A Deep Dive Inside the Israel/Palestine Conflict

[Music] these guys are extremely concerned about security and us not knowing where we're going so they're going to be blindfolding me and taking us to the next spot we're with hamas the palestinian militant group that for 14 years has ruled gaza a flashpoint for long-running tensions between palestinians and the israelis just weeks after the worst violence between israel and hamas in the last few years we've been given exclusive access inside hamas extensive network of underground tunnels a primary target for what the israel defense forces or idf called terror tunnels wow okay this is the final entrance so we're having to take all of this off absolutely nothing is allowed down having to give over our cameras give over everything and uh we'll take that one from now on watch out you're about to write [Music] in may 2021 a major escalation erupted between israel and hamas [Music] it followed israeli attempts to forcibly evict palestinian families from shape gerard a neighborhood in east jerusalem israeli police also stormed al-aqsa mosque one of the holiest sites for muslims during the month of ramadan hamas military wing the al-qasam brigades along with other palestinian factions retaliated by firing thousands of rockets into israeli territory including civilian areas israel responded with an aerial bombardment of military and government targets in the process obliterating residential buildings shops and factories during 11 days of fighting 13 israelis and 260 palestinians were killed around half of these were civilians including 67 children vice news spent months seeking answers from both sides we attempted to understand what really happened in a conflict that continues to anger and impassioned people around the world [Music] so we're currently deep deep underground somewhere in the gaza strip got permission after days and days of back and forth talking about security issues but they have finally let us down here because they're keen to show that despite the fact that israel says that they've destroyed over 60 miles of these tunnels that they're still going strong they are rebuilding their tunnels they're still got an extensive network that they can use to move people around and to store weaponry what makes you so certain that joining hamas joining the al qasam brigade and ultimately turning to violence is the answer here if i put the gun down this really will not stop killing us we know the enemy we tried everything with him i'm talking about three deadly wars 14 years of the siege we're not talking about one or two or three years there's no other solutions but this weapon abu haled is 25 years old he's one of thousands who joined hamas as a teenager and has been active in the group ever since [Music] the us the european union and israel have designated hamas as terrorists a lot of the world thinks that you guys are a terrorist organization doesn't that affect your credibility you are saying that the u.s consider us as a tourist as because we we are targeting civilians but what about the israelis the fact that you're down here in tunnels that have been built under civilian areas you're launching rockets from civilian areas as well doesn't that mean that you're endangering palestinians you claim to be fighting for whatever happened if we go down to our tunnels if we stayed on our homes if we say slaving and dreaming the israeli exhibition will keep targeting this venus so you can say that this is the nature of the enemy we are sacrificing ourselves and our times and and everything we do in order to ensure a better future for our children but are you also not sacrificing the civilians that are directly above you of course we don't want them to get killed or to get targeted but this is the only choice we have this is what we can do and they are supporting us you can't go to the sea you can go to the air you can go to anywhere so that's why we are building tunnels this is the only mean which is possible for al-qasam brigades what about the palestinians who do just want peace who see hamas taking the concrete that they desperately need to build houses and building tunnels instead we see them taking materials that are coming into gaza strip that are desperately needed and using them to build rockets and explosives our people do not put the hand on al qasam they put it on the israeli equation who who has plucked gaza 14 years you're saying that almost all palestinians support your cause yes of course go and see the trends in gaza totally most of them support the palestinian coast because they know the enemy there's no way of knowing what proportion of palestinians support hamas many do because they see the group as their best protection against israeli occupation but there hasn't been an election since 2006 and hamas rules gaza with an iron fist often cracking down on dissent and violating human rights gaza has been described as the world's largest open-air prison and the situation there today is grim israel and egypt have imposed a strict land air and sea blockade on goods and people and most of the two million palestinians living in this enclave are unable to leave which has led to mass unemployment but this situation has been a long time in the making during world war one as part of the balfour declaration britain supported a national home for the jewish people in what was then known as palestine with the rise of the nazis over the following decades more and more jews arrived in the area to escape the holocaust palestinian arabs who made up the majority of the population there felt their land was being encroached