Southern Israel

Israeli troops prepare to take away bodies from Kfar Aza after it was attacked by Hamas militants, October 10, 2023. (Oren Ziv)

‘Bodies scattered everywhere’: Reporting on a massacre in Israel’s south

I’ve covered every war that Israel has waged on the Gaza Strip. But that first morning, it was clear something different was happening this time.

By Oren Ziv October 12, 2023

Sderot police station, after Israeli forces regain control of the building following its capture by Hamas militants, October 8, 2023. (Oren Ziv)

In photos: Israel loses control of the south

I have covered every Israeli attack on Gaza from the Israeli side since 2009, and I have never seen anything like this. Chaos pervades everything.

By Oren Ziv October 9, 2023

Palestinians survey the destruction following an Israeli air strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 14, 2019. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

On the Gaza fence, a call for stability — not vengeance

The latest round of violence in Gaza has already taken the lives of at least 34 Palestinians. Meanwhile, in Israel's southern towns, residents want stability — not more war.

By Oren Ziv November 15, 2019

Latest

Palestinian walk through the wreckage of a building damaged by Israeli air strikes, Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, May 5, 2019. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

No, escalations do not begin with rockets on Israel

Israel might have the power to tell itself and the rest of the world a story of victimhood. In reality, it has been abusing two million besieged Gazans for over a decade. As the number of casualties on both sides of the Gaza border continues to climb, Israeli politicians are busy having their age-old argument: should we…

By Orly Noy May 5, 2019

A house in Ashkelon, Southern Israel, that was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza, early morning on August 26, 2014. (Edi Israel/Flash90)

There’s a way out of our shared hell with Gaza

Life in Gaza is unbearable. Without resolving the crisis there, the lives of Israelis living in the south will continue to be a living hell. By Eric Yellin A few days ago, on Wednesday night, I was on my way to a film screening in Sderot, a city near the fence with Gaza. A minute after…

By +972 Magazine August 9, 2018

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (centre) addresses the Council. He is flanked by Héctor Marcos Timerman (left), Minister for Foreign Affairs of Argentina; and Julie Bishop, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia and President of the Council for November. (photo: UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz)

Why Israelis are asking the UN to end the siege on Gaza

After countless pleas to the Israeli government went unanswered, a group of Israelis who live along the Gaza border ask Ban Ki-moon to intervene and end the siege on their neighbors. A group of Israelis who live in the Gaza border region sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week imploring him “to…

By Haggai Matar March 10, 2016

A Palestinian child with a kite stands in front of the destroyed Al Nada towers in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip. The towers had 90 flats.

War on Gaza: A promise Israeli politicians can keep

As they head into elections, Netanyahu, Livni, Herzog, Lapid and Yishai can agree on one thing: even after nine military operations in 14 years, the only solution to the conflict with Gaza is another war with Hamas. By Yonatan Mendel Election season is upon us, which means that the country’s best copywriters and campaigners are likely…

By +972 Magazine January 9, 2015

Police cordon off area after a Palestinian man rams digger into a public bus in Jerusalem. (photo: Activestills.org)

Jerusalem terrorist attacks leave one Israeli dead; Israel, Hamas agree to 72-hour truce

Two terrorist attacks left one Israeli dead and several wounded in Jerusalem on Monday. The first attack, which took place around 1:30 p.m., occurred after a man driving a digger used his vehicle to flip over a public bus, killing one and wounding five others. Just several hours later, a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire on…

By Edo Konrad August 5, 2014

Palestinian women cry after Israeli air strike on Gaza Strip. (photo: Activestills.org)

How can you possibly oppose this war?

Someone asked me an innocent question: “What is the position of Israelis who are against the war?” There are obvious answers. First, this is a disproportionate war that harms huge numbers of civilians. The IDF is bombarding an area that it has already imprisoned by occupation from 1967, and then through suffocating border, movement, import…

By Dahlia Scheindlin July 19, 2014

Israeli military police officers talk at a checkpoint next to Kibbutz Mefalsim near the Israeli Gaza border Thursday, March 7 2011, hours after a Hamas anti-tank missile struck a school bus nearby. (Photo: Eyal Warshavsky)

Gaza and the Negev: Setting the stage for the theater of war

This is a post about how Israel prepares for war. I don’t know if we are going to war. But the awful attack on a school bus by an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza on Thursday, seemed tailor-made to push Israel over the edge. Following weeks of escalation between the IDF and Hamas, the airwaves…

By Dahlia Scheindlin April 9, 2011