Israel Gaza Research Articles

The effects of war on healthcare delivery, access, and equity: a critical examination of the Israel–Gaza case study

The effects of war on healthcare delivery, access, and equity: a critical examination of the Israel–Gaza case study

Images of the Israel-Gaza War on Instagram: A Content Analysis of Western Broadcast News Posts

This quantitative content analysis examined how popular Western broadcast news channels—BBC News, CNN, Fox News, Sky News, and MSNBC—used Instagram (IG) to cover the initial phase of the fifth Israel–Gaza war of the 21st century, which began on October 7, 2023. The research was undergirded by framing theory and the victim/defensive mode of reporting model. Overall, findings suggest that Western broadcast IG reporting was decidedly pro-Israel. Studied outlets consistently favored Israeli and pro-Israeli sources over Palestinian and pro-Palestinian sources; highlighted Israeli victims while neglecting Palestinian victims; and framed Israeli violence as self-defense while framing Palestinian violence as aggression.

A new politics of international criminal justice: accountability in Ukraine and the Israel–Gaza war

Abstract Protecting civilian populations affected by violent conflict and mass atrocities is a challenge in global politics, particularly in view of the persistence of contestation over the application of the Responsibility to Protect principle and geopolitical gridlock in the UN Security Council. Over the past decade, there has been a pronounced rise in international accountability mechanisms to fill protection gaps in the multilateral system. Increasingly, international accountability mechanisms have been activated in the early phases of conflict situations to counter atrocities, promoting protection in ‘real time’. This article proposes that the deepening association between accountability and protection is best understood as an emergent human protection transnational legal order (HPTLO), a mode of decentralized governance that was driven by diverse agency across borders and aimed at solving problems of a global reach through legal ordering. The article provides an account of the formation and character of the HPTLO, demonstrates how it is operating in the context of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and identifies key risks and opportunities that these developments present to the global governance of human protection.

Unintentional childhood mortality during emergencies in Israel: a comparative study

BackgroundArmed conflicts are likely to have implications for the welfare and safety of children, potentially leading to increased rates of unintentional childhood injuries.MethodsWe examine data from Israel concerning the relationship...

Shattered lives, unbroken stories: journalists’ perspectives from the frontlines of the Israel–Gaza war

Abstract Purpose This study sheds light on the unprecedented complexities of the Israel–Gaza war, offering insights into the challenges that journalists face in this conflict zone. It employs the Hierarchy of Influences Model to analyze the factors influencing conflict reporting within the dynamic landscape of contemporary war journalism. Design/methodology/approach Rooted in the Hierarchy of Influences Model, the research is informed by interviews with 18 Palestinian journalists in Gaza. It examines the multifaceted influences on war coverage, encompassing individual, media routines, organizational, and societal factors, offering detailed insights from journalists’ firsthand experiences. Findings The research unveils semi-hierarchical influences within the model, illustrating the intertwined nature of micro and macro-level factors impacting war reporting. It sheds light on the complexities of journalistic practices amidst conflicts, underscoring the importance of safety, ethics, and the intricate relationship between personal experiences and professional duties as well as the evolving role of technology, acting both as a facilitator and a limitation in journalistic endeavors. Practical implications The study holds substantial implications for war journalism practices, providing valuable perspectives for educators, policymakers, stakeholders, and media practitioners engaged in conflict reporting. It highlights the importance of understanding and addressing the challenges faced by journalists in conflict regions to enhance the quality and accuracy of war reporting. Social implications By uncovering the challenges and influences affecting war reporting, this research contributes to the broader discourse on media ethics, safety protocols, and the societal impact of conflict coverage. It emphasizes the need for comprehensive support systems and ethical guidelines to safeguard journalists operating in volatile regions. Originality/value Bridging academic and practical perspectives on conflict reporting, this study offers unique insights into reporting complexities in the Israel–Gaza War. It emphasizes the critical role of journalistic practices in navigating hazards and limitations, amid evolving challenges for the media in portraying conflicts accurately.

