The Israeli war against Gaza has severely disrupted daily life, including sleep, a fundamental human need. Chronic war-related trauma has caused hyperarousal, nightmares, and insomnia, perpetuating psychological distress. Overcrowded shelters and limited mental health services exacerbate these challenges. This study examines how the Israeli war against the Gazans affected Gazans’ sleep quality and patterns, focusing on sleep-related challenges faced by children and adults through firsthand accounts of war-induced trauma and stress. Forty semi-structured interviews with 20 children (ages 6–12) and 20 adults (14 mothers, 6 fathers) were analyzed using thematic analysis with a bottom-up, data-driven approach, refined through team discussions and cross-validation by independent judges. The five key themes identified are (1) chronic hypervigilance and sleep disruption, (2) trauma-driven sleep dysregulation in Gaza’s children, (3) sleeplessness in shelters, (4) maternal vigilance and the ramifications of sleeplessness, and (5) the health toll of chronic sleep deprivation. The findings highlight the urgent need for culturally sensitive mental health interventions, improved living conditions, and family-centered support services to alleviate war-related insomnia in Gaza.

This article seeks to detail what Israel owes the people who live in the Gaza Strip with respect to water. It also highlights the opportunity for Israeli security presented by the provision of reliable water resources and infrastructure to the Gaza Strip. I argue that continued provision of water is required by both international law and ethics; additionally, it is the most prudent policy choice. This was true before the terrorist attacks of 7 October 2023, during the armed conflict that followed, and will be true after the armed conflict ends. It also asserts that Israel’s actions that damage the water infrastructure of the Gaza Strip are legally restricted. Further, it is in Israel’s interest to build a sustainable water solution for the people of the Gaza Strip. Once that self-interest is realised and internalised, the demands of law and ethics may become politically possible as well. Realising that self-interest requires overcoming the powerful dehumanising discourse that is currently dominating ‘pro-Israel’ and ‘pro-Palestine’ communities, humanising action (such as the provision of water security) is the best way to overcome such dehumanising narratives.

The Israeli escalation of violence and oppression in Gaza, particularly following the events of October 7, 2023, has deepened the trauma and exacerbated the already grievous conditions of dispossession and exploitation faced by Palestinians. The present exploratory work sought to analyze war-related traumatic experiences among Gazans following the recent Israeli genocide against Gazans. Thirty participants (mean age for males = 32.45 years, SD = 10.13; mean age for females = 30.28 years, SD = 9.15; range 19–57) were recruited via snowball sampling. Interviews were analyzed through thematic content analysis. Thematic content analysis of the interview transcripts led to the identification of five main themes: (1) challenges and difficulties faced Gazans, (2) traumatic experiences related to war, (3) feelings and emotions among Gazans living in refugee camps, (4) how do Gazans perceive the future and (5) survival coping employed by Gazans following the on-going genocide against the Gaza Strip. The findings of this study highlight the profound humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling for urgent attention to the ongoing crisis in Gaza and advocating for comprehensive humanitarian support and psychological interventions to address the deep-seated trauma and help rebuild lives shattered by conflict.

Decades of conflict in the Gaza Strip have contributed to widely documented cultural heritage destruction, demonstrating a need to monitor vulnerable sites and enhance the empirical base. This article describes how the Gaza Maritime Archaeology Project (GAZAMAP 2022–2023) was developed to monitor coastal and near-coastal sites, collaboratively. Owing to the unprecedented destruction of heritage since October 2023, GAZAMAP's scope has fundamentally shifted.

In 2004 the Israeli government adopted a plan for its unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip and areas in the north of the West Bank, a plan which was carried out the following year. Debated in the Israeli parliament and governmental and academic circles, the Israeli ‘disengagement’ plan provoked disagreement with respect to its effects on the legal status of the Gaza Strip, and Israel's responsibility for the lives of Gazan Palestinians, if any, in its aftermath.

This paper seeks answers to the question of Israel's continued responsibility (or lack thereof) vis-à-vis the Occupied Palestinian Territories (hereinafter, OPT), and the status of those territories following the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip (and parts of the West Bank). Without being dismissive of arguments made to the contrary, this paper demonstrates the validity of the views of the majority of scholars that Israel has maintained the status of Occupying Power vis-à-vis the OPT, contrary to its claims and one of the main objectives of the ‘disengagement’, as announced by the Israeli government.

On 12 September 2005, at around 7 a.m., the last group of Israeli soldiers left the Gaza Strip, thereby ending 38 years of continued Israeli military presence in the area. In a short ceremony at one of the exit gates, IDF Brigadier-General Aviv Kochavi, the departing Gaza Region Commander, stated: ‘the responsibility for whatever takes place inside befalls upon the [Palestinian] Authority.’ On that same night, the IDF Chief of Southern Command, Major-General Dan Harel, promulgated an official decree proclaiming the end of military rule in the Gaza Strip and formally nullifying the decree issued on 6 June 1967, which instituted military rule in the region. So came to end Israel's prolonged occupation of Gaza – or did it?