VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — As discussions arise surrounding the attacks in the Middle East, 13News Now is taking a look at the historic tensions between Israel and Hamas.
To assist with insight and analysis was former Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who now serves as dean of Regent University's Robertson School of Government. She is also a professor, and lived in southern Israel for a brief period when she was a teenager.
Bachmann said what we are witnessing now is the byproduct of a primarily religious-based conflict that has gone on for many years; however, she considered Hamas' surprise attack in Israel over the weekend as "unprovoked, unprecedented and savage."
Israel has been a nation since 1948. "There have been wars, but it's been army against army. There hasn't been this brutal targeting of civilians for death and a bloodbath," said Bachmann.
Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, controls the Gaza Strip. It is designated by Israel and the U.S. as a terrorist organization.
Israelis let Hamas take over Gaza in August 2007 when conflicts arose during that time, Bachmann said.
"That land then was used by Hamas [...] as a staging ground, if you will, for attack on Israel," she added.
Bachmann said Islamic supremacists largely make up Hamas. Government leaders in Iran also back and fund the group.
"They want all the people in Israel, the land, to exit, and they want to take it over," said Bachmann. "The Jewish people in Israel are the indigenous people going back 3,000 years."
On Saturday, Hamas sent a barrage of rockets and fighters in Israeli territory. As of Monday evening, Israeli officials said hundreds have died, including at least 11 Americans. Thousands are injured.
"Innocent civilians, and they killed people randomly, husbands, wives, babies, elderly, some were taken as hostages," Bachmann said.
Israeli officials have launched airstrikes in retaliation and ordered a "complete siege" of the Gaza Strip on Monday. Palestinian authorities reported hundreds have died, and thousands, too, are injured.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, 'We are at a war, because war was declared on us by Hamas,'" Bachmann paraphrased. "They're taking out the leadership that caused this to happen."
Furthermore, when asked if synagogues and other Jewish institutions in Hampton Roads should stay on high alert, Dean Bachmann said yes.
While she does not imagine the U.S. entering the war, Bachmann said we should take things very seriously here.