The Palestinians are an Arab national group from the Southern Levant, predominantly the modern State of Israel.
Palestinians are predominantly Sunni Muslims, thought there are a minority of Christian and Shia Palestinians, as well as Druze and Samaritians that identify as Palestinian. There is dispute about when the Palestinian identity coalesced, be it in the post- or pre-war periods, and if it was an internal development or in direct response to the zionist movement.
The war that established Israel between Jewish and Arab forces resulted in a mass displacement of Palestinian Arabs. There is a significant diaspora of Palesitnians, especially in neighbouring Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. 20% of Israeli citizens are Arabs, of which many also identify as Palestinian. Many Diaspora Palesitnians, as well as those from families displaced from beyond the 1948 armistice lines, identify as refugees.
Many Palestinian political movements lay claim to all the land of Israel as the future Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority is one of the pirmary bodies that governs the Palestinians, with varying degrees of control in the West Bank. Palestinians have autonomy in Gaza, which is under the rule of Hamas.
The Hamas decision to launch the unprecedented massacre of October 7 was an attempt to launch a first strike that could change the region.
Rival faction accuses Hamas of bringing upon a ‘worst catastrophe than 1948,’ pointing out the bloody 2007 coup and wondering if Hamas would be interested in appointing a Prime Minister from Iran.
The criticism extended beyond the procurement decision to broader actions and statements by Antwerp's mayor, aligning the city with Israeli interests in ways that Mertens and the PVDA find troubling.
The United States, Israel's main ally, and other countries have called on Israel to allow in more humanitarian aid.
That is because those two things are not mutually exclusive, as many would have you believe today, both on the Right and Left.
Instead of elections, Athenian democracy used a simple random draw among citizens (known as “sortition”).
Israel applied for the man's extradition, but his lawyer opposed the request, presenting reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on prison conditions for Palestinians held in Israel.
Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli, sending aid by ground was easier, cheaper, and more effective.
“For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy. For Hamas, every civilian death is a strategy,” he said.
As of Monday, since the beginning of the war, 16,405 trucks of humanitarian aid were inspected and transferred to the Gaza Strip.