Despite a declared cease fire in the Israel-Gaza conflict, the cessation of hostilities between Hamas and Israel will not last. I have gathered as much information about the events that lead up to the conflict that occurred in the Middle East and not only was the combat between Hamas and Israel but also part of the struggle between Israel and Iran.

 

The events that lead up to Hamas missile attacks almost two weeks ago began in October when an Israeli jet bombed a weapons manufacturing plant in Khartoum, Sudan. According to The New York Times, the country has been part of a supply route for Hamas and I would not be surprised if the facility that was taken out manufactured the very missiles used by Hamas to attack Israeli cities. One stark statement came from a foreign policy expert that shows a dual purpose. If Israel can attack a plant in Sudan (a predominately Muslim country) undetected that should mean something to the Iranians he said.

 

Hamas is licking it's chops and awaiting a time to strike again and obviously attacked Israel retaliating on behalf of Sudan for the bombing of a Sudanese weapons facility. Already reports are emerging of satellites detecting weapons being loaded onto Iranian vessels with rockets to be shipped to Gaza and after the cease fire was declared a rocket attack was conducted against Israel in which the country's military forces did not return fire.

 

Hamas is a group who openly calls for the death of all Jews and the destruction of Israel and is one of many organizations that is an outgrowth from the Muslim Brotherhood. The group's beginnings were the result of backlash on the part of some Gaza Islamists who perceived PLO leader Yasser Arafat as capitulating to Israel. When it was discovered by the Israeli military in 1979 Hamas presented itself as a charitable organization and Gaza occupation commanders did not consider the organization a threat at the time since the group was not involved in military-oriented activities.

 

In addition to also being financed by Iran, Hamas was also involved not only in charity but also able to spread it's fundamentalist ideology via religious instruction. As a result of their activities the group was able to build support among Gaza Palestinians in order to eventually grab control of the territory from Arafat's group also known as Fatah. Israeli forces made a stupid mistake of not scrutinizing Hamas more thoroughly and not trying to take the group down when they tangled with Arafat's Fatah faction in the 1990's. It was then that Hamas had revealed their military wing but Israel's main focus was to halt terrorism and other terrorist activities undertaken by the Arafat's Fatah PLO faction who was their main rival at the time.

 

Despite the declared truce, it did not stop terrorists from bombing a bus full of innocent Israeli civilians three days after it took effect which caused Gazans to celebrate. It has been found out Hamas used photos from Syria's conflict and Gaza civilians faked injuries as part of deceptive attempts to make Israel look bad in the court of public opinion. The Israeli Defense Forces website blog has a detailed account as to how Hamas and Islamic Jihad also use journalism as a means to cover for their terrorist activities. In one instance, senior Islamic Jihad operatives took over the second floor of a civilian building in Gaza used by major media television and radio networks to use as a meeting place while holding civilian personnel hostage in an attempt to use them as human shields. The IDF further points out, that in some cases terrorists will paint the letters TV on the hoods of their cars in an attempt to disguise themselves as journalists but when Israeli forces see through the deception, Palestinians falsely claim Israel kills innocent journalists.

 

As it turns out, Hamas broke a cease fire agreement they had with Israel during mid-November prior to the reported conflict and (if history is any guide) will resume their attacks soon. This is what happens when you negotiate with terrorists, which is what Israel and the United States have done for decades. I must echo the sentiments expressed recently expressed by Mosab Hassan Yousef, who is the son of one of the founders of Hamas and worked undercover for a number of years for Israel's security agency Shin Bet after he defected in 2010. Yousef rightly, points out that the country's cease fire with Hamas was a mistake. Israel should defend itself and simultaneously end its appeasement of its enemies by committing to wiping them out once and for all.