Who’s Secretly Behind Israel’s Power?

On 27 September 2024, in New York, during the United Nations General Assembly, when it was the turn of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give his speech, more than half of the diplomats protested by turning their backs on him and walking out of the assembly. The message was very clear: they were protesting Israel’s bombing in Gaza and Lebanon.

But what was the benefit of this walkout? After that, Israel even started attacks on Yemen. If we talk only about Gaza, during the past year more than 42,000 innocent people have been killed, including women and children, and millions have become homeless.

The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have warned Israel many times that this war could take a very dangerous turn. The world saw a glimpse of this on 1 October 2024, when Iran fired 200 ballistic missiles at Israel from a distance of 1,800 km.

Despite warnings, the world has still been unable to stop Israel.

Before understanding Israel’s real strength, it is important to understand the current situation. The issue between Israel and Palestine has existed since before either state officially came into existence.

The root of the problem is long and complex, but the current situation is that Palestinians have been pushed into a small territory called the Gaza Strip. This territory covers only 360 square kilometers. It is very difficult to leave or enter Gaza.

One side is the Mediterranean Sea, one side borders Egypt, and the other two sides are surrounded by Israel. Only essential goods are allowed to enter, and that too only when Israel allows it. Because of this, the international community often calls Gaza the largest open-air prison in the world.

At present, Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which is a militant group. In October last year, Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israel, after which Israel launched a military response that continues even today.

The people suffering the most in this war are the civilians of Gaza. More than 42,000 people have been killed, including many children. Thousands are injured, and millions have lost their homes. Gaza, which was once a city, now looks like a huge pile of rubble.

Israel says it carried out these attacks to eliminate the militant group Hamas and will continue doing so. But critics question this claim. Gaza had a population of about 5 million in 2017, so how could 42,000 people—about 8% of the population—be militants?

To escape Israeli attacks, some Gaza residents try to flee to Lebanon. However, this journey is extremely difficult. They must first go through Egypt, then cross the Red Sea to Jordan, then travel through Syria, and finally reach Lebanon.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah has strong influence. Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed militant group that also helps Hamas.

Hezbollah emerged during the Lebanese Civil War in the 1980s, when Israel occupied southern Lebanon. To fight Israel, an armed group was formed that later became known as Hezbollah. Eventually, it forced Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and became a powerful political and military force in the country. Some experts even say Hezbollah is stronger than the Lebanese army.

Since its creation, Hezbollah has remained a major threat to Israel, and clashes between the two happen frequently.

After the attacks on Gaza last year, Hezbollah openly declared support for the Palestinians. This created a new problem for Israel. Attacking Gaza was easier, but confronting Hezbollah in Lebanon was much harder.

Experts believe Israel needed a major reason to directly attack Lebanon. Around 17–18 September 2024, more than 3,000 pagers and radio sets belonging to Hezbollah exploded simultaneously. Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attack and fired rockets toward Israel.

This gave Israel the opportunity it needed. Israel immediately started airstrikes in southern Lebanon, forcing thousands of people to leave their homes. During this operation, Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah was killed.

Meanwhile, many countries around the world tried to stop the conflict from worsening. Several countries criticized Israel. Humanitarian aid for Gaza was also announced globally.

For example, according to Reuters, on 30 September 2024 the United States announced aid for Palestinians in Gaza. On 7 March 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden announced building a military port to deliver aid to Gaza. Later, USAID also announced $53 million in emergency assistance.