Humanitarian Aid, Urban Warfare and Everything in Between: A 7-Minute Summary of the War Against Hamas

General Info:

• In the fall of 2023, Israel and Saudi Arabia stood on the brink of signing a normalization treaty with the potential of bringing progress and prosperity to the region.
• On October 7, Hamas launched a barbaric attack on Israel to derail this treaty, as it contradicted its charter calling for the destruction of Israel. 
• October 7 made it clear to Israel and its allies that Hamas must be dismantled. 
• Hamas had been preparing for Oct. 7 for over 16 years and amassed a trained force of over 30,000 fighters and an arsenal of over 20,000 rockets, anti-tank missiles, and attack drones.
• Hamas diverted millions of dollars and vast amounts of construction materials, all donated, to dig one of the most intricate combat tunnel systems in human history underneath entire civilian neighborhoods.

Ground Operations:

• The IDF was forced to launch a ground operation in Gaza to rescue the hostages and dismantle Hamas. 
• Conducting operations in one of the most densely populated areas on earth is challenging, especially since Hamas embeds itself within and under civilian neighborhoods and fights in civilian clothing. 

Minimizing Civilian Harm:

• The IDF decided on two essential humanitarian steps to be taken:

1. Encouraging Gaza’s civilian population to temporarily relocate from their homes for their safety, separating them from Hamas operatives
2. Facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid for the relocated civilians relocated.

• The residents of each neighborhood where the IDF intends to operate receive multiple warnings:

1. Alerts using both traditional broadcasters and social media channels in Arabic 
2. Airdropped leaflets 
3. Direct text messages and personal calls to residents

• We use intelligence from IAF aircraft, open-source intelligence and cellular location tracking data to build a real-time picture of the remaining population density in each area and point out buildings that house civilians who have not yet evacuated.
• A color-coded map (refer to video) is then used to plan the IDF's upcoming maneuvers. As a result of these efforts, countless lives have and are being saved.
• Over 1 million Gazans moved south via two designated humanitarian corridors leading to the humanitarian zone.

Humanitarian Aid

• A complete logistics system had to be created with the outbreak of the war. representatives from Israel, the United States, Egypt, and the UN convened to create a large-scale humanitarian aid operation to maximize the amount of aid transported into Gaza.
• Aid docks at Al-Arish port in Egypt is delivered to the Rafah border crossing where preliminary inspections are conducted by Egypt, transferred to the Nitsana crossing for Israeli inspection. The convoy then returns to the Rafah crossing where the goods are loaded onto trucks responsible for delivering them into Gaza. 
• These joint actions enabled a 1000% surge in the daily aid volume,
• Food transferred feeds over half a million people daily and exceeds a million during operational pauses.

Water

• Trucks carrying fresh water enter daily, as well as fuel supplies to keep the water distillation facilities running. 
• Two Israeli water pipelines damaged by Hamas on October 7th were reopened, and a new Emirati pipeline was built now allowing over 33 million liters of fresh water to flow daily.

Medical

• Extensive medical aid infrastructure is provided through four large field hospitals, with four more being established and two medical ships docked at the Al-Arish port to support the field hospitals and allow for staff rotation.
• Israel facilitates the movement of international medical teams in and out of Gaza and supports the evacuation of patients requiring specialized care.

Logistics:

• Over 11,000 tons of shelter equipment, including tents, mattresses, blankets, and hygiene products have been delivered recently. 
• Israel doubled the entry and inspection points by opening Kerem Shalom Crossing. 
• The war against Hamas is a fight for Israel's right to exist in peace, for Western values, and freedom from brutal terrorism against both Israelis and Gazans.
• Israel is going to extreme lengths to mitigate harm to civilians and is calling on the international community to increase humanitarian aid being sent to Gaza.
• Israel is fully committed to facilitating and supporting all humanitarian efforts by the international community while working to free the Israeli hostages, dismantle Hamas, and bring hope for a better future for the people of the Middle East.