Gaza War 2014. Hamas' Response towards Israel in Times of Cold Peace

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 2,3, University of Bamberg, language: English, abstract: Since the establishment of an Israeli state on May 14, 1948, there has been conflict between the Israeli and the Palestinian people.The conflict was fueled by Israel s occupation of the historic regions of Palestine in 1967, which included the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are controlled by Israel. Today many Palestinian refugees are still suffering under the military pressure and of the blockades of the borders by Israel.§It is not surprising that the Palestinian people want to free themselves from the occupation by Israel and establish their own autonomous state. That is why the "Palestine Liberation Organization", was established in 1969 that saw a military fight and the destruction of Israel as the only options for liberating Palestine at that time. In 1974, the PLO indirectly recognized Israel as a state. The Arabic states liked the idea that a national authority should be established in the free parts of the Palestinian territories. Hence the Arabic States recognized the PLO as the only legitimate representation of the Palestinians.§Over time, many Palestinian parties were established such as Fatah, who articulated and transferred its interests through the PLO and constituted the government of the Palestinians before the elections in 2006. Hamas, as the major opponent of Fatah, which was listed as a terrorist organization by the international community until today, was elected as the (quasi) government in the Gaza Strip in 2006. Since then, tensions between Palestinians (respectively Hamas) and Israel increased. After the elections of Hamas, there have been several attacks by Israel and Hamas.§In November 2012, Israel and Hamas agreed on a ceasefire. However, both Israel and Hamas launched minor attacks against each other. In doing so, both have violated the agreements of the ceasefire, which still remained at that time. It can be said that a cold peace, existed between both Hamas and Israel. Until the outbreak of the Gaza War in 2014, there have been no major military operations by Israel and no major rocket attacks by Hamas. It can be said that a cold peace existed between both the Hamas and Israel. However, on June the 8th, 2014, Hamas fired large numbers of rockets into Israel and initiated the