Lessons for Israel's Gaza War In America's Strategic Blunders

AbstractLessons learned from counterterrorism operations indicate that purely military solutions are doomed to fail, and Israel is primed to repeat many of these mistakes. The comparison between America's post‐9/11 wars and the Israeli‐Palestinian conflict is not perfect: Al‐Qaeda was in Afghanistan but was not native to the country, and the transnational ISIS emerged out of the chaos in Iraq and Syria. Hamas, by contrast, represents a resistance movement indigenous to Gaza. The militant group is deeply rooted in the political and social struggle for Palestinian self‐determination, and its activities and support are motivated by desperate conditions on the ground. If Israel's assaults on Gaza in retaliation for the October 2023 Hamas bloodbath are to achieve enduring security, key questions arise, including whether the conflict will end with military occupation or political settlement. I argue that Israel should learn from the US strategic blunders in Afghanistan and Iraq. Absent a political solution, Israelis are likely to face terrorist assaults in the future. The military campaign may weaken or impair Hamas's infrastructure and power bases in Gaza, but without a plan for governance and development, Israel is likely to face the re‐emergence of a broadly based resistance movement.

Foreword

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a utopia is not a dystopia, but that the pursuit of the first can lead to the realisation of the other. While a utopia is little more than an everywhere-but-nowhere dream, dystopias have been all too manifest in our history on this planet. As one old year elides into a new, the skies over 2024 risk growing even darker than during those recent months when geopolitics witnessed the growing triangulation of three global crises—Ukraine, Israel–Gaza, and Taiwan—exploited as proxies and direct theatres of engagement between competing ideologies. Increasingly, democrats claim their democracies to be under attack from a concerted authoritarianism pursued from both inside and outside their countries. Yet their pleas for support, argued in the language of an existential struggle, have frequently fallen on deaf ears.

How civilian attitudes respond to the state’s violence: Lessons from the Israel–Gaza conflict

States, in their conflicts with militant groups embedded in civilian populations, often resort to policies of collective punishment to erode civilian support for the militants. We attempt to evaluate the efficacy of such policies in the context of the Gaza Strip, where Israel's blockade and military interventions, purportedly intended to erode support for Hamas, have inflicted hardship on the civilian population. We combine Palestinian public opinion data, Palestinian labor force surveys, and Palestinian fatalities data, to understand the relationship between exposure to Israeli policies and Palestinian support for militant factions. Our baseline strategy is a difference-in-differences specification that compares the gap in public opinion between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during periods of intense punishment with the gap during periods when punishment is eased. Consistent with previous research, we find that Palestinian fatalities are associated with Palestinian support for more militant political factions. The effect is short-lived, however, dissipating after merely one quarter. Moreover, the blockade of Gaza itself appears to be only weakly associated with support for militant factions. Overall, we find little evidence to suggest that Israeli security policies toward the Gaza Strip have any substantial lasting effect on Gazan support for militant factions, neither deterring nor provoking them relative to their West Bank counterparts. Our findings therefore call into question the logic of Israel's continued security policies toward Gaza, while prompting a wider re-examination of the efficacy of deterrence strategies in other asymmetric conflicts.

When and How Does Anti-Semitism Occur? the Different Trigger Mechanisms Associated with Different Types of Criminal and Non-Criminal Hate Incidents

ABSTRACT We used data from an Australian community register to build a database containing 673 incidents, including both criminal and non-criminal anti-Semitic acts that occurred between October 2013 and September 2017. We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses to explore the differences in the types of incidents associated with different trigger events. Using time series methods, we found a significant increase in criminal (but not in non-criminal) incidents during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. During Jewish religious festivals, we found a significant decrease in criminal incidents, and a significant increase in non-criminal incidents. After the establishment of the neo-nazi group Antipodean Resistance, we found a significant increase in both criminal and non-criminal incidents. Using bivariate analysis, we found that particular trigger events were associated with qualitatively different types of anti-Semitic incidents (e.g. verbal abuse, property vandalism, violence against people). We propose that these differences reflect the diversity of ideological groups with which different offenders identify.

WhatsApp group as a shared resource for coping with political violence: The case of mothers living in an ongoing conflict area

In recent years, mobile media applications have become a significant resource for crisis communication and communal coping during natural disasters and wars. Drawing on communal coping and media affordance research, we examined the roles that a WhatsApp group plays for mothers living in an ongoing conflict area. We examined, through in-depth interviews, a local WhatsApp group operating in a community adjacent to the Israel–Gaza border. Findings revealed the unique emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies people use when facing ongoing threats. Four affordances—immediacy, reachability, mobility, and multimediality—contributed to WhatsApp’s role as a shared and ubiquitous coping resource. This study demonstrates the ways in which instant messaging communication affordances contribute to communal coping strategies in ongoing conflict areas.

