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Videos, webinars, timelines, analyses, bibliographies, maps and more provide the foundation for knowledge and understanding of the war that Hamas began on October 7, 2023, and that Hezbollah, Iran and other Iranian proxies subsequently joined. Our resources also examine the global effects of the war, including rising antisemitism. This page offers the most important posts to guide understanding, followed by an extended, curated list of essentials. For a deeper dive, click on the blue button to view all posts on this topic. For a deeper dive, click on the blue button to view all posts on this topic. For a journey through the primary sources, click on the gray button to see all Documents and Sources in chronological order.

The Key Curated Essentials for the 2023-25 Hamas-Israel War

Jewish settlements in Gaza, August 2005

Map of Jewish Settlements in Gaza, August 2005

From 1977 to 1979, the settler population in the territories grew from 3,200 to 17,500, plus 80,000 in East Jerusalem. Of the 225,000 Israel settlers in the “territories” in 2005, all 8,500 settlers living in…

Maps|August 2005

More Curated Essentials for the 2023-25 Hamas-Israel War

Maps of the Middle East and the Gaza Strip

October 19, 2023
Maps of the Gaza Strip, Israel’s villages and kibbutzim around the Gaza Strip, former Israeli settlements there, and Israel's requested zone of civilian withdrawal 10.14.2023

Hamas and October 7: Strategy, History, Ideology, Politics (5 videos)

November 5, 2024
Can a radically hateful ideology ever be neutralized by rationality and logic?

Iran and the Hamas-Israel War (5 videos)

November 5, 2024
Compiled by Aidan New Iran lies behind much of what Israel has battled since Hamas launched its brutal terrorist attack Oct. 7, 2023. By theology and ideology, Iran is committed to Israel’s destruction. By policy...

Antisemitism and the Hamas-Israel War (4 videos)

November 5, 2024
In multiple worldwide realms, the magnitude of hate for Israel and Jews soared after October 7, 2023.

Hezbollah and the Hamas-Israel War (4 videos)

September 2024
Hezbollah has used its stronghold in southern Lebanon to launch continual attacks on northern Israel since October 8, 2023. Hezbollah says it is motivated by its support for Hamas, a fellow member of Iran’s Axis of Resistance surrounding Israel. While Hezbollah is Shia and Hamas is Sunni, both are devoted to Israel’s destruction, and both receive funding from and coordinate with Iran.

Israel’s 9/11 — Iran’s Threat and Regional Responses (42:12)

May 1, 2024
Hamas’ terrorist assault Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and kidnapping more than 240, was the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, but the night of April 13-14 could have been worse when Iran attacked Israel...

Congressional Research Service, Israel and Hamas Conflict in Brief: Overview, U.S. Policy, and Options for Congress, October 2024

October 4, 2024
On Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas (a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, or FTO) led surprise attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip. More than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals (including at...

International Voices Urging the Recognition of Hamas as a Legitimate Political Actor, 2003-2018

November 14, 2023
These remarks by public figures, writers, scholars, authors, and former diplomats are a partial list covering the period, 2003 – 2018. No Arab or Israeli sources are cited. A separate blog that focuses only on former President Jimmy Carter may be found here.

Jimmy Carter’s Hamas Decade of Embrace

October 27, 2023
Former US President Jimmy Carter embraced Hamas as a legitimate voice of the Palestinian people. His motivations possibly stretched from intentional to misguided to malevolent. Hamas leaders who were engaged in inter-Palestinian struggles remained pleased with the recognition he gave them. American officials and Israelis were keenly perturbed by the courtship he gave them.

Annotated Hamas Bibliography: In-Depth Assessments, Analyses, Objectives, and Regional and International Implications

June 3, 2025
Among Palestinians, Hamas popularity soars, two state solution at lowest ebb, Rise in European Anti-semitism, and Michael Mihlstein's insightful analysis an essential read.

Biden’s Lifelong Support for Israel: Compatibility to American Strategic Interests in the Middle East

February 14, 2024
Scott Abramson and Ken Stein, Center for Israel Education  Common political, emotional and strategic threads are present in President Joe Biden’s speeches and comments about the brutal reality of the Hamas attacks on Israel and...

Ken Stein: Assessment of the Hamas-Israel War After 4 Months, February 2024

February 13, 2024
February 13, 2024 — Dr. Kenneth Stein and Pastor Dr. Armando Alducin, Israel y el Medio Oriente Entrevista (Israel and the Middle East) with Mauricio Friedman, (75 minutes in English and Spanish)  Five points stressed in...

IDF Details October 7 Failures at Kibbutz Be’eri

July 12, 2024
The Israel Defense Forces “failed in its mission to protect the residents of Kibbutz Be’eri,” with those failures ranging from planning and communication to command and control, when Hamas overwhelmed the Negev kibbutz on Oct....

