of India. However, J&K remains a union territory and statehood is expected to happen sometime after the assembly elections.

The State of Haryana goes to the Polls in a single phase on 5th October for 90 seats. Counting of votes will also be on 8th October.

It’s a coincidence that it’s 90 seats in both States. Going by opinion polls the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-at the Centre-is unlikely to win in any of these States. Despite the fact that in J&K, it should be rewarded for bringing back peace after abrogation of J&K’s special status under Article 370 of India’s Constitution. In Haryana anti-incumbency again the ruling BJP is high. The results could be knocking.

Elections seem to be taking place all the time in India, and the Government is hell-bent on pushing through its new legislation of ‘One Nation One Election’ through the Parliament benches and making it law. That’s a work in progress.

Hurricane Helene Devastates

Hurricane Helene, a large, deadly, catastrophic, and fast-moving tropical cyclone, the strongest on record to strike the Big Bend region of Florida devastated parts of southeastern United States(US). It is the eighth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Helene developed gradually from a mid-September disturbance in the western Caribbean Sea within a broad area of low pressure known as the Central American gyre. And then Helene moved inland for the kill.

Some of Helene’s deadliest, most catastrophic flooding unfolded in western North Carolina. It turned the western part of the state into a ‘post-apocalyptic’ landscape.

At least 130 people have died across six states and the death toll can rise. Many more remain missing, perhaps unable to leave their location or unable to contact family where communications infrastructure has been washed away.

Among the demolished towns was the tiny hamlet of Bat Cave, about 160 km west of Charlotte, where in what climate scientists are describing as a 1,000-year event, the Broad River rose to unprecedented levels, washed away homes and broke through the town’s bridge. “It’s so overwhelming. You don’t even know how to fathom what recovery looks like, let alone where to start,” said a survivor.

SpaceX Docks with ISS

This week, SpaceX’s Dragon Spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), and when it returns after a few months it is expected to bring back stranded Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore. The incoming spacecraft had two astronauts in the driver’s seat(s), with ‘space’ for the returning two.

Astronauts Nick Hague, the Dragon Crew 9 commander and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, the Crew 9 mission specialist were given a ‘weightless welcome’ when they met the others on the Space Station, after crossing over.

The space station’s population has temporarily increased to 11 after this Sunday saw the arrival of Crew 9. The orbital residents spent Monday unpacking Dragon and handing over mission responsibilities as the next quartet prepares to return to Earth.

More docking stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Weigh the world more with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-41

About: the world this week, 8 October to 14 October 2023; Unfathomable terror unleashed on Israel; Afghanistan’s Earthquake; Nobel Prizes; Asian Games close and Cricket World Cup begins.

Everywhere

Israel Under Attack

Last Saturday, 7th October it was the Jewish Sabbah in Israel and also a holy festival day-the Sukkot. Families usually gather to spend time together, at home or in a synagogue, and friends just meet over for a chat. This year, excited music-lovers were looking forward to the Supernova Music Festival, held in the desert, in Southern Israel to coincide with the Sukkot. It was billed as ‘a journey of unity and love’ with ‘mind-blowing and breath-taking content’ in a place of stunning beauty. Thousands of young people signed up for the party but were not told of the exact location until a few hours before. It was Kibbutz Re’im, about 5 kilometres (km) from the Israel-Gaza border.

But out of the dawn sky, a hail of rockets signalled the start of an attack that, as it unfolded, was unprecedented in its scale and coordination. Shortly thereafter a steady stream of rockets began to rain on Israel. For years, Israel has fortified the border between itself and the small Palestinian enclave of Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas-the Islamist militant organisation. But within hours, its impenetrability was exposed as flawed.

As the rockets rained, about 5000 of them, Hamas- designated as a terrorist group by the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), European Union, among others – was gathering terrorists where they had planned to penetrate the heavily fortified Gaza-Israel barrier. And within hours, the barrier had been breached again and again in several coordinated, direct assaults on barrier crossing points. And Hamas tried to bypass the barrier completely, including by flying over it on paragliders in the air, and also by boat in the sea.

Hamas terrorists swept out of Gaza in all directions into Israel, assaulted 27 different locations, apparently with orders to kill on sight. The furthest Hamas penetrated was to the town of Ofakim, which lies about 22 km east of Gaza.

