What’s Next in Gaza
Just as there are stages of grief, there are stages of war. Not yet two weeks after Hamas’s surprise attack, Israel is still in a raw, early stage. My colleague Graeme Wood, who arrived in Jerusalem this week, described it to me this way: “Israel is still reeling from the trauma of the attack on October 7. That manifests in a number of ways. And one is that there’s a certain amount of Israeli policy that is driven right now by wrath.”
Israeli officials insist that they are targeting Hamas, not Gazan citizens. But the situation on the ground for Gazan citizens is dire—a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions, according to the United Nations and other agencies. Wood told me that, among many of the Israelis he’s interviewed, the prevailing attitude is a dangerous if understandable combination of anger, fear, and mourning.
The atrocities committed against Israeli citizens on October 7 were especially inhumane. And, as one Israeli I talked with put it, this society’s worst nightmare is vulnerability. What happens when a nation makes crucial wartime decisions while still processing the shock and anger over what it’s experienced?
In today’s episode, we discuss the state of Israel with Wood, who frequently reports from the Middle East. I spoke with him shortly after a devastating explosion at a hospital in Gaza, and amid the widespread expectation that Israel will soon send ground troops into Gaza.
Listen to the conversation here:
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The following is a transcript of the episode:
[Music]
Hanna Rosin: Just as there are stages of grief there are stages of war. And Israel is in an early one.
[Tape]
Graeme Wood: Israel is still reeling from the trauma of the attack of October 7. That manifests in a number of ways. And one is that there’s a certain amount of Israeli policy that is driven right now by wrath.
Rosin: Wrath. A combination of anger, fear, mourning and revenge. Which, given the circumstances, seems like a dangerous place to be.
This is . I’m Hanna Rosin. Today, as war in the Middle East is getting more intense, we look at what happens when a nation makes critical