Israel’s 9/11 — Women Respond to the War With Hamas (35:29)

April 17, 2024
The raw numbers in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack — 1,200 killed and more than 240 abducted — can sanitize the personal trauma and horror of the brutality, including sex-based violence. Women often are stereotyped as victims or peacemakers, but CIE’s 27th weekly webinar on the Israel-Hamas war, set for April 17, examines the reality of women’s responses and roles in Israeli society and the reactions to how they have fought, volunteered, advocated and led for more than six months. Joining moderator Dr. Ken Stein, CIE’s president and an Emory University emeritus professor of Middle East history, political science and Israel studies, are Col. (res.) Pnina Sharvit Baruch of the Institute for National Security Studies and Dr. Julia Elad-Strenger, a political psychologist at Bar-Ilan University.

Israel’s 9/11 — A General Assesses the Hamas War: Rafah’s Value, Gaza’s Future, and Effects on U.S. and Saudi Relations (32:32)

April 3, 2024
Since Hamas and allies invaded Israel, killed 1,200 Israelis and others, and seized more than 240 hostages Oct. 7, Israel has conducted a methodical military campaign in Gaza that has uncovered hundreds of miles of...

Israel’s 9/11 — Rafah and the Fog of War (46:06)

May 22, 2024, 12:00 PM (ET)
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...

Israel’s 9/11 — Hezbollah’s War of Attrition (43:47)

May 8, 2024
The day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist assault killed 1,200 and dragged more than 240 kidnapped Israelis and others to Gaza, Hezbollah opened a second front along Israel’s northern border with missile fire from Lebanon....

Israel’s 9/11 — Israel’s Diversity During War: Druze, Muslim, Christian and Haredi Responses (36:16)

February 21, 2024
Israel’s diversity is reflected in the range of responses to four months of war since Hamas and others killed 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostages Oct. 7. Amid many examples: Areas in which...

Israel’s 9/11 — Economic Disruption and Resilience: From Agriculture to High Tech (34:42)

February 14, 2024
The war that began Oct. 7 with Hamas’ killing of 1,200 people and abduction of more than 240 others shook Israel and Israelis to their core. Particularly impacted was Israel’s vibrant economy. With hundreds of...

Dana Stroul: “Hezbollah-Israel Escalation” (1:29:00)

June 28, 2024
June 28, 2024 The Washington Institute for Near East’s Policy Dana Stroul leads an incisive discussion with four outstanding panelists on “Hezbollah-Israel Escalation” and the high prospects of war on June 28, 2024. The video,...

Meir Litvak, “The Islamization of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: The Case of Hamas,” 1998

January 1998
The rise of Hamas marks a shift in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a struggle between national movements or states to a battle between religions, making a resolution all the more difficult to achieve.

Asher Sussser, “The Rise of Hamas in Palestine and the Crisis of Secularism in the Arab World”

July 31, 2024
Asher Sussser, “The Rise of Hamas in Palestine and the Crisis of Secularism in the Arab World,” Brandeis, 2006 (79pp). (with permission) Read full article

Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran Asserts Anger at U.S., Hatred of Israel, Importance of Jihad, 2006

December 6, 2006
Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh says, "we shall never recognize the "usurper Zionism government"...continue Jihadist movement until liberation of Jerusalem."

Netanyahu Government’s Administrative Horizon for Postwar Gaza, February 2024

February 23, 2024
Israeli Prime minister provides minimal detail for the Gaza Strip's post war civilian restructuring, focusing entirely on immediate and long term Israeli security needs with no imposed Palestinian state nor international negotiating intervention acceptable.

Ronald E. Neumann, “Lessons for Postwar Gaza From the American Experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Jerusalem Strategic Tribune, July 2024

July 18, 2024
(with permission) “Don’t repeat our mistakes—we can do it ourselves.” This line occurred to me as I listened to discussions of “the day after” in Gaza. Plans and ideas need to address the detailed problems...

Prime Minister Netanyahu Addresses Congress on Hamas War, 2024

July 24, 2024
In a 52 minute speech, Netanyahu explained Israel’s absolute need for total victory in the Gaza war because Hamas and Iran were both enemies of the United States and Israel. With bi-partisan emphasis, he thanked Presidents Biden and Trump for their unwavering current and past support. Dozens of congressional members did not attend his speech, noting disagreements with the Prime Minister's policies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Speech to the U.N. General Assembly, September 2024

November 5, 2024
The essence of Netanyahu’s speech was to eliminate Hezbollah as a fighting force in Lebanon. He intoned, “Don’t let Nasrallah drag Lebanon into the abyss. We’re not at war with you. We’re at war with Hezbollah, which has hijacked your country and threatens to..."

Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, Friday Sermon, October 2024

October 4, 2024
October 4, 2024 Source: https://english.khamenei.ir/news/11146/Palestinian-and-Lebanese-Resistance-pushed-back-Zionist-regime Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s speech is a synopsis of Iran’s hatred of Israel and the United States and the need to rid the region of foreigners. Khamenei provides deep insights into...

35 Webinars on the Hamas-Israel War

October 2023-July 2024
Watch our collection of weekly Wednesday webinars with expert analysis and insights into the war and related topics, and register for the next webinar.