Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Israel's War Against Hamas, Six Months Later

Israel's War Against Hamas, Six Months Later

GAZA CITY, GAZA - MAY 14: Rockets launched towards Israel from the northern Gaza Strip and response from the Israeli missile defense system known as the Iron Dome leave streaks through the sky on May 14, 2021 in Gaza City, Gaza. More than 65 people in Gaza and seven people in Israel have been killed in continued cross-border rocket exchanges as violence continues to escalate bringing fears of war. The escalation, which erupted May 10, comes after weeks of rising Israeli -Palestinian tension in East Jerusalem, which peaked with violent clashes inside the holy site of Al-Aqsa Mosque. (Photo by Fatima Shbair/Getty Images)

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE ANALYSIS — No one could have imagined the horror that unfolded in the early hours of October 7, across a small stretch of southern Israel. And few could have foreseen the suffering that has come to Gaza in the six months since, or the consequences that have rippled beyond Israel and Gaza, through much of the Middle East. 

1200 Israelis died on that day, young children and babies among them. Women and girls were raped. 253 people were seized and brought to Gaza as hostages - young children in that group as well. Israel declared war on Hamas, vowing to destroy the group, and six months later, more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to estimates from the health ministry there. 

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Related Articles

The Golden Dome is Missing a Key Focus

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE / OPINION – On January 27, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at defending the U.S. against an attack by [...] More

Getting NATO to Be Able to 'Fight Tonight'

EXPERT Q&A — Last week’s NATO summit in The Hague was largely seen as a success, with all members (except Spain) agreeing to raise the alliance’s [...] More

Report for Tuesday, July 1, 2025

8:18 America/Chicago Tuesday, July 1 [...] More

Covering the Blaze the World Forgot

BOOK REVIEW: Fuji Fire: Sifting Ashes of a Forgotten U.S. Marine Corps TragedyBy Chas Henry / Potomac BooksReviewed by: Bill HarlowThe Reviewer — [...] More

The Math Behind Trump's $1 Trillion Defense Budget

OPINION — “The President's FY ‘26 [Fiscal Year 2026] National Defense Budget requests $1.01 trillion, which is a 13 percent increase from FY '25 [...] More

An Urgent Call to Close the Loopholes on Chips and China

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE / OPINION -- The core lessons from the Cold War should guide us as we face the new “Axis of Aggressors” today. First among these, [...] More

Report for Monday, June 30, 2025

8:29 America/Chicago Monday, June 30 [...] More

A Good NATO Summit, Though Russia Won a Round

EXPERT Q&A — NATO leaders convened in The Hague this week for a summit aiming to strengthen the alliance's defenses, with the ever encroaching threat [...] More

NATO Wins Will Have an Impact

CIPHER BRIEF EXPERT Q&A — NATO leaders convened at The Hague this week and agreed to raise the alliance’s defense spending target to 5% GDP, marking [...] More