While archaeological discoveries in the Jerusalem soil are hardly an unusual occurrence, most often they are from antiquity. But one recent and significant find by a group of volunteers isn’t a Bronze Age artifact, but a mid-20th-century bullet. JNS reports:

The 9mm bullet was manufactured at the Ayalon Institute in Rehovot, which was disguised as a kibbutz laundry service in the years leading up to the War of Independence in British Mandate Palestine. The factory played a pivotal role in the 1948 victory that created the modern state of Israel. It was run by the Haganah, the precursor to the Israel Defense Force.

The bullet was found in a part of Ammunition Hill called the Governor’s Palace complex, which houses the historic study farm. . . . “From our vantage point, this is an event of historic magnitude,” said Rani Oren, Ayalon Institute Museum director.

“The 9mm bullets, exclusively manufactured at the Ayalon Institute for the Sten-type submachine gun, significantly fortified the country’s defense and development. Notably, these bullets were the sole ammunition never in short supply during the War of Independence,” said Oren.

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.