Gaza War (2008–2009) in the context of "Timeline of the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict"

The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (an acronym from the Arabic: حركة المقاومة الإسلامية, romanized: Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah), is a Sunni Islamist Palestinian nationalist political organisation with a military wing known as the al-Qassam Brigades. It has governed the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007.

The Hamas movement was founded by Palestinian Islamic scholar Ahmed Yassin in 1987, after the outbreak of the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation. It emerged from his 1973 Mujama al-Islamiya Islamic charity affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Initially, Hamas was discreetly supported by Israel, as a counter-balance to the secular Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) to prevent the creation of an independent Palestinian state. In the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas secured a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council by campaigning on promises of a corruption-free government and advocating for resistance as a means to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation. In the 2007 Battle of Gaza, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from rival Palestinian faction Fatah. It has since governed the territory separately from the Palestinian National Authority, and has been criticized for human rights violations. After Hamas's takeover, Israel significantly intensified existing movement restrictions and imposed a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip. Egypt also began its blockade of Gaza at this time. This was followed by multiple wars with Israel, including those in 2008–09, 2012, 2014, 2021, and an ongoing one since 2023, which began with the October 7 attacks.

Israel has faced international criticism since its establishment in 1948 relating to a variety of issues, many of which are centered around human rights violations in its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israel has been criticized for issues surrounding its establishment when most of Mandatory Palestine's Arab population fled or were expelled in 1948, the conduct of its armed forces in the Arab–Israeli conflict, establishment and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, its treatment of Palestinians, and the blockade of the Gaza Strip, with its impact on the economy of the Palestinian territories, the country's nuclear weapons program, and its targeted killings program. Other criticized long-standing issues include: the refusal to allow post-war Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, and the prolonged occupation of territories gained in war and the construction of settlements therein. Israel's status as a representative democracy has also been questioned because Israeli residents of the occupied territories are allowed to vote in Israel's elections while Palestinian residents are not, leading to accusations of apartheid.

The Iran–Israel proxy conflict, also known as the Iran–Israel Cold War, is an ongoing proxy war between Iran and Israel. In the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Iran has supported Lebanese Shia militias, most notably Hezbollah. In the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Iran has backed Palestinian groups such as Hamas. Israel has supported Iranian rebels, conducted airstrikes against Iranian allies in Syria, assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists, and directly attacked Iranian forces in Syria. In 2024 the proxy war escalated to a series of direct confrontations between the two countries, and in June 2025, the Iran–Israel war began, involving the United States.

Motivated by the periphery doctrine, Imperial Iran and Israel had close relations, seeing Arab powers as a common threat. After the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran cut off relations, but covert ties continued during the subsequent Iran–Iraq War. Iran trained and armed Hezbollah to resist the Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, and continued to back Shia militias throughout the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. Even before 1979, Iranian Islamists had materially supported the Palestinians; after 1979 Iran attempted relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization, and later with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Israel fought a war with Hezbollah in 2006. Israel has fought several wars with Palestinians in and around the Gaza Strip: in 2008–2009, 2012, 2014, 2021 and since 2023. The 1982 Lebanon War and Gaza war have been the deadliest wars of the Arab–Israeli conflict.