on and tensions grew in 1947 a u.n resolution proposed two separate states a year later the jewish people's council declared their own state of israel following that announcement war broke out neighboring arab countries invaded the territory over 700 000 palestinians fled or were forced from their homes the six-day war israel defeated its arab neighbors and occupied the west bank as well as gaza and other areas palestinians have been unable to return to their homes because israel claims this would threaten the country's jewish identity and sovereignty for more than 50 years israel has built jewish settlements in and around jerusalem one of the holiest lands on earth the un has called this buildingsbury a flagrant violation of international law every few years tensions spill over we met the man currently in charge of the israeli air force one of the most advanced military forces in the world major general amikam nawkin ran israel's latest battle from the skies this is the first time he's spoken with international media distance between belsheva to gaza is 40 kilometers the nearest base to gaza is 40 kilometers yes in a minute you can see the border of gaza strip this is gaza it's five minutes flight f16 wow so it's very thin now you can see better television over there oh tel aviv is here and jerusalem is over there okay so everything is very very close and hundreds of thousands of citizens living under threat 24 7 threat how many times over the 11 days of conflict did you fly towards gaza of thousands we recognize by our intelligence and our uav a rocket launcher those rockets supposed to launch to the israeli cities is there a rocket launcher here yes there is a rocket launcher you can see it in a minute but they said here in hebrew there is people walking on the street near the rocket launchers so you cannot attack you cannot attack there is no other military there is no other air force all around the world that use such a methods like i present to you by calling the enemy and asking please get out from your house because your house is a target sometimes sometimes that happens no not all the time when we know that there is people at the house which are not terrorists we did it and we did it thousands of times not once or two thousands of times i mean hamas obviously fired over 4 000 rockets and your military was thankfully able to intercept most of them you have fighter jets you have air-to-air missiles you have air-to-land missiles you have drones yourself the israeli defense forces have killed 20 times the number of israelis who have been killed how is it proportionate or justifiable to be using this machinery in a very densely civilian populated area well this is not the way that i would like describe the situation but that is the situation the number of people that you've killed versus the number of israelis don't want to act we react because we cannot accept the hamas or the islamic jihad is launching rockets toward jerusalem or towards any other city i mean the problem is that both sides say that they're defending themselves and so you have to recognize that there is obviously a power imbalance and as the stronger side do you accept responsibility for the disproportionate number of civilians i apologize because i'm stronger no isabelle it's important for me i am not attacking citizens they launch rocket towards the center of the cities they want and they declare they want to kill israeli citizens i want to talk about that collateral damage just minutes after war broke out on may the 10th a family was struck in an area called bait hanun what would you say to those parents i'm not sure about this specific story but also the parents of child from sterot lost their child why because he lives in the road so i think it's not a story of numbers we shouldn't is a story of numbers because you were talking about one child and you know 12 israeli individuals and we're talking about over 240 people on the other side yeah i mean that's a lot of more than that more than 50 of those numbers that you mentioned our terrorists at least 67 of those individuals were children the numbers cannot cover the story the stories that hamas decided to attack israel we wanted to find out what happened in that initial incident that took place on may 10th in beit hanoon a rural area close to the israeli border this was the day the first casualties unfolded sure [Music] and his family have lived here for decades al-masri once worked for the palestinian authority in the early evening of may 10th he was walking through a field near his home [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] eight people were killed in this explosion more than a dozen were injured six of those who died were children including al-masri's sons ten-year-old ibrahim and six-year-old marwan [Music] he was a little chubby the israelis have said that they target terrorists they're targeting hamas people were there any hamas people in this area when looked down who can end when what i am i can't win 14 year old shahid was preparing to break fast for ramadan when she heard streams outside [Music] [Music] [Music] in the days of escalation that followed this incident was quickly forgotten but in many ways it felt emblematic of the chaos and confusion of this conflict we spent months looking into this case first when we asked the idf what happened they sent us their version of events just after 6pm on may 10 palestinian factions began firing rockets from gaza towards israel the idfs say some of these rockets were fired from a rocket launching site inside gaza 4.66 miles from beijnun from satellite imagery we