The impact of damage to buildings on displacement during the 2014 Israel–Gaza war: a propensity score matching study

BackgroundThe July 2014 war in Gaza caused more devastation in the area than at any time since the Israeli occupation began in 1967. The 50-day war resulted in more than 2200 Palestinian deaths, over 11 000 injuries, and large-scale destruction of infrastructure and displacement of over a quarter of the Palestinian population in Gaza. In this study, we examined the causal effect of damage to buildings within a neighbourhood on displacement behaviour in Gaza. Identifying demographic and socioeconomic predictors of displacement, given ongoing exposure to chronic violence and precarious living conditions in Gaza, will allow for action to be taken to avert the consequences of modifiable risk factors of displacement in this population. MethodsThe study was based on data from a 2015 cross-sectional survey including a representative sample of households in the occupied Palestinian territory. The study sample included 10 017 Gazans aged 18 years and above from whom complete data were available for 9285 adults, who were included in matching analysis. Through a quasi-experimental design, propensity score matching estimators were used to evaluate causality between exposure and outcome. The exposure effect was whether 5% or more of the buildings in a respondent's neighbourhood experienced damage. The outcome variable was self-reported displacement from residence as a result of the war. Score matching was conducted using age, sex, education, marital status, refugee status, Gaza residence, employment, household age composition, household crowding (≥3 people per room, excluding kitchen and bathrooms), income, injury status, chronic disease status, and car possession status. FindingsOf the 9285 adults in the analysis, 5304 (57·12%) reported displacement and 3005 (32·36%) lived in an area that experienced damage to buildings during the war. Being a refugee in Gaza and having higher levels of educational attainment were found to be protective against experiencing displacement. An analysis of model-based estimates and average treatment effect showed a positive effect of neighbourhood damage on displacement (average treatment effect 0·35; 95% CI 0·33–0·36), indicating that living in an area that experienced damaged due to war caused displacement. InterpretationDamage to buildings had a substantial impact on population displacement during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, but was not the sole predictor of displacement. The substantial proportion of individuals who were displaced did not live in areas that experienced damage directly, indicating that they were potentially influenced by perception of danger and fear in general. A limitation of this study is the possibility that not all relevant covariates in the matching stage are accounted for, which would reduce comparability of treatments and control groups, and thus limit assertions of causality. Findings from this study can be used to help inform public health programmes and policies designed to protect and serve displaced civilian populations during humanitarian emergencies such as wars, in Gaza and beyond. FundingThis project was supported, in part, by a research grant from the Yale MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, and an award from the Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration.

Social Connectedness Moderates the Relationship Between Warfare Exposure, PTSD Symptoms, and Health Among Older Adults

Objective: The goal of the current study is to examine whether social connectedness among older adults mitigates the risk of poor health due to exposure to warfare and related symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prior research has indicated a protective role for social connectedness in the face of trauma in general. However, this same association has not been examined among older adults exposed to warfare, even though they are potentially a more vulnerable population with unique social needs. Method: The study used cross-sectional data from the Israeli component of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-Israel; N = 1,557, mean age = 69.03, age range = 50 to 105). It employed a composite scale of social connectedness, data on exposure to war-related events during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, and ensuing symptoms of PTSD. Social connectedness, warfare exposure, and PTSD symptoms were used to predict physical and mental health, as well as engagement in health behaviors. Results: Warfare exposure and PTSD symptoms were related to worse health. Moreover, social connectedness moderated this association, such that persons suffering from PTSD symptoms suffered less from worse health when they were highly connected. This trend was found for physical and mental health and in relation to health behaviors. Conclusions: While war-related PTSD is indeed related to poorer health, social connectedness moderates the strength of the association. Practitioners should be aware of the protective role of social connectedness in the context of warfare exposure in old age, and intervention programs with this population should strive toward bolstering social connections.

Subjective Age as a Moderator in the Reciprocal Effects Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Self-Rated Physical Functioning.

