Israel

The war triggered by the shocking Hamas assault will be the first zero-sum conflict in the Arab-Israeli arena since 1948, and U.S. policymakers should prepare accordingly.

Iranian proxies are deliberately escalating against American forces in the region as a warning against continued support for Israel’s war, but Hezbollah attacks would take the crisis to a different level.

Although the immediate goal is to destroy Hamas’s terrorist regime in Gaza, there is no viable alternative to a political solution in the longer term.

Despite the canceled visit to Amman, President Biden should keep King Abdullah front and center in any efforts to ease humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

It’s not too early to think about the “day after” the war—even preliminary planning to create an interim administration will help clarify objectives for Israel’s leaders, sustain U.S. support, provide a more positive alternative future for Palestinians, and give Arab allies a rationale to play a more constructive role.

The Iraqi "resistance" is using language that previously presaged attacks on U.S. targets, whether sincerely or as a supportive bluff amid the latest Hamas-Israel crisis.

In its scope, depravity, and national reach, the Hamas assault was a much greater shock to Israelis, and their response should be viewed through that lens.

Iraq's "resistance" militias all rhetorically supported the attack on Israel, but with interesting differences: Badr threatened Americans, while others seemed to downplay potential involvement.

The October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel represent a turning point that should bring home oft-overlooked realities about the Middle East and compel U.S. policymakers to rethink preconceptions about the region and America's role and interests in it.