Postwar Gaza Planning: An Initial Checklist

Aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, October 2023. Photo credit: Ahmed Zakot / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Postwar planning for Gaza needs to start now. Prior to October 7, nobody in Israel was planning for this war. Thus, planning now for what happens if Hamas is defeated may be way behind. It will take many weeks to marshal the necessary resources, equipment, people, and authorizations to meet the basic requirements of Gaza’s […]

What’s Next for Gaza

A 3D satellite map of the earth showing the Gaza Strip. Photo credit: Shutterstock

The longer Israel holds off entering the Gaza Strip, the greater will be the number of voices around the world calling upon Israel not to enter at all. The arguments against an incursion are depressingly familiar. There will be those who will counsel against anger and revenge and for “proportionality.” And there will be those […]

Russia’s Role in the Gaza War

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photos credit: Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS, Mohammed Talatene/dpa via Reuters Connect

Several media outlets have speculated about Moscow’s involvement in Hamas’ most recent aggression against Israel. Certainly, this war may have the effect, whether intended or not, of benefitting Moscow by diverting Western attention and support from Ukraine. But there is some evidence, presented below, of Moscow’s intention to exploit and benefit from the war so as to […]

A Positive Exit Strategy From Gaza

A rainbow over the border wall in the northern Gaza Strip, near Netiv HaAsara, Israel. Photo credit: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

“The real victory comes not from defeating our enemy but from achieving a better place for Israel and our Palestinian neighbors.”  Yair Lapid, Knesset Speech, October 16, 2023 The ground campaign in Gaza has yet to start as I write on October 16. Much of the world’s focus is rightly on supporting Israel’s stated objectives: […]

Report from the Gaza Front: A New Playbook

Israeli tanks and military vehicles take position near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, October 13, 2023. Photo credit: REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura

I spent the first days of the war on the Gaza border, mostly near Kibbutz Zikim. On the fifth day, October 11, I went to the Gaza border city of Sderot and spent time in the community, speaking with locals and also with the police. From these conversations and also discussions with members of the […]

In the Name of God, Go

Prime Minister Netanyahu during security cabinet meeting, October 9, 2023. Photo credit: Screenshot from GPO video, (c) 2023 Thomson Reuters

It was late in the day on Tuesday May 7, 1940, when Leo Amery, a middle-aged former minister and Conservative Party backbencher, rose in his seat to address the House of Common in the aftermath of Britain’s disastrous Norway campaign. His party leader, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, had offered a weak defense of the Norway […]

How Could This Happen?

Photo credit: IMAGO/Saeed Qaq via Reuters Connect

Israelis woke up on 7 October 2023 to a day of grief, outrage, and ultimately, incomprehension.  It was not the missiles which mattered. Israelis have grown accustomed to missile attacks from Gaza. The horrors which gradually unfolded resulted from an overland breach of the Gaza border defenses. At various points in time on October 7, 14 […]