Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
(noun) armed conflict between countries or groups
In the Middle East, 2024 will go down as the most destructive year in modern history. Thousands were killed and millions were forced from their homes. An unimaginable number of lives have been shattered.
The massacre began in late 2023 after an October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed nearly 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Since then the guns have rarely been silent.
Israel retaliated with a lightning attack on Hamas-controlled Gaza that killed more than 44,000 people and turned the besieged Strip into a desert.
After October 7, the militant movement Hezbollah then began firing into Israel in solidarity with Hamas, as another front opened up along the Israeli-Lebanese border. Allied Iran-backed militants, including Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, have also fired missiles, rockets and drones into Israel. Meanwhile, Israeli forces and Jewish settlers have stepped up their attacks and operations in the occupied West Bank.
Iran and Israel exchanged live fire for the first time in April as the conflict escalated. They repeated the act in October with even more brutality.
A month ago, Israel stepped up its offensive against Hezbollah. It killed leader Hassan Nasrallah, launched airstrikes in Lebanon and invaded the south of the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted that he was changing the “balance of power in the region for years.”
On November 27, a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect to end the Israel-Hezbollah war. But that still didn’t silence the guns. Both sides have accused each other of ceasefire violations. Israel continues to bomb southern Lebanon.
Hours after the ceasefire took effect, another war broke out in Syria, breaking years of stalemate with rebel attacks. In less than two weeks, dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled, bringing hope and happiness — but also more uncertainty.