can see that there are rocket launchers at this site the idf calculated that one of these rockets from the militants missed its intended target and instead errantly landed in beijnun mistakenly killing palestinians including al-masri's sons around the same time we can see from palestinian militant groups telegram chats that they took credit for firing a cornet missile that struck an israeli civilian vehicle along the border not far from al-masri's home this aligns with information we've been hearing from locals that several palestinian factions rockets have missed their targets accidentally killing palestinians in the process in a statement device news the idf said this incident demonstrates the blatant disregard for civilian life on the part of terror organizations in the gaza strip but what we heard on the ground was a different story we spoke to at least 10 eyewitnesses from the surrounding area though no one here is without bias they all recalled similar accounts of seeing a projectile coming from the east the direction of israel's border moments later they say they heard a loud bang exploding just above ground level and saw large puffs of white smoke i mean this all happened so quickly how can you be aware of what direction it was coming from what was it that you saw [Music] we traced the munition remnants via a contact working for a human rights organization that we confirmed was at the site just hours after the incident we ran them by several weapons experts after analyzing the evidence they say that this was likely not a homemade palestinian rocket but instead a small guided missile weighing less than 20 pounds and used to attack armored vehicles fortified positions or personnel it seems likely the munition detonated above ground scattering fragments in multiple directions this could explain why there was no crater and why many of the injuries we saw were higher up on people's bodies their eyes arms heads and backs the problem is experts disagreed on what this all meant and whether the fragments corresponded with israeli or iranian-guided missiles which supply the palestinians we concluded they could have been launched from either side besides al-masri's kids another man who was killed in this attack was muhammad ali muhammad nasir who's buying bali from the al-masri family when the missile landed his death could have been a coincidence but just a few days later an idf spokesperson tweeted that nasir was one of several palestinian militants who had been quote eliminated by the israelis suggesting that this could have been a deliberate attack to target a suspected terrorist when we asked the idf why they were taking credit for killing nasir they changed their tune saying that nasir was in fact killed by a failed palestinian rocket fire but we can't know for sure both sides have provided misleading information both sides are deliberately opaque which makes true accountability and justice hard to come by [Music] are you home [Music] baby [Music] [Music] it's really heartbreaking just watching shaheed and her mother come to mourn the loss of her two brothers and mother's two sons it's just too much for one family to lose [Music] [Music] i can't even imagine what it's like to lose two of your children are you coming here every day [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] israelis see palestinian militant groups and particularly hamas who don't recognize israel's right to exist as a direct threat to their national security so these aircrafts have been in training for the last three years they're part of the israeli air force which is one of the most elite air forces in the world the commander of the entire air force is going around flying with the cadets and helicopters flying in training planes and checking that everything's in order and this is the final week of that trading military conscription is mandatory for both men and women over the age of 18. in israel you have to join the military in some form i mean if you didn't have a choice would you still want to join us [Music] this is the jayden's the autoground another python itself also oh my god these are the laser port and the navigation port that helps the jet to found target and to fly in low level during nights brigadier general aviar dagan has been in the air force for 30 years and has played a direct role in the conflict since so this guy's yours it's not mine it's from of the idf but yeah this is a strike eagle and we have a squadron of the f-15 f-15is here in the base so this is one of them what are the special features of this so the i-model uh we call it the israel model both the f-16 and the f-16is are multi-task jets so that means they can make air defense they can perform air-to-ground strikes they can fly low level in weather in nights the f-15 specifically can carry a lot of ammunition because of its size so it's a multi-task multi-task jet so how much munition can you carry on this so the last operation they carried between four to seven tons of ammunition so instead of one small jaden it can carry seven big ones that's a big responsibility to be carrying when you're up there imagine definitely yeah so were these used in the most recent conflict yes did you fly them in the most recent conflict as a person as a human how does it feel knowing that the flights you're flying the bombs you're dropping are killing civilians 67 children died in this most recent conflict which only lasted 11 days even if a single child was dying not 67 that was a sad day for me we're not counting heads i mean if it's a single guy who was that innocent guy i was feeling that maybe there was