While excavating the area underneath Jerusalem’s Givati parking lot, in the oldest portion of the city, archaeologists have found two ancient seals, both dating from the 8th century BCE. One, made of agate, bears the stamp of “Ikkar ben Matanyahu”; the second, made of clay, belonged to “Nathan-Melekh, servant of the king.” Amanda Borschel-Dan reports:

Nathan-Melekh is named in 2Kings as an official in the court of King Josiah. The burnt clay impression is the first archaeological evidence of the biblical name. . . . According to [the archaeologist Yiftaḥ] Shalev, while both discoveries are of immense scholarly value as inscriptions, their primary value is their archaeological context. . . .

According to the archaeologist Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University, in the 8th century this area of the City of David became the central administrative center of Jerusalem. A newly unearthed two-story public building, constructed with finely cut ashlar stones, illustrates the beginning of a westward move of the administration area in the large, sprawling city. [This structure], said Shalev, is further down the slope of the City of David than where some archaeologists had envisioned a First Temple-period city wall. Through this evidence of a large administrative center, scholars are beginning to understand that [around this time] Jerusalem saw the beginning of the western spread [of its borders] that continued in later eras, including the Persian and Hellenistic periods. . . .

The name Nathan-Melekh appears once in the Bible, in 2Kings 23:11. An official in the court of King Josiah, the biblical Nathan-Melech took part in the implementation of widespread religious reform. . . . While the biblical account uses a different title [translated as “officer”] from the impression on the ancient clay, the title “servant of the king” does often appear in the Bible to describe a high-ranking official close to the king.

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.