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Rula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
(Noun) Armed combat between countries or groups
In the Middle East, 2024 will be one of the most destructive years in modern history. Tens of thousands were killed and millions forced from their homes. Unimaginable numbers of lives have been shattered.
The massacre began in late 2023 after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostage. The guns have rarely fallen silent since then.
Israel responded with a devastating attack on Hamas-controlled Gaza, killing more than 44,000 people and turning the besieged enclave into a barren wasteland.
After October 7, the armed Hezbollah movement began firing towards Israel in solidarity with Hamas, while opening another front on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Militants allied with Iran, including Houthi rebels in Yemen and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, have also fired rockets, missiles and drones at Israel. On the other hand, the Israeli occupation forces and Jewish settlers intensified their attacks and raids in the occupied West Bank.
As the conflict continued to escalate, Iran and Israel exchanged direct fire for the first time in April. They repeated this act in October, with greater ferocity.
A month earlier, Israel intensified its attack on Hezbollah. It assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah, launched air strikes throughout Lebanon and invaded the south of the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bragged that he had been changing “the balance of power in the region for years.”
A US-brokered ceasefire agreement to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on November 27. However, that did not silence the guns. Each side accused the other of violating the truce. Israel continued to bomb southern Lebanon.
Hours after the ceasefire took effect, another war broke out again, as a rebel offensive in Syria broke a years-long stalemate. In less than two weeks, dictator Bashar al-Assad was overthrown, sparking hope and happiness – but also greater uncertainty.
