Roughly between the years 800 and 400 BCE—that is, just in the middle of the span of time the Hebrew Bible describes—radiocarbon dating, often used to determine the approximate age of ancient objects, is woefully inaccurate. But recently archaeologists have been experimenting with a new method, based on the electromagnetism. Amanda Borschel-Dan explains:

The magnetic field is a constantly shifting invisible shield stemming from magnetic ore in the earth’s core, which scientists believe may hold a key for the creation and continuation of life as we know it. Archaeological findings such as pottery sherds, bricks, roof tiles, and furnaces record the earth’s magnetic field as they are burned at high temperatures, causing their magnetic minerals to be re-magnetized to the direction and magnitude of the field when they were heated. These data are similar to fingerprints and are unique to the date they were recorded. The destruction layers of biblical military conquests provide copious materials from the slash-and-burn campaigns.

The more the technique is performed on archaeological sites that can serve as “anchor dates”—dates that have a high certainty of historicity, such as the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE—the more the researchers can compare results and build more complete dating tables, as well as computer models of one of the most enigmatic subjects in physics, the magnetic field.

At [one] site, Tel Beth She’an, a decades-long argument over when the destruction occurred was put to rest through the new dating tool. . . . Finding that Beth She’an was probably destroyed 70-100 years earlier than previously thought places the city’s downfall at the time of the military campaign of the Egyptian Pharaoh Shoshenq [the biblical Shishak], the researchers believe. According to a Tel Aviv University press release, this Holy Land campaign is described in the Bible and in an inscription on a wall of the Temple of Amun in Karnak, Egypt, which mentions Beth She’an as one of his conquests.

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.