Hamas posted the first images from the ground, taken at Kerem Shalom – the most southern of Gaza’s crossings: Terrorists overrunning a check point and the bloodied bodies of two Israeli soldiers on the ground; at least five motorbikes, each carrying two Terrorists armed with rifles, passing through a hole which had been cut in the wire fence section of the barrier; Israeli soldiers being pulled-out of a destroyed tank; one very disturbing video of a woman, whose lifeless and undressed body, face-down – later identified as German citizen Shani Louk- dumped on the back of a pick-up truck and human savages sprawled around her; another of a blood-soaked woman being dragged and pushed into a car.

At the music festival near Re’im, gunmen were firing at will at the large group of young people who had gathered to party and dance. The terrorists had a van loaded with weapons and spent hours searching the area for other Israelis. Hostages were taken from the festival and other locations and transported back into Gaza. Israel says more than 150 Israelis have been abducted and are being kept as hostages. Within just a few hours of the attack, hundreds of Israelis were dead. And it happened in a way no one thought was even possible.

Help was beginning to arrive to the stricken southern region of Israel within a few hours, but Hamas was in effective control of a large swathe of territory.

The speed and deadliness of the surprise attack stunned Israel. Questions over how it was able to happen will be asked for years.

It is completely unprecedented that a terrorist organisation would have the capacity or the wherewithal to mount coordinated, simultaneous assaults from the air, sea, and land. In addition, Hamas possessing the ability to keep its preparations unknown from a country like Israel that has among the most sophisticated intelligence services in the world strongly suggests that it had external state support, advice, and guidance in the planning and execution of the attack on Israel. Iran, accordingly, will be strongly suspected of being behind this.

Israel acknowledged it was ‘surprised’, but quickly got into the act of defending itself and began ferociously attacking the Gaza Strip. It declared it was at War with Hamas and called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists. And vowed a deadly retaliation under ‘Operation Iron Swords’. Hamas in turn threatened to execute an Israeli captive for every Israeli bombing of a civilian house without warning.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a military operation that will be both massive and decisive, with the intention of permanently destroying and disabling Hamas’ ability to attack Israel again.

By the end of the week, after Israel regained control of areas invaded by Hamas, the horrors of Hamas’ attack on border communities and Kibbutz Beeri began emerging. And they are beyond human comprehension.

Children were found butchered, decapitated in a kibbutz, people were mercilessly burnt alive in cars, or hounded into bomb shelters and just blasted with grenades thrown-in. Our eyes see but our hearts refuse to believe that human beings can be capable of such savage cruelty – an inconceivable slaughter of hundreds of civilians in their own homes and at the scene of a party, the abduction of civilians, children, and the elderly, and sadistic psychological abuse of families.

Israel said, and at least 1300 civilians and soldiers were killed during the heinous terrorist attack. A further 3000 people were injured. This was the most harrowing murder of jews since the Holocaust – genocide of 6 million jews during World War-II by Hitler’s Nazi’s.

Then began the strike-back on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with Israel vowing to eliminate every Hamas terrorist. Israel pounded the Gaza with precision air-strikes taking down known Hamas hideouts, buildings and facilities. Israel cut-off water, power, and fuel supplies to Gaza, and its only power plant ran out of fuel plunging Gaza City into darkness. Israel has amassed its troops on the border with Gaza and is preparing for, possibly the deadliest assault on a terrorist group. And this Friday it issued a warning to civilians of Gaza City to evacuate – within 24 hours- to the southern part of the Gaza, south of Wadi Gaza, beyond the Gaza river so that civilians are not trapped in the War. That’s about 1.1 million people to move out.

Gaza has a population of about 2.3 million living in five areas called: North Gaza, Gaza City, Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah. The Gaza Strip is an area of 365 sq.km – about 41km long and 10km wide. There are actually two layers of Gaza, one- on the surface is the civilian community and two- below the surface in a maze of tunnels, forbidden to civilians where live the Hamas from where they carry our their nefarious activities and launch attacks on Israel. Hamas has deliberately embedded itself in every aspect of civilian life in homes with the tunnels running below mosques, schools, and markets, making them vulnerable military targets. They use civilians as shield and pawns in their fight against Israel – as a standard practice.

