In 2018, a pair of Israeli scientists published the results of their excavation of the Misliya cave at Mount Carmel, where they had found a skull belonging to a human who lived between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago. The discovery suggested that Homo sapiens not only developed earlier than generally assumed, but also left Africa sooner. In their subsequent research into other fossils found in the same cave, the scientists have concluded that these humans arrived during the Ice Age. Amanda Borschel-Dan writes:

According to a new study, . . . the discovery of fossils from rodents that are only adapted to cold environments—which were found in the same archaeological assemblage as the earliest known record of Homo sapiens outside of Africa—proves that those early modern humans arrived during an Ice Age and yet were able to thrive after leaving the cradle of humankind despite the drastically cooler temperatures.

The study’s authors say the analysis contradicts the [widely accepted] theory that the Ice Age delayed human migration between continents. This first sign of human adaptability displays the characteristics that would eventually lead to our species’ world domination, said the scientists.

The region is rife with indications of paleolithic settlement . . . and during ten years of excavations, along with the jawbone, the team uncovered some 60,000 flint tools, which span the human history of development from chunky primitive hand axes to purposefully knapped, lightweight, technologically advanced projectiles, and thin knives.

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.