More than seven months since Hamas and others killed 1,200 people and seized more than 240 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7, the IDF is operating in Rafah but must continue to fight elsewhere in Gaza as Hamas and other terrorist groups return to areas Israel had cleared. Meanwhile, the United Nations has acknowledged that Hamas agencies’ reporting on Palestinian casualties is unreliable, and Israel’s defense minister has criticized the Gaza strategy of the prime minister. Addressing the military operations, the war’s toll, the strategic approach and the effects on U.S.-Israel relations May 22 are Institute for National Strategic Studies senior researcher Kobi Michael, a panelist on the weekly webinar March 6, and Washington Institute research assistant Gabriel Epstein, a top expert on Gaza casualty numbers. Moderating the discussion is Dr. Ken Stein, CIE’s president and an Emory University emeritus professor of Middle East history, political science and Israel studies.
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