New discoveries at the City of David archeological site in Jerusalem, including a row of 2,600-year-old rooms and objects found within them, suggest that the ancient city might have been larger than previously thought, writes Amanda Borschel-Dan.

According to the current team of [Israel Antiquities Authority] archaeologists, Jerusalem underwent constant growth throughout the Iron Age. This was expressed both in the construction of numerous city walls and the fact that the city later spread beyond them.

“Excavations carried out in the past in the area of the Jewish Quarter have shown how the growth of the population at the end of the 8th century BCE led to the annexation of the western area of Jerusalem. In the current excavation, we may suggest that following the westward expansion of the city, structures were built outside of the wall’s border on the east as well,” said the IAA.

The new row of buildings discovered recently by the IAA archaeologists was found beyond the wall delineating the eastern city border.

As they continue to process the findings, Uziel voiced questions the team is pursuing. “Are we outside the city? Are we excavating an external quarter? Are these domestic buildings?”

Or, in other words, just how large and widespread was the destruction of Jerusalem [by the Babylonians], which is commemorated next week [in the fast of Tisha b’Av]?

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.