The US was quick to announce support sending arms and ammunition – especially refills for for Israel’s famous Iron Dome, which destroys incoming Hamas Rockets. The USS Gerald Ford Carrier Strike Group, which is the largest warship in the world was despatched to the Mediterranean Sea. The UK is also sending two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean in plans to bolster security. Support for Israel poured in from many countries, including India, unequivocally condemning the ravenous killing by Hamas as an inadmissible act of terror. Even Afghanistan’s ‘deadly and unforgiving’ Taliban has condemned the terrorist act of Hamas.

Hamas too got its share of ‘uncivilised’ support, around the world-more on that next week.

What and who are Hamas, how did they come to be? But first, a bit about Islam to understand the fundamentals.

After the death of Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in the year 632, a group of Muslims, who would come to be known as Sunnis, believed that Muhammad’s successor as Caliph of the Islamic community should be Abu Bakr, whereas a second group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Shias, believed that his successor should be Ali.

Abu Bakr is the father-in-law of the Prophet through his daughter Aisha. He is known as the first Caliph – Al-Siddiq – of the Rashidun (rightly guided, perfect) Caliphate (an institution), which is the successor state to the Prophet’s domains. Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law of the Prophet, was the last Caliph of the Caliphate. He was also a senior companion of the Prophet and considered to be the first Imam, the rightful political and religious successor to Muhammed. The Rashidun Caliphate was successively ruled by Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali – the last.

The vast majority of Muslims in various counties are Sunni Muslims with the Shia’s being about 10% of the Muslim community. Typical Shia majority countries are Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Bharain. All others are predominantly Sunni.

The Quran is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believed it represents the words of God revealed by archangel Gabriel to Muhammad. Angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Archangels are the second level angels in the hierarchy of Angels. Gabriel is an archangel with the power to announced God’s will to men. That’s the religious background.

Now, about Hamas.

Hamas, officially the Islamic Resistance Movement was founded in 1987 by Palestinian politician, Ahmed Yassin. Its name is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya and is primarily a Sunni Islamist political and militant organization. It emerged out of the Mujama al-Islamiya (also founded by Yassin), which had been established in Gaza in 1973 as a religious charity involved with the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood. This was shortly after the first intifada – uprising, rebellion- against Israel. Yassin also created the Islamic University of Gaza, which is considered a hotbed of radicalism. This has since been destroyed and raised to the ground in the Israeli air-strikes, early this week.

The Hamas Covenant or Hamas Charter was originally issued in August 1988 and outlines the founding identity, stand, and aims of Hamas. A new charter was issued by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in May 2017.

The original Charter identified Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and declares its members to be Muslims who ‘fear God and raise the banner of Jihad in the face of the oppressors’. The charter states, among other extremist things, the following: ‘our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious’ and calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic state in Palestine in place of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and the obliteration or dissolution of Israel; there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad; Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavours; Hamas is humanistic, and tolerant of other religions as long as they ‘stop disputing the sovereignty of Islam in this region’. The Charter adds that, ‘renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion of Islam’. The original charter was criticised for its violent language against all Jews, and an incitement to genocide.

Mahmoud Zahar, co-founder of Hamas, said in 2006 that Hamas “will not change a single word in its covenant.” In 2010, he reaffirmed a major commitment of the covenant saying, “Our ultimate plan is to have Palestine in its entirety. I say this loud and clear so that nobody will accuse me of employing political tactics. We will not recognise the Israeli enemy.” In summary, Hamas rejects Israel’s right to exist.

Hamas became increasingly involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict by the late 1990s; it opposed the Israel–Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Letters of Mutual Recognition as well as the Oslo Accords, which saw Hamas’ secular rival Fatah renounce ‘the use of terrorism and other acts of violence’ and recognise Israel in pursuit of a two-state solution. Hamas continued to advocate Palestinian armed resistance to end what it calls ‘Israeli occupation’. Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, gaining a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, and subsequently took control of Gaza Strip from Fatah in 2007.

Since 2007, Hamas has fought several wars with Israel. The Hamas government has pushed through changes that gave greater influence to Islamic law in the Gaza Strip. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. It has spent its entire time and money in building an arsenal to fight Israel.

Many Western countries and their allies have designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation, citing their usage of human shields; methods of hostage-taking of civilians; and history of violence against non-combatants, including massacres of civilian populations, suicide bombings, and indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli population centres. However, a 2018 attempt to condemn Hamas for ‘acts of terror’ at the United Nations failed.

