The weekend’s violence throughout Israel and Gaza — which has left more than 1000 people dead and resulted in declarations of war — is another deadly chapter in the 75-year conflict over the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East.

Hamas, an Islamic and Palestinian nationalist group that has never recognised the existence of Israel, launched the lightning strike from the Gaza Strip on the weekend, by attacking both civilian and military targets, launching thousands of rockets, taking hostages and killing hundreds in the process.

Israel responded with retributive missile strikes on more than 800 targets, which also killed civilians, and a declaration of war against Hamas, with a major military operation in the Gaza Strip now inevitable.

“Citizens of Israel, we are at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

“Not in an operation, not in rounds – at war.”

Mohammed Deif, the Hamas military commander in Gaza, called the attacks “the day of the great revolution”, and urged other Arab countries and groups to join the war.

The attack

The attack, dubbed the ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ by Hamas, follows weeks of tensions at the border and fighting in the Israel-controlled West Bank.

The tiny Gaza Strip — totalling just 45 square kilometres — is home to more than 600,000 people, and early on Saturday morning more than 3200 rockets were launched towards Israel from within its borders.

Using drones and paragliders, Hamas militants overwhelmed checkpoints and military bases from land, sea and air during the Simchat Torah holiday and on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest, catching Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) unaware and easily avoiding Israel’s extensive surveillance capabilities and border security.

Israel immediately launched strikes against the Gaza strip in the wake of the attack which killed more than 700 Israelis, indiscriminately firing on civilians and military targets alike, before mobilising IDF troops to expel Hamas fighters still in Israeli territory.

Palestinians inspect the destroyed surrounding of the Palestine Tower after Israeli warplanes targeted it in Gaza City. Photo: AAP

Nearly 200 Palestinians have died this year in military raids by Israel and more than 400 died since the Hamas attack on Saturday.

Captured and dead Israelis have been paraded across Gaza, including a German national, with more than 260 people killed at a nearby music festival.

Hamas is not a fringe group in Gaza and enjoys popular support, controlling a majority in the State of Palestine’s limited government.

Israel Katz, the Israeli Minister for Energy, announced the country’s state-run electricity company will stop supplying energy to the Gaza Strip, and food relief for the Palestinian population —who are some of the poorest in the world — has been cut off.

History repeating

The attack occurred on the 50th anniversary of another surprise attack against Israel in 1973, and since the establishment of the Jewish state war has broken out periodically, including a 50-day war between Palestine and Israel in 2014.

The post-World War II carve-up of territory by the victorious Allies and the establishment of a Jewish state forms the immediate context for 75 years of conflict between Israel and its immediate neighbours, but ownership of the region and Jerusalem has spurred wars for thousands of years.

The two-state solution and the creation of the Israeli nation in 1948 resulted in an almost instantaneous declaration of war from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Palestinian insurgents, known as the first Arab-Israeli War.

The Israeli victory resulted in 700,000 Palestinians either fleeing or being expelled from their homelands, and the country has regularly gone to war to protect its existence from other Middle Eastern countries and Palestine.

Today, Israel controls a vastly greater area than what was originally agreed upon under the two-state solution, and —alongside its greatest ally the United States — the country has been working to normalise relations with traditional adversaries in the region like Saudi Arabia.

Both sides of the conflict have committed war crimes by targeting civilians.

Hamas has heavily employed suicide bombers in the past, and international observers have accused Israel of perpetuating an apartheid regime against Palestinians while occupying territory.

Continued conflict also threatens to undo Israeli efforts to normalise relations with other Middle Eastern countries, who they have regularly warred with throughout the country’s existence.

International response

American President Joe Biden immediately reiterated his support for Israel, a bipartisan position in American politics, and the White House announced military aid will be provided to the country after at least four American citizens were killed in the Hamas attack.

The United States of America has provided $158 billion in military aid to Israel, and President Joe Biden has announced more is on the way. Photo: Getty

Hamas said the attack was backed by Iran.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi — who has supported Hamas with funding, intelligence and weapons — celebrated the attack.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the well-planned operation by Hamas was “unthinkable,” and Israel has “a right to defend itself”.

“There are different figures about how many people have been subject to be taken hostage, effectively as human hostages, and a real concern, of course, in Israeli response,” he said on ABC Radio.

“You’ve already seen horrific numbers, so more than six hundred Israelis killed in the initial action by Hamas and hundreds of people killed in Gaza as well. This is of real concern, but Hamas bears the responsibility for this.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong reiterated Australia’s support for Israel, and warned Australians not to travel to Gaza.

“We unequivocally condemn the indiscriminate rocket fire, the targeting of civilians and the taking of hostages, a particularly distressing and egregious act by Hamas,” she said.

“I don’t have any information at this stage about Australians hospitalised or injured or any fatalities.”