News about the war between Palestinian and  Israeli forces continues to dominate international headlines. An article from CNN addresses the United States’ involvement, and how many people of the U.S. support the Palestinian civilians. Palestine and Israel have fought five total wars so far, with the current one being the fifth.        

     This  current war started  Oct. 7, 2023, with Israel against the Hamas’ military movement in the Gaza Strip. The new movement of Hamas, or as world history teacher Mr. Mark Filiaggi describes them, “similar to a terrorist group which rallied support in the Gaza strip of Palestine.” Hamas has been an increasing problem in the tension between Palestine and Israel. 

     In October, when the war first started, it was Hamas that attacked Israel. Filiaggi explains that in the attack, “Over 1000 people died or more. They kidnapped and held hostages, and that was bad; you knew the Israelis were going to do something back.” At first, he describes that he was on Israel’s side because of the attacks that were done on them. They “had the right mindset” of trying to get rid of Hamas because of all the destruction. However, he describes, “A ton of civilians are caught in the crossfire. They are causing a lot of harm to civilians; there could have been a more diplomatic way.” 

     Concerning the United States’ involvement, the U.S. and Israel have been allies for a long time now. This allyship has not been halted since any of the wars; in 2023, the United States donated money to Israel to fund the war. However, due to recent media attention and support for innocent Palestinians, the United States has dropped food and medical supplies to the citizens. However, Filiaggi says that “lots of these supplies are not making it at a speed well enough to supply citizens. The Israelis are thoroughly checking each one or potentially holding back some of these trucks, leading to controversy.” 

     He adds “ It gets confusing to see who is in the right or the wrong because of all the factors included. Hamas is what the Israelis are against, but what about the citizens in the middle and the land that is slowly shrinking?”

    The management of the war is up for debate amongst the public . Filiaggi says “ The root of the problem is the extremist Muslim group, and I understand the need to get rid of them. However, the way this is happening is not successful. It would be better if it happened from the inside out or getting the support for Hamas to stop, and give more citizens more power.”