Hamas is currently governing the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories. While it is headquartered in Gaza City, it also has a presence in the West Bank (the larger of the two Palestinian territories), in which Fatah exercises control. It is widely considered to be the ‘dominant political force’ within the Palestinian territories. Its main political rivals are Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah.

On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched a major armed campaign dubbed ‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ against Israel, which resulted in the present barbaric terrorist outrage on Israel.

Going back into history.

The region of Palestine or the land of Israel was among the earliest civilisations in the world. During the Iron Age, 1200 BCE to 600 BCE, two related Kingdoms ruled much of Palestine-the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. A third called the Philistines occupied its southern coast. For a deeper understanding and the genesis of Israel-Palestine Conflict read:

https://kumargovindan.com/2021/05/15/world-inthavaaram-2021-20/

The inhumane, merciless killings of Jews by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists is akin to the mobile killing units of the Nazi Einsatzgruppen, which also went into villages to exterminate Jews during the Holocaust, and the ‘pogroms’ waged against Jews in the Russian Empire. Israel appears to be in no mood to be magnanimous about the murderers of innocents, including children and the elderly. And has vowed to finish the War on its terms. Israel have even right to defend itself living in close proximity to Hamas whose sole objective is Israel’s destruction.

Afghanistan’s Earthquake

Last Saturday was deadly in other ways.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday 40 km west of the oasis City of Herat – the third largest in Afghanistan, and the capital of the western Herat Province.

More than 2,000 people have died as the nation reels from another quake at a time of deep economic crisis. The number killed is about 2400 people, with more 1300 hurt and 1,320 houses completely or partially destroyed. The toll could rise further.

The initial quake was also felt in neighbouring provinces of Badghis and Farah and was followed by multiple aftershocks.

Afghanistan has suffered significant damage from a series of recent earthquakes amid an ongoing dire economic and hunger crises, killing and displacing tens of thousands. The country has long been one of Asia’s poorest and has been ravaged by conflict for decades. But its ability to respond to natural disasters has been further hampered since the Taliban seized power in 2021 following the chaotic US withdrawal, an event that saw many international aid groups pull out.

It also led to Washington and its allies freezing about USD seven billion of the country’s foreign reserves and cutting off international funding. The situation has crippled an economy already heavily dependent on aid.

Noble Prizes

Last week the winners of Nobel Prize in Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace were announced.

This week, the Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 was awarded to Norwegian author Jon Fosse, ‘for his innovative plays and prose, which give voice to the unsayable’. His immense oeuvre written in the language Norwegian Nynorsk and spanning a variety of genres consists of a wealth of plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations. While he is today one of the most widely performed playwrights in the world, he has also become increasingly recognised for his prose.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023 was awarded to America’s Claudia Goldin ‘for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes’.

Claudia Goldin, provided the first comprehensive account of women’s earnings and labour market participation through the centuries, presenting new and often surprising facts. Women’s choices have often been, and remain, limited by marriage and responsibility for the home and family is at the heart of her analyses and explanatory models. She uncovered key drivers of gender differences in the labour market.

Over the past century, the proportion of women in paid work has tripled in many high-income countries. This is one of the biggest societal and economic changes in the labour market in modern times, but significant gender differences remain. It was first in the 1980s that a researcher adopted a comprehensive approach to explaining the source of these differences.

Sports

Asian Games

The Asian Games came to a close this Sunday and India finished fourth in the overall medals tally with its best ever performance of 107 medals Gold-28; Silver-38; Bronze-41. Indian athletes were honoured and warmly received all over the country in various moments of celebrations.

China won 383 medals, Japan-188, and South Korea -190. Uzbekistan finished fifth, after India, with 71 medals.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

The 13th edition of the Men’s Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) is underway in India. It is the first men’s Cricket World Cup, which India is hosting solely. The tournament started on 5th October and is scheduled to conclude on 19th November. England are the defending champions.

Ten national teams are participating: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe. West Indies missing out on qualification for the first time in its history.

The tournament is taking place in ten different stadiums, in ten cities across India. The first and second semi-finals will be held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and Eden Gardens in Kolkata respectively, while the final will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.

More good and bad stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Heal with World Inthavaaram.