something that i could do better but you fight in a very very strange situation and you know that if they do wrong your child may be killed because the rockets are not launched towards bases they are launched towards civilians in purpose and the only power you have is that you know that you do exactly the opposite you go with the jet to shoot against terrorists i mean as a father you know when you see on the news images of parents dragging out their children from rubble from bombs that you've dropped on them do you take responsibility for their deaths well responsibility is a big word but remember at the end of the day our mission is to defend israeli citizens and as long as rockets are being shooted from gaza strip towards israeli citizens we have no other option as an idf how much of the ammunitions that you're using or the jets that you're flying are made in america oh so most of them are made in this operation most of the things that we used are made in the united states how much cooperation is there between the u.s air force and the israeli air force a lot with centcom and eucom and afghan we share a lot of things together practice together so they're a pretty crucial partner yes definitely the we are the only democracy in the middle east we are the only one i think this is the major interest of the united states in israel generally speaking i think we share the same kind of values wide-reaching global support for israel's right to self-defense have enabled their military to continue their work so far israel has enjoyed the unwavering support of the u.s while hamas gets its backing from iran in june israel's political leadership changed with a new coalition government taking power but one figure remained the same benigns has been israel's defence minister since 2020 we sat down with him just weeks after the may conflict right before he traveled to the u.s top of his agenda was mitigating the threat of iran and requesting u.s military aid to replenish israel's missile defense system you're heading over there to talk about a number of things including the iran nuclear deal why do you believe that that is a threat to israel iran is the only country who declares of the israel israel's destruction in building the means to do it so the israeli citizen definitely the minister of defense i should take this threat very seriously they are supporting judge islamic palestinian groups they are supporters of hamas a number of progressives within the democratic party in the u.s have taken a pretty pro-palestinian stance i'm wondering whether you are worried at all about that and worried that israel is at risk of losing their special relationship with the us well i hope we won't be losing our special relations i think that the bonds between the two countries are very much in place very much solid president biden is a known friend of israel for decades already and i'm sure that he would practice his friendship into the future as well are you worried at all though i mean given that you know recently there has been a lot of anger i would say internationally across the world i i hear that of course i don't accept hamas it's a terrible organization that holds his hostages his own population he's operating from populated area by intention against civilian population on our side so what would one expect from us to sit here and do nothing i mean you say that palestinians are held hostage by hamas and that they're victims of hamas but most palestinians within gaza would say that they're more than anything victims of israel and israel's aggressiveness not not the way i see it it's hamas who created uh what it created in gaza it's hamas to oppress these people so you oversaw the most recent conflict and the conflict before that when you were chief of staff of the military as you're going to be continuing as defence minister does that mean we shouldn't really be expecting much change in the palestinian policy well you know i'm i'm very much willing to promote palestinian interests and to find ways of living with one another how how are you going to be promoting them i think that a lot can be done on the political level i think a lot can be done on the economic level and the development of infrastructure however as much as i would like to respect the palestinian self-governance all the development that they wish to themselves and i wish for them i cannot compromise on my on my security consideration so the combination between statehood on one hand strength on the other hand something that i really would like to follow that would be my policy by and large i mean in recent years israeli leaders have shown little interest in a peace process and a lot of palestinians in gaza say that their lives are miserable because of the blockade do you support a two-state solution so i'm not sure that it's two-state solution but definitely two entities the israeli entity and the palestinian entity living side by side together with israeli security superiority over the area because that's the only way we can guarantee the stability of this area each side is taking care of themselves and those are combined economies that can cooperate along the years in the future and i'm not just thinking like it i'm willing to talk about it with palestinians colleagues you really believe that can happen [Music] look the palestinians are not going anywhere no one will be gonna go anywhere so we must find ways of living together these assurances of finding lasting peace are yet to materialize in october citing alleged links to militants gantz himself designated six palestinian human rights organizations as terrorist