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I’ve long wanted to steal the unofficial motto of the news publication edited by my brother in Europe: “We give you the background of the news, not the foreground.” That’s what we do at The Conversation, too, and that’s how we have covered the war in Israel-Gaza that started almost two weeks ago.
You can tune into CNN or read The New York Times or AP’s websites for up-to-the-minute reporting. You can read our coverage to understand why those things are happening.
This newsletter is a showcase of our coverage since the beginning of the war. Here are some notable recent stories:
Last week in this newsletter, I said we would keep covering this war, which was nowhere near over. We commit to the same thing today: To cover the context, history and ramifications of this tragic event via the expertise of scholars who know the subject at the deepest level. Like I said, the background, not the foreground.
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Family and friends of those taken hostage by Hamas during an attack on Israel react during a press conference on Oct. 13, 2023, in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Avner Cohen, Middlebury Institute of International Studies
Israel’s foundational social contract – that the government would keep Israelis safe – was severed with the deadly attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
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The 1973 Yom Kippur War proved a watershed moment in Middle East conflict and Israel’s politics.
Daniel Rosenblum/Keystone/Getty Images
Dov Waxman, University of California, Los Angeles
Failings leading up to the Arab-Israeli War of 50 years ago cost the then Israeli prime minister their job. Could history repeat?
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Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Riyadh on Oct. 15, 2023.
Royal Court of Saudi Arabia/Anadolu via Getty Images
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University
A decade of de-escalation among Gulf states could be at risk if Israel-Hamas violence spills across region. And that could threaten Saudi plans to transform the kingdom.
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Aaron Pilkington, University of Denver
The Palestinian fighters who launched deadly attacks into Israel on Oct. 7 are not Iranian puppets – but they are doing the work Iran wants done.
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Julie M Norman, UCL
Hezbollah’s full involvement in the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict would likely open up a regional war.
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James Forest, UMass Lowell
An estimated 150 hostages were taken by Hamas in Israel and brought back to Gaza. The government of Israel faces tough choices in dealing with the crisis.
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Topher L. McDougal, University of San Diego
Many people in Gaza are reliant on the United Nations and other international aid groups to meet their basic needs, like food and medical care. A scholar of peace and conflict economics explains why.
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Robert Goldman, American University
A scholar of the laws of war explores the complex issues raised by Israeli bombing of Gaza in retaliation for the slaughter of its citizens.
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Nathan French, Miami University
Politicians have used their assumptions about Gazans to support their policies. But the people in Gaza experience these policies far differently, writes a scholar of Islamism.
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Yara M. Asi, University of Central Florida
Hospitals have been destroyed, and doctors and health care staff killed. Gaza’s health services may take years to recover, warns a Palestinian health specialist.
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Peter Mansoor, The Ohio State University
The US response to 9/11 included a declaration that America would destroy its enemies. The effort took decades, and thousands of lives on both sides, and never really succeeded.
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Javed Ali, University of Michigan
Israel’s intelligence capacities are considered some of the best in the world – but unlike the US, it does not have a central organization coordinating all intelligence.
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