It is now widely acknowledged that physical decline may increase among middle-aged and older adults who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Much less is known about the temporal sequencing of PTSD and physical decline relationship over time. While PTSD can lead to physical decline, physical decline may preserve or augment existing PTSD symptoms. Both problems can also mutually affect each other forming a vicious cycle. Additionally, it is important to address variables that can mitigate these longitudinal effects. Following the recovery capital framework, we consider how the existence or lack of capital in the form of young age identity may affect the recovery process. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the reciprocal effects of PTSD symptoms and self-rated physical functioning and further test whether one’s subjective age moderates these effects. Using in-region random digit dialing, we collected a stratified sample of community dwelling older adult residing in south Israel. Of that sample (N at T1 = 339), 132 older adults (age range = 51–88, mean age = 66.90, SD = 9.14) were interviewed 4 months after the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict (T2) and 1 year later (T3). Participants responded to PTSD symptoms scale, and reported their physical functioning and subjective age. PTSD symptoms and self-rated physical functioning were tested as both predictors and outcomes in a cross-lagged model. The moderating effect of subjective age was assessed by examining whether T2 variables interacted with subjective age in predicting T3 outcomes. Results showed that higher PTSD symptoms at T2 were associated with subsequent lower self-rated physical functioning at T3, yet self-rated physical functioning at T2 did not predict PTSD symptoms at T3, thereby highlighting the PTSD self-rated physical function direction. Moreover, subjective age moderated this latter association, so that this relationship was significant only for those who felt relatively older. In addition to clarifying the temporal sequencing of the PTSD self-rated physical functioning association, the study further suggests that an older subjective age (i.e., lack of recovery capital) could render middle-aged and older adults more susceptible to physical decline following PTSD symptoms. We therefore propose to develop interventions aimed at coping with an older age identity and facilitating a younger age identity among traumatized older individuals.

The Anti-Social Network? Framing Social Media in Wartime

Numerous studies address the uses and perceived effects of social media, but a scholarly void exists about how it is framed in the mainstream media. This study fills this void using a content analysis of news items that included references to social media in Israel’s six daily Hebrew-language printed newspapers during the Israel–Gaza war (2014). The papers framed social media primarily as spaces of hate speech and distribution of rumors. Additional salient themes referred to social media as alternative media channels by politicians and celebrities and as arenas of public diplomacy. Social media was rarely portrayed as platforms to orchestrate collective action or to meet the enemy.

Engagement in community activities and trust in local leaders as concomitants of psychological distress among Israeli civilians exposed to prolonged rocket attacks

ABSTRACTBackground and objectives: Present study, conducted in the aftermath of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, investigated psychological toll of exposure to rockets attacks in a sample of residents of central and southern Israel. Analyses focused on the distress-protective functions of collectively grounded resources: engagement in community activities and trust in local leadership.Design: This cross-sectional study was conducted between 2 and 3 months after the hostilities.Method: Participants (N = 764) were recruited by an online survey company that distributed a questionnaire assessing, in addition to focal predictors, sociodemographic factors and prior exposure to trauma. The outcome variables were post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and nonspecific distress symptoms.Results: Conservative regression analyses revealed that greater exposure to rocket attacks was predictive of higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Higher engagement in community activities exhibited a partial trauma-buffering function. However, higher levels of trust in local leaders appeared to exacerbate, rather than diminish, negative impact of rocket exposure on PTSD. Symptoms of psychological distress were not influenced neither by trauma exposure nor by stressor interactions with resources. Trust in local leadership exerted a beneficial main effect on distress.Conclusions: Collectively based resources are important for coping in times of community-wide stressors, yet their role is complex.

The Impact of Web 2.0 on Public Engagement in the Israeli Home Front (From the 2006 Lebanon War to the 2014 Israel-Gaza Conflict)

This article deals with citizen engagement and public participation being in crisis on the Israeli home front, in the era of Web 2.0. Since 2004, Web 2.0 characterizes changes that allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, blogs, wikis, YouTube, hosted services, applications, WhatsApp, etc. Since 2006, Israel is involved in asymmetric conflicts. The research defines the impact of Web 2.0 on public engagement in the Israeli home front. The case studies examined in the research are: 1) The 2006 Lebanon War (July-August 2006); 2) The Gaza War (27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January 2009); 3) Operation Pillar of Defense (November 2012); and 4) The 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.

Dynamic networks of PTSD symptoms during conflict.

