Israeli aircraft destroyed a building belonging to the Al-Alaklouk family, comprising 11 floors and 85 apartments in the Al-Nasr Street area, west of Gaza City, October 8, 2023. Photo by Mohammed Zaanoun on Instagram, used with permission. The turbulent landscape of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is marked by tens of thousands of casualties and the displacement of millions over seven decades. To understand the current situation, it is imperative to first acknowledge the context that continues to shape this enduring conflict. Israel has declared war on the Gaza Strip, launching a bombing campaign, with over 700 Palestinians reported dead and more than 4,000 injured. This escalation followed an unexpected attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, during which parts of the heavily fortified separation fence that separates Gaza from the rest of the country were breached, and settlements along the Gaza border were targeted. These events left more than 900 Israelis dead and more than 2,600 injured, in addition to disrupting air traffic at Ben Gurion Airport, as many airlines canceled their flights. Gaza is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, with nowhere to flee. The city is an enclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. According to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization dedicated to documenting and reporting human rights violations committed by Israel in the Occupied Territories, “Israel has turned the Gaza Strip into the largest prison on earth, while at the same time renouncing responsibility for the lives and welfare of its residents.” Since 2007, Israel has enforced a continuous land, air, and sea blockade on Gaza. Human Rights Watch has reported that “this closure has devastated the economy in Gaza, contributed to the fragmentation of the Palestinian people, and forms part of Israeli authorities’ crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians.” Israel exercises control over crucial aspects of life in Gaza, including the movement of food, water, and people through land crossings connecting Gaza to the outside world. Palestinians are not permitted to operate an airport or a seaport in Gaza, leading to significant implications for their ability to travel or engage in foreign trade. This 16-year-old blockade has been criticized by human rights organizations as a form of collective punishment against the Palestinian people. This perspective is echoed by Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who stated in a video statement on Monday, October 9: “We are putting a complete siege on Gaza … No electricity, no food, no water, no gas – it’s all closed.” This collective punishment puts Gaza on the brink of a new humanitarian crisis, as trapped Palestinians, who are not part of the conflict, run out of water, in addition to food, fuel, and electricity. The latest conflict has had a significant impact on the Israeli stock market. Tel Aviv’s primary stock indices, including TA-125 and TA-35 indices, experienced a nearly 7 percent decline. Banking stock, represented by the TELBANK5 index, was especially affected, with a 9 percent drop in sales totaling USD 573 million. Additionally, government bond prices decreased by up to 3 percent in the initial market response to the attack on Israel. Furthermore, Nvidia, the world's leading producer of chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) and computer graphics, announced the cancellation of an AI summit scheduled to be held in Tel Aviv next week. Meanwhile, the state of affairs has exerted a substantial influence on the domestic political landscape of Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the opposition leader Yair Lapid engaged in discussions about forming an emergency government in response to the massive attack. These discussions were prompted by the prime minister’s resistance to addressing the protests and numerous duty-related strikes carried out by Israeli voluntary reserve soldiers and others. These protests were primarily in opposition to legal reform that aimed to restrict the judiciary's powers. The international response to the attack has led to the emergence of distinct perspectives. The first has condemned the attack and expressed total support for Israel. The second perspective, in contrast, has called for calm and de-escalation. Others, on the other hand, emphasized the importance of not confusing Hamas with all Palestinians. The key stakeholders in this conflict involve neighboring countries, including Lebanon, which has already been drawn into the conflict through Hizbollah, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.