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The United States' deterrence strategy against the Islamic Republic of Iran has not yielded desired outcomes to meet mission objectives. Iranian-backed groups have taken advantage of the Israel-Hamas war and Washington's preoccupation with both the Russia-Ukraine war and China. Iraqi groups and Yemen's Houthis have rebranded and adapted to the new operational environmental that has unfolded in the region, due largely to the war in Israel. Policymakers should consider a strategy that goes beyond deterrence that includes partnerships, greater interagency coordination, and imposing costs with offensive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates socioeconomic determinants correlated with PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms during the May 2021 Hamas-Israel conflict, primarily the effects of rocket strikes on Israeli civilians. Its findings reveal a stark disparity in PTSD risks across different socioeconomic groups with individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds exhibiting a notably higher propensity for PTSD symptoms than people with higher education and stable family backgrounds. The article's implications extend far beyond the immediate context of the Israel-Hamas conflict. By highlighting the socioeconomic dimensions of PTSD, it advocates for more comprehensive, context-sensitive mental health strategies. Such strategies are crucial for addressing the complex array of factors influencing mental health in conflict zones, ultimately paving the way for more resilient and supportive communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, Israel's reactions have been met with criticism from a key friend: Russia. However, Moscow's public condemnation of the humanitarian crisis has not changed its material or normative policies toward Israel in other respects. This article analyzes Russia‐Israel relations, especially concerning the Syrian conflict between 2015 and 2021. It demonstrates how the two states developed norms and structural practices—including regular meetings of elites, public statements, and other mechanisms—to mitigate disputes. These strategies created and sustained a friendship balance that prevented rivalry and escalation between the two. This process has helped them maintain their relationship during the recent spike of violence despite increasing strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lessons learned from counterterrorism operations indicate that purely military solutions are doomed to fail, and Israel is primed to repeat many of these mistakes. The comparison between America's post‐9/11 wars and the Israeli‐Palestinian conflict is not perfect: Al‐Qaeda was in Afghanistan but was not native to the country, and the transnational ISIS emerged out of the chaos in Iraq and Syria. Hamas, by contrast, represents a resistance movement indigenous to Gaza. The militant group is deeply rooted in the political and social struggle for Palestinian self‐determination, and its activities and support are motivated by desperate conditions on the ground. If Israel's assaults on Gaza in retaliation for the October 2023 Hamas bloodbath are to achieve enduring security, key questions arise, including whether the conflict will end with military occupation or political settlement. I argue that Israel should learn from the US strategic blunders in Afghanistan and Iraq. Absent a political solution, Israelis are likely to face terrorist assaults in the future. The military campaign may weaken or impair Hamas's infrastructure and power bases in Gaza, but without a plan for governance and development, Israel is likely to face the re‐emergence of a broadly based resistance movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes how ongoing conflicts in the Levant and the post‐Soviet South Caucasus have upset the balance of relationships among Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Israel, Turkey, and Russia—and how this could escalate into a major, cross‐regional war. Azerbaijan's military victories of 2020 and 2023 over the Armenia‐occupied, separatist republic of Nagorno‐Karabakh have antagonized Iran, which has seen these gains, coupled with Baku's increasingly revanchist rhetoric, as a major threat to regional security. With Armenia left on its own by its Russian ally, and with Turkey's and Israel's backing of Azerbaijan, the Gaza war has driven Iran to see Baku as a dangerous "Israeli asset." However, the Palestine conflict has also sparked a rift between Turkey and Israel, throwing into question Baku's strength. If the militarist rhetoric of Azerbaijani elites leads the state to invade its weakened neighbor Armenia, this will increase the potential for a military confrontation between the two Shiite nations of Azerbaijan and Iran, with Armenia, Turkey, Israel, and Russia likely to be dragged in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the vicious cycle of Israel's control of water resources in Jordan and the Palestinian territories, the development of a one‐state reality in the region, and geopolitical changes driven by the Israeli occupation and the war in Gaza. Israel no longer suffers from water shortages, but its domination of Palestine and the conflict sparked by Hamas have increased the yawning water deficit. This has played a role in the decades‐long move away from the two‐state solution promised by the Oslo peace process. This article examines regional security through the lens of water resources. It shows that Jordan is left with few options but to accept its dependence on Israel and muddle through. In addition, the Palestinian territories, which face not just Israeli military rule but also the expansion of settlements, experience major water shortages. The article concludes that the increasing water hegemony reduces Israeli incentives for a comprehensive peace with the Palestinians that could resolve the resource crisis and enable two states to live side by side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Israeli war on Gaza raging, the Palestinian national movement must overcome divides that have weakened the cause. This study delves into the ramifications of divisive discourse on factionalism in Palestine, focusing on the dynamic between Hamas and Fatah. To do so, it investigates the effects of polarization on the sense of collective consciousness among university students in the occupied territories. Through a questionnaire designed to elicit the perspectives of these young adults, this research sheds light on the extent to which rhetoric employed to provoke or incite aggressive behavior has affected cohesion in Palestinian politics and society, as well as individuals' beliefs in the possibility of a national movement. The article finds that in all of these facets, young adults have a high degree of cynicism and see divisive discourse reducing faith in institutions and leaders, causing rifts among friends and neighbors, and even leading them to think about emigrating. While the study was conducted before the Israel‐Hamas war that began in October 2023, which may force some compromise between factions, the survey results indicate the immense amount of work required to unify the movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay theorizes radical struggles at the world's end, emergent from registers of organizing against colonial–imperial–capitalist violence in the Global South. Working through the ongoing genocidal violence carried out by Israel in Gaza, I explore the role of voice infrastructures in the Global South as the spaces where Global South theories are imagined, tested, and continually transformed. The tenets of the culture-centered approach (CCA), reflected in the everyday organizing work of the Center for Culture-centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE), guide the conceptualization of the relationship between theorizing and struggle as embodied practice. For radical organizing to materialize at the world's end, I argue the urgency of reorganizing the relationship between struggles and theorizing, cultivating a rhetoric and politics of suspicion, enacting sovereignty, forging connections, and sustaining a politics of preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article delves into the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, exploring historical contexts, the current war dynamics, and New Zealand's response to the situation. It also discusses the challenges of achieving peace amidst entrenched positions and the complexities of the conflict's impact on both sides.

