On Oct. 7 Hamas troops attacked Israel, causing Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu to declare counter-action against the group in the Gaza Strip region.

The Gaza Strip, according to Britannica, is not legally considered part of any current country. After World War II, the United Nations (UN) passed Resolution 181 in which Palestine was to be partitioned into the Israeli State and a Palestinian Arab state, of which the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip are a part. The original 1947 partition plan relegated 55% to a Jewish state, 42% to an Arab state and 3% to UN-administered Jerusalem.

Hamas is a militant group that rejects the country of Israel and wants to form a Palestinian state, according to ABC News. Hamas has been declared a terrorist group by the U.S., E.U. and the U.K. 

Recent accounts have described the brutality of the attacks on Israel, with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) calling the attacks in Kfar Aza a “massacre” and describing civilians as having been “butchered” by Hamas militants, according to CNN.

Israeli forces placed Gaza under total siege last week, prohibiting “water, food, medicine, gas or electricity” from crossing into or out of Gaza, according to a CBS article. 

As the conflict escalates, President Biden has pledged to send help to the Israeli troops. As of Monday, Oct. 16, over 2,800 Palestinians in Gaza and 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals in Israel have been killed due to the conflict, according to Al Jazeera. 

The IDF dropped leaflets in the Northern Gaza Strip warning civilians to evacuate the area within 24 hours on Friday morning, a CNN article said. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations have condemned the evacuation order for failing to provide Palestinian civilians in Gaza with a viable route to safety. 

“It has sowed panic among the population and left thousands of internally displaced Palestinians now sleeping on the streets, not knowing where to flee to or where they can find safety amid a relentless bombing campaign,” Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said according to an Amnesty International news article.

Organizations You Can Support to Help Humanitarian Efforts

• International Committee of the Red Cross: The ICRC is providing emergency care to people in Israel and Gaza. The ICRC is “a neutral, independent, humanitarian organization,” according to its website, and has also won the Nobel Peace Prize three times.
• Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres: This organization is helping sick and injured Palestinian civilians in Northern Gaza. MSF has been supporting hospitals so they can continue treating patients. MSF has also offered support to hospitals in Israel to treat patients who were injured in the Hamas attacks. 
• UNICEF: UNICEF focuses on helping children during humanitarian crises. According to a UNICEF report, the organization is mainly focusing on humanitarian efforts in Gaza, such as providing clean water.
• American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee: The JDC helps Jewish communities across the world experiencing crises. According to its website, JDC is providing healthcare, mental health care and financial resources in Israel.