In the oldest Hebrew inscriptions and manuscripts that mention the city of Jerusalem, the city’s name is spelled “Yerushalem” or simply “Shalem,” as opposed to the spelling “Yerushalayim,” which did not become standard until the end of the 1st millennium. The Jerusalem Post reports:

The limestone column that dates to the Second Temple period was discovered ten months ago on an excavation site near the International Convention Center in Jerusalem. The words “Hananiah son of Dudolos from Jerusalem” were etched on the column, which was part of a building that stood in a Jewish potters’ village near the entrance to Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago. . . .

The word Jerusalem was found on silver coins dating before the time of this column, but they were written in Aramaic.

Details of who Hananiah was and why he etched his name on the column are yet to be uncovered; however, what can be confirmed is that he was Jewish. . . . According to Dudy Mevorach, the chief curator of archaeology at the Israel Museum, “It is likely that [Hananiah] was an artisan or the son of an artisan” and [that the word] Dudolos was not [the name of his father] but an homage to the mythical Greek artist [Daedalus].

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.