The war on Gaza marks a pivotal moment in the history of violent conflicts in the Middle East. For the first time, a genocide of the Palestinian people is happening under the watchful eyes of the international community with absence of any effective intervention by international and regional powers to end the war and halt the hostilities. Despite the UN resolutions issued, Israel continues this war with all forms of killing, torture, starvation, and displacement against the Palestinian people. On the other hand, non-conventional or asymmetrical warfare preceded Israel's response through the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation, considering it the first of its kind to terrify Israel for the first time in the history of Arab-Israeli military confrontations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traumatic exposure can result in acute stress symptoms in the immediate aftermath and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms that persist beyond the initial weeks. Both short-term and long-term reactions require research and clinical attention. There is considerable evidence for age differences in PTSD, and older adults frequently present lower rates of PTSD compared to young adults. Much less is known concerning age differences in acute reaction or the extent to which age differences in PTSD are affected by age differences in acute stress. The current study examined acute stress and PTSD symptoms among young and older adult Israelis during the 2023 Israel-Hamas war. A web-based sample of 428 participants (mean age = 48.36 ± 16.29) completed retrospective accounts of pre-war psychological distress and acute stress in the first week of the war and further reported current PTSD symptoms. Rates of elevated levels of acute stress symptoms and probable PTSD were significantly higher among young adults (24.8% and 42.8%, respectively) compared to their older counterparts (3.7% and 13.7%, respectively). Age differences in probable PTSD remained significant even after controlling for other demographics, traumatic exposure, pre-war psychological distress, and acute stress symptoms. These preliminary findings further attest to the impressive resilience manifested by older adults during wartime. Moreover, as age differences in probable PTSD were not fully explained by acute reactions, unique mechanisms may be mobilized by older adults to cope with warfare trauma in the short- and long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb, a professor of Media Studies at California State University, San Bernardino, was prevented from delivering a portion of the presidential address at the National Communication Association (NCA) Convention. The decision to prevent her from speaking was made by individuals from the national office of NCA, and it led to the cancellation of the entire Presidential Address. Dr. Muhtaseb's speech focused on Palestine and was delivered in Arabic. The text discusses the use of cognitive violence in academia and the silencing of voices that speak out about the genocide happening in Palestine. The author argues for a decolonial approach to knowledge production and calls for an end to the genocide in Gaza and the establishment of a free Arab Palestine. [Extracted from the article]

The research aimed to identify the relationship between media coverage of the Israeli aggression on Gaza via social media platforms for electronic newspapers and its relationship to social fear and future anxiety among the public, by revealing the extent of the spread of media coverage of the Israeli aggression via social media sites, and identifying the extent of exposure of the Egyptian public for media coverage of the Israeli aggression via social media sites. This study belongs to descriptive studies, and within its framework, the researcher used the sample survey method, besides questionnaire and content analysis were used as tools to collect the required data, and the study was applied to a random sample of (647) individuals from the Egyptian Public through the electronic application. The analytical study was also applied to a sample of the social media platforms of Al-Youm Al-Sabea newspaper and Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper. The study concluded that there is a statistically significant correlation between the respondents’ exposure to media coverage of the Israeli aggression via the electronic newspapers' social media sites and their level of future anxiety and social fear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with Raja Shehadeh, Palestine's leading writer, is presented. Topics discussed including the history of Israeli-Palestinian relations from the Balfour Declaration in 1917 to the Israel-Hamas conflict in October 2023, the South African case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging genocide, and the Houthi Red Sea attacks and subsequent U.S.- United Kingdom (U.K.) retaliation.

An editorial is presented expressing opinion about the censoring of Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb, Professor of Media Studies at California State University, San Bernardino, at the 18 November 2023 National Communication Association (NCA) conference's awards and presidential address, due to Dr. Muhtaseb's speech referencing genocide in Gaza.