Conceptualizing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as a dynamic system of causal elements could provide valuable insights into the way that PTSD develops and is maintained in traumatized individuals. We present the first study to apply a multilevel network model to produce an exploratory empirical conceptualization of dynamic networks of PTSD symptoms, using data collected during a period of conflict. Intensive longitudinal assessment data were collected during the Israel-Gaza War in July-August 2014. The final sample (n = 96) comprised a general population sample of Israeli adult civilians exposed to rocket fire. Participants completed twice-daily reports of PTSD symptoms via smartphone for 30 days. We used a multilevel vector auto-regression model to produce contemporaneous and temporal networks, and a partial correlation network model to obtain a between-subjects network. Multilevel network analysis found strong positive contemporaneous associations between hypervigilance and startle response, avoidance of thoughts and avoidance of reminders, and between flashbacks and emotional reactivity. The temporal network indicated the central role of startle response as a predictor of future PTSD symptomatology, together with restricted affect, blame, negative emotions, and avoidance of thoughts. There were some notable differences between the temporal and contemporaneous networks, including the presence of a number of negative associations, particularly from blame. The between-person network indicated flashbacks and emotional reactivity to be the most central symptoms. This study suggests various symptoms that could potentially be driving the development of PTSD. We discuss clinical implications such as identifying particular symptoms as targets for interventions.

The Politics of Representation on Social Media: The Case of Hamas during the 2014 Israel–Gaza Conflict

Alongside the military confrontation that took place in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in July and August 2014, a battle in the media sector was also underway. This study focuses on the agenda of Hamas during different stages of the psychological war between the two sides involved, namely itself and the Israeli government. By selecting texts and images from two Hamas-affiliated Arabic social media accounts respectively, the study applies grounded theory to inspect the themes of Hamas’s political marketing and tracks the evolution of the themes in terms of time and frequency by cross-referencing events on the timeline. It also explores how the themes interacted and co-evolved with local and international attitudes towards the Gaza Conflict.

Do Pictures Tell a Different Story? A multimodal frame analysis of the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict

Pictures play an ever-increasing role in the public’s understanding of mediated events. However, many studies show that visuals remain an understudied field, especially when it comes to multimodal approaches. This remains an important issue in today’s media environment, where visuals and their interaction with textual contents are becoming increasingly important carriers of meaning. The following paper presents results from a multimodal quantitative content analysis of the online coverage of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, wherein an innovative comparative approach to visual and textual frames was applied. We examine the existing frames, identify patterns of visual and textual frame co-occurrence and describe changes of the applied multimodal framing. Overall, a sample of 150 texts and 219 pictures was coded. The study shows that the applied visual and textual frames initially correspond with each other thematically. During the course of the conflict, however, the provided textual and visual framing divert increasingly. While the textual mode more or less upholds its original framing of the events, the visual level intensifies the framing strategy it has adopted since the escalation of the conflict began. As a result, textual coverage focuses more on negotiations and solutions, whereas images become increasingly graphic.

Peritraumatic Reaction Courses During War: Gender, Serious Mental Illness, and Exposure

Objective: We assessed in vivo symptom courses of early psychological responses during war and investigated the influence of exposure, gender, and a prior diagnosis of severe mental illness (SMI). Method: Participants were 181 highly exposed individuals from the general population and community psychiatric rehabilitation centers. A 30-day twice-daily Internet-smartphone-based intensive assessment two weeks into the 2014 Israel–Gaza war estimated peritraumatic symptom clusters, sense of threat, negative emotions and cognitions, and siren exposure during two periods that varied in exposure level. Piecewise growth curve modeling procedures were performed. Results: We found different courses for most variables, gender, and SMI status. Women were more reactive two weeks into the war but reduced their reactivity level at a faster pace than males, reaching lower symptom levels one month later. Women’s courses were characterized by arousal, negative emotionality, sense of threat, and reactivity to siren exposure. No-SMI men had a stable course followed by a significant reduction in arousal, negative emotions, avoidance, and perceived threat during a “return to routine” lower-level intensity period of the war. Individuals with SMI had higher reactivity levels at study onset; but while women with SMI improved over time, men with SMI worsened. SMI reactivity was characterized by negative cognitions, intrusions, and avoidance. Conclusions: Early reactions during prolonged exposure to war are variable, dynamic, and affected by exposure context. Symptoms, emotions, and cognitions develop differentially over time and are affected by gender and mental health status. The identification of various early stress courses should inform primary intervention strategies.