History and Context: Israel-Hamas War

Shlomo Mantzur, 86—the oldest hostage held by Hamas terrorists—is a loving husband and grandfather who escaped the antisemitic, 1941 Iraqi Farhud massacre and emigrated to Israel, only to face another pogrom 82 years later in the Jewish state.

Naama Levy, just 20 years old, has been held hostage by Hamas terrorists for more than a year.

Who is Ta-Nehisi Coates? And what is Ta-Nehisi Coates famous for? A celebrated writer and public intellectual known for his works on race in America, he has recently stirred controversy with his new book, The Message.

Known as the mastermind behind the October 7 Hamas massacre that killed over 1,200 Israelis and took over 250 hostages, Yahya Sinwar was one of the most wanted terrorists. On October 17, 2024, Israeli officials announced the IDF killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in the southern Gaza Strip.

AJC CEO Ted Deutch reacts to the heartbreaking news of six Israeli hostages found dead in Gaza, including one Israeli American. Ted emphasizes the ongoing threat posed by Hamas, a terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of over 35 Americans since October 7.

In the wake of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, here are five planks AJC is urging Republican and Democrats to incorporate into their platforms and address during their conventions.

Since October 7, Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in near-daily exchanges of Hezbollah rocket fire and Israeli reprisals, with Hezbollah launching increasingly larger rocket, drone, and arson attacks on northern Israel that threaten a wider war. Here's what to know about Hezbollah's Radwan.

At AJC Global Forum 2024, American Jewish Committee (AJC) debuted Heroes of Israel, three stories of Israeli citizens who have risen to become extraordinary heroes in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 massacre. Watch the stories of Ofir Libshtein, Nasreen Yousef, and Zvi Reder.

On May 10, the Biden administration released a report assessing Israel’s conduct amid the ongoing war Israel-Hamas war.
The 46-page State Department report, formally known as the National Security Memorandum 20, was ordered by President Biden earlier this year to verify whether seven different countries - including Israel – adhere to international law in their use of U.S.-made weapons.

Adding another dangerous twist to the Israel-Hamas War and its impact, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced he is simultaneously seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with three leaders of the genocidal terror group Hamas.

Noa Fay is a Jewish student leader at Columbia University, the epicenter of the anti-Israel protest movement that has unfolded on American college campuses in recent weeks. Pro-Hamas, antisemitic, and anti-Israel demonstrators have occupied academic buildings, set up overnight tent encampments, and staged demonstrations, while Jewish students have faced increasing threats, antisemitism, and violence.

Two initiatives that claim to help the Palestinian people are currently making waves at the UN. Both support the unilateral and unconditional advancement of Palestinian statehood. Sadly, if successful, these resolutions would have the opposite effect, setting back the fulfillment of Palestinian national aspirations.

Rape and sexual violence are war crimes and violations of international law. Yet that was overlooked in an Oct. 13 statement by U.N. Women, which equated the Hamas attacks on civilians in Israel with defensive actions taken by Israel and made no mention of Hamas’ barbarism.

In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden is expected to highlight key accomplishments during his first term in office and make the case for his re-election. While many domestic issues will take center stage, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war will likely be a topic addressed by the president. In the audience will be the families of Americans held captive or murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.

Hezbollah’s arsenal of weapons poses a direct threat to Israeli cities, strategic sites, and civilian population centers and could be activated by the Iran-backed terror group at any time.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is not a “genocide.” I write this first, because within three sentences of a column published March 6 in the Sun by Alison Slow Loris, “Our role in conflict's generational violence,” that is the accusation made. This allegation relies on two false assumptions. First, that every death Hamas has reported in Gaza is accurate, civilian in nature, and deliberate, and second, the belief that the Jewish state seeks not avenues for peace, but opportunities for conflict.

“Listen to me, Edan. I'm here. I'm with you. I love you. Just protect yourself. Just be safe.” These were the last words Yael Alexander spoke to her then-19 year old son, Edan, on the morning of October 7, 2023. Edan was later taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. Yael joins us from her New Jersey home to tell her story.

As has been the case for over a hundred years, women around the world will take to the streets this March 8th to draw attention to their rights and the gender discrimination that still exists. Even if women's demands vary greatly across the globe due to their respective realities, it has so far been assumed that the rejection of misogynistic violence unites everyone.

Last month I returned to Israel for my first visit since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
It felt very different. My heart was as full as ever, but my eyes were filled with tears and my soul with trepidation. The pain and fear provoked by that horrific day still feel so present.

What’s it like being a Jewish student at Harvard today? With us to tell their firsthand accounts are Nitsan Machlis, co-chair of the Harvard Kennedy School Jewish Caucus, and Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard Divinity school student who is part of a group that sued the university–alleging that they failed to address campus antisemitism.