The article offers information on the political dynamics in Burnley, Lancashire, a key target seat for Labour in the UK. Topics include the potential for Burnley to revert to Labour in the next general election, the impact of boundary changes bringing in wards that historically support Labour, and the complicating effect of reactions to events in Gaza since October 2023.

The article discusses the relationship between journalism and religion, highlighting the growing gap between the coverage of religion and the needs of the faithful. A study from the Faith & Media Initiative reveals that there is a global desire for better coverage, understanding, and representation of faith in media. Many journalists attribute the lack of solid religion-based content to factors such as media economics, fear of getting it wrong, diversity issues in newsrooms, and the risk of perpetuating damaging stereotypes. The article suggests that journalists should do their research, reflect on their biases, seek feedback from sources, and provide appropriate context and multiple perspectives when covering religious issues. The importance of improving the way journalism covers religion is emphasized, and scholars are encouraged to continue studying this relationship and publishing research on the topic. [Extracted from the article]

This article begins with an overview of twin research in Brazil, initiated by the University of São Paulo Panel of Twins. I met with many new research collaborators and students while on a fall 2023 four-city lecture tour in that country. A meeting with a world-famous surgeon who recently separated craniopagus conjoined twin pairs is also described. This overview is followed by summaries of twin research on binge eating, twins' physical outcomes linked to different diets, working conditions and sickness absence in Swedish Twins and facial morphology differences in monozygotic twins. The final section of this article provides a sampling of human interest stories with important implications. They include a Michigan family forced to adopt their own twins, ethical issues surrounding the hiring of a surrogate to bear twins; twin survivors of the Israel-Hamas war, a twin pregnancy with a double uterus, and three twin pairs on the same women's soccer team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on global conflicts, including the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war, with over 30,000 civilian casualties reported in each. Topics include Pope Francis's condemnation of war as "cruel and senseless," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reporting over 30,000 civilian casualties in Ukraine, and the Jesuit Curia's call for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations for peace.

Fighting for its identity, sovereignty and survival, Ukraine is on the frontline of the global battle of narratives over the on-going Russo-Ukraine War. Ukraine's own narrative may differ from the narratives formulated and projected elsewhere in the world. Moreover, the longer the war lasts, the more divided, if not split, those external narratives may become. Two types of divisions in the global narratives can be discerned: a fault-line between the global West and the non-Western world and a division within Western outlooks. Ukrainian officials, media and communication practitioners must keep track of the evolving narratives in the global public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the disillusionment of Arab and Muslim countries with the Palestinians, particularly with regards to their support for Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. It is reported that these countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, and Jordan, view Hamas as a threat to their national security and have cut ties with Qatar over its support for Hamas and other terrorist groups.

The article explores the reactions of the Haredi society in Israel to the recent Israel-Hamas war and the potential for change and integration within the community. It discusses the tensions between conservative forces and pockets of change within the Haredi community, as well as the impact of the war on their views on military conscription and their relationship with the state. The article emphasizes the religious and cultural context of the Haredi community and highlights the organized efforts to continue educational activities and the spontaneous initiatives to support soldiers and affected families. However, it remains uncertain whether these actions will lead to significant changes or a softening of boundaries within the Haredi society. [Extracted from the article]

This article provides an overview of the aftermath of a massacre that occurred during Israel's war against Hamas. It describes the brutality of the event and its impact on the country's citizens and public consciousness. The article also delves into the political and social context leading up to the massacre, including tensions surrounding judicial reform and divisions within Israeli society. Despite these challenges, the article highlights the resilience and unity of the Israeli people. It emphasizes the diversity and unity among Israeli citizens, including Jews, Muslims, and Arabs, who came together to support their country and protect its core values. The article also discusses the global engagement and political implications of the war, including the rise of anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Overall, it presents a nuanced perspective on the complexities of Israeli society and the ongoing conflict. [Extracted from the article]

This text explores the different narrative frameworks that have emerged in Israeli society and Jewish history to understand the conflict between Israel and Hamas. One narrative compares the conflict to the Yom Kippur War and suggests that negotiation and resolution are possible. Another narrative frames the conflict as a continuation of historical anti-Jewish violence and emphasizes the role of antisemitism. These narratives shape the understanding of the conflict and reinforce existing ideas about Jewish history and Israeli society. Alternative narratives that focus on the experiences of Palestinian civilians are often marginalized, and these narratives are used to define who belongs and who is excluded. [Extracted from the article]

This article investigates the relationship between partisan foreign policy positions on Israel and the voting behavior of religious minorities in Canada. It discusses Stephen Harper's strong pro-Israeli stance in foreign policy when the Conservatives were in power and focuses on two main explanations accounting for such politicization of Israel, namely moral obligations and political clientelism. These hypotheses are tested using the 1968–2015 Canadian Election Study (CES) surveys and the 2011–2015 Vox Pop Labs election data. The results suggest that the Israeli issue had an impact on the support for the Conservatives among voters from religious minorities. Considering the effect of this foreign policy positions, Jewish Canadians are shown to be more supportive of the Conservatives, while the opposite pattern is observed among Muslim Canadians. The implications of these findings are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]