groups sparking global outrage and effectively undermining palestinian grievances and it's those grievances that are compelling the next generations to take up arms so we're inside hamas training base right now this is where they have their annual summer camps there's hundreds and hundreds of kids here some of these kids are as young as 15 they come here to get fitness training military training but apparently this year the number of young kids who have signed up and wanting to join hamas has exploded because of the recent conflict and in this simulation that was specifically designed for these trainees who are you targeting who's the enemy have been running these annual summer camps for the last 10 years what kind of skills do you have to have in order to be able to do this kind of training i mean obviously you know there's been conflict this year what would you say to people who you know would say that you are brainwashing young children and you're training them to fight for the benefit of hamas [Music] what proportion of kids here who go through this training will join hamas at the end of it will be [Music] and do you think it's these kinds of experiences that motivate these young people to come to training camps like this okay okay [Music] foreign many of the hamas figures deciding when and how to use force and securing financial and military support from further afield are nowhere near the front lines instead several are in qatar [Music] is a long time leader of hamas the israeli government once tried and failed to assassinate him he's currently the head of hamas international branch israel has claimed that they have very successfully eliminated a significant number of hamas leaders militants and weaponry how badly have your military capabilities been hit yet [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] foreign how much financial and military support are you receiving from iran hamas you guys were the ones who fired the first rockets against the most powerful and advanced military in the middle east what kind of benefits were there from that for your people is hamas has fired over four thousand unguided rockets from civilian areas in gaza towards residential areas in israel i mean that is a war crime you are putting civilian lives at risk how do you justify that philadelphia [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] i mean i would say that that is questionable because you were firing rockets into residential areas so i mean of course um the target is residents but and also the fact that you are firing from civilian areas in which case you are obviously putting those civilians themselves at risk i mean do you take any responsibility at all for the people who have died in those civilian areas [Music] do you not think that palestinians might be better off with the more moderate leadership i mean there's a lot of people who very concerned about the violence towards palestinians that's taking place from israel but at the same time they see the leadership that you're providing they see that you have also launched many many attacks on the israelis that you have failed to condemn violence that under your leadership unemployment rates poverty rates have increased and that ultimately you want to replace israel with an islamic government that doesn't necessarily respect human rights in the way that a lot of people would hope for [Music] [Music] given that you say you know you have a large supply of weapons and that you will be restocking that supply is it only a matter of time before the next round of violence [Music] hamas may see themselves as moderates but in reality those living in gaza are trapped between two bitter powers and living in constant fear that the next battle is just around the corner leaving a generation of young people knowing nothing but war so we're just at a local community centre for women and children and these guys have received an influx of people coming here seeking any kind of support any kind of help for the trauma that they've been facing over the last few months this is the first time shahid al-masri has attended these sessions since the death of her two brothers in may hungary now foreign are trying to use the the play therapy drawing psycho drama we are trying to to use anything we can to help them not to leave them with their negative feelings or negative emotions and how about shahed i mean shahid has obviously lost her brothers her home has been blown up she's lost a lot in the last few weeks what was your sense of her she's trying to tell us that i need help my mental health is ill i'm not good she's very sad when we spoke about the feelings she's she's like tearing but she don't want to be weak do you feel like you're losing the next generation of young palestinian people but there is [Music] how often are you thinking about your brothers good [Laughter] [Music] what's it like for kids growing up in gaza to have a childhood here and here foreign [Music] [Music] you

Channel: VICE News

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Keywords: VICE News, VICE News Tonight, VICE on HBO, news, vice video, VICE on SHOWTIME, israeli-palestinian conflict, israel palestine conflict, israel palestine, west bank settlements, israeli settlements, benjamin netanyahu, gaza strip, israel vs palestine, what is happening in israel, israel violence explained, israel palestine conflict crash course, gaza strip settlements, palestinian deaths, jerusalem violence, israel palestine conflict history, world news report

Id: r21iN7JYu2Y

Length: 44min 0sec (2640 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 22 2021