Context :

• West Asia has been engulfed in unrest and instability due to the horrific attack on Israel by Hamas, the terrorist organization that dominates the Gaza Strip.
• It is noteworthy that Palestine has fired 5 thousand rockets at Israel, in response to this the Israeli Army has started 'Operation Iron Swords' against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

 Background -

• Israel is a Jewish country while Palestine is a Muslim majority country ruled by Hamas.
• Let it be known that the conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on since before the establishment of Israel.
• Palestine and many Muslim countries refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, while both Israel and Palestine consider Jerusalem as their capital.
• The fight for occupation of Gaza and Jerusalem has been going on between these two countries for centuries.

 Key points:

• The attack is being said to be the deadliest attack on Israel since its creation in 1948.
• According to the United Nations report, more than 1 lakh 87 thousand people have been displaced from the Gaza Strip and this number is likely to increase.
• According to Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan, this is a clearly documented war crime.
• Erdan appealed to the international community to fully support Israel and condemn the actions of Hamas.

 India-Israel relations:

• India officially recognized Israel in the year 1950.
• Full diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on January 29, 1992.
• India is Israel's third largest trade partner in Asia and seventh largest trade partner globally.
• India is one of the largest importers of arms from Israel.
• It is noteworthy that India has been appealing to maintain peace in this region.

 India Palestine relations:

• India has been supporting the demands of Palestine since the beginning.
• In the year 1947, India was against the partition of Palestine.
• India supported the PLO and its leader Yasser Arafat in the 1970s.
• After this, in the year 1975, India became the first non-Arab country to recognize the PLO.
• In the year 1988, India formally recognized Palestine as a country.
• India also opened its representative office in Gaza after the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority in 1996.
• However, in 2003 it was shifted to 'Ramallah'.
• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas laid the foundation stone of the Palestinian Embassy building in New Delhi during his visit to India in 2008.

 Hamas

• Hamas is the most prominent Islamic extremist organization in the Palestinian territory.
• It was formed during the people's movement of 1987.
•   It is waging a struggle to remove Israeli forces from Palestinian areas.
• Hamas is particularly popular in the Gaza Strip.
• The influential spiritual leader of this organization is Sheikh Ahmed Yasin.

 India's stand :-

• At present India has good relations with both the countries. Therefore, India has been maintaining separate relations with both the countries for many years.
• In the present situation, where the world is divided into two parts on the Israel-Palestine issue, India, without joining any group, has strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas.

 Important Facts:

Israel

• Capital: Jerusalem
• Official language: Hebrew
• Continent: Asia
• Prime Minister: Benjamin Netanyahu

 Palestine

• Capitals: Jerusalem, Ramallah
• President: Mahmoud Abbas
• Prime Minister: Mohammad Shtayyeh