Israel, the Palestinians, and Gaza

October 7th became a new and terrible anniversary in the calendar of terrorism last year when Hamas, the Palestinian political and military group, launched armed attacks into Israel from Gaza, resulting in 1,139 deaths, most of them civilian. Israel responded with an aerial bombardment of the highly populated Gaza Strip, and a ground invasion on 27 October. It is estimated that to date more than 30,000 Palestinians, again most of them civilian, have been killed in this military response.

Understanding the background to these latest episodes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complex, but the BBC journalist Katya Adler, who has lived and worked in the Middle East for many years, has created a short podcast series explaining the history and context of this deadly and decades-long story.

‘Amongst the noise and trauma of the conflict we take a breath and a step back to provide context and a who’s who guide to help you get to grips with the complexities of what’s going on today,’ she says in introducing the series.

In five mini-episodes (of about 15 minutes each), Adler discusses the issues and key players with a series of guests, including journalists from the BBC and The Economist.

Find the complete series here, and the individual episodes below:

The Palestinians: where and how they live

Israel: what has shaped modern Israel?

Hamas: what is Hamas and what do they want?

The neighbours: Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt

The USA and Iran: what role have they played?

Photo by Emad El Byed