Hello everyone and welcome to the first episode of Sparks, the Zero Point, a segment from across
the circus. I'm your host, Jason P Sparks, and today we'll be looking into what is going on in
Israel, the surrounding areas, and what impacts are we seeing across the world. To start off,
I want to explain a few key things. This explanation is a brief description from the
viewpoints of the United States and or the United Nations. These are not my personal opinions or
beliefs because in this show, we will only be discussing the facts, the information as we know
it and attempt to learn more about them. So let's start off with the organization that
attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023. This organization is known as Hamas or the Islamic
resistance movement, which was founded in 1987. Hamas is the governing power in the Gaza Strip
of the Palestinian territories ever since 2006. Following 2006, there have been no elections to
replace Hamas as the governing power. They were designated as a foreign terrorist organization,
or FTO for short, by the US Department of State back in 1997. From that description,
you may be asking yourself, well, what are the Palestinian territories or what exactly is
Palestine? To provide a brief explanation, Palestine is an area in the Eastern Mediterranean region,
which comprises of parts of Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. As I am sure many of
you have seen or heard the saying free Palestine, let's dive into what that means and the history
behind it. Palestine, as I have previously stated it, as well as East Jerusalem is seen as occupied
territories by Israel, by the United States Department of State. This occupation started
in 1967 following the Israeli victory in the Six Days War against Israel's neighboring countries,
Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. So the term free Palestine derives from this occupation by the country of
Israel. This occupation is even condemned by the United Nations. This occupation is seen as a
humanitarian crisis. The Gaza Strip is blockaded. Trade is almost non-existent. Civilians are more
likely to be unemployed than employed. And it is very difficult, if not impossible, for Palestinian
civilians to leave. So why is Palestine important? Palestine, or at the very least parts of it,
is seen as holy land to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Now, with a brief introduction of the
topic, let's jump into what is happening in this part of the world. On October 7th, 2023,
Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel along the border of southern Israel and Gaza.
This day was supposed to be a day of celebration for the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. But
instead, it was a day that Hamas militants were able to attack 22 different locations across the
border of Gaza and Israel. The Israeli Defense Force, or IDF, were caught completely off guard
and unprepared of this attack, which allowed for Hamas devastation to reach as far as it did. With
little resistance by the IDF, Hamas forces turned their attention to civilian targets. The US
reported that this attack claimed the lives of more than 1,300 civilians, including at least 31
US citizens. The US goes on to report that families were slaughtered in their own homes. An estimated
200 people were taken as hostages. And at one music festival, more than 260 civilian lives were
taken. Israel, of course, did not take this transgression lightly. The same day, Israel declared
war against Hamas, and airstrikes and artillery quickly fell on the Gaza Strip. As the IDF retaliated
against the Hamas attack, Palestinian officials stated that more than 4,600 people had been killed
and over 14,000 wounded by the retaliation by the IDF. On October 9th, the IDF had regained
control of the area surrounding Gaza and imposed a full siege upon it. Israeli Defense Minister
Gallant ordered a tightening of the blockade around Gaza and said, quote, Nothing is allowed
in or out. There will be no fuel, electricity or food supplies. We will fight animals in human
form and proceed accordingly, end quote. The fighting has raged on, but it's primarily been
airstrikes, artillery and rocket strikes going back and forth between the Israeli and Hamas
forces. Skirmishes on the ground have been far in the between or majorly unreported by
either side. There have been claims by Hamas of ambushing IDF forces in Gaza, while the
IDF states that only shots been fired at them. But no ground fighting has commenced. Israel's
airstrikes, however, have not stopped in just Gaza, as reports of airstrikes have came from
the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria as well. Clashes at this time are becoming more frequent
with Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon as it becomes more apparent that Israel might be
fighting a war on more than one front. So let's move on to discuss the US involvement
in this war. The United States president has condemned Hamas for their actions against
the Israeli people, but has asked the country of Israel to show restraint that these actions
and atrocities are done by the terrorist organization ruling over the Palestinian people, but are
not the actions of the Palestinians themselves. With that being said, the president has
shown his support for Israeli efforts in Gaza, but yet again asking for restraint against
those who want nothing to do with this war. The United States has sent two aircraft carriers
to the Mediterranean Sea. Approximately 2000 marines are on standby, pledged equipment
and financial support, and even United States special forces are allegedly supporting Israeli
forces with planning and intelligence. Through the US's support and show of military bravado,
US forces have seen what many news organizations are calling spillover from the war. US forces
have seen attacks on bases in Syria and Iraq. Protests have broken out across several countries
and US embassies in Turkey, Malaysia, Tunisia, Morocco, and Jordan, just to name a few, have
put out warnings of the planned demonstrations. Demonstrations in Lebanon resulted in the
use of water cannons and tear gas being used by security forces and non-essential employees
were asked to evacuate the Iraq embassy. In Washington DC, approximately 300 protesters
were arrested for demonstrating in the Cannon House office building. Tensions and protests
continue to rise after videos and reports of the Gaza hospital was hit with a rocket.
Israel has denied that it was the one who struck the hospital and has evidence that
they claim proves that they did not do so. Protests and demonstrations are seen all over
the world, but there is no indication of a ceasefire or an end to the Israeli occupation.
Efforts have been made to provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza, but reports state that
they are far from enough and that the situation will continue to grow worse even though it
is already dire. At time of recording this on October 22nd, 2023, the death toll in Israel
is more than 1,400, with most of them being from October 7th, 2023, and the Palestinian
death toll nears 5,000. To draw this episode to a close, I will say that I hope this war
and bloodshed ends soon, but I will continue to update you on the situation as more information
comes out. Until then, stay informed and look for opportunities to make our world a better
place. As always, I'm your host, Jason P. Sparks, and thank you for tuning in to Sparks
at the Zero Point.
We'll see you next time.
Algid Prodcutions LLC outro. Thank you for listening.