Over the past two months, conflict and unrest have continued to rage on in the Middle East. Since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, it has developed into a multifaceted clash, involving many nations, religious groups and creating a path of destruction along the way. Before students left for summer vacation in May, the main focus of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was on the best way to settle disagreements between Iran and Israel. In May, President Trump declared that the best course of action was to handle matters diplomatically, but since then, much has changed.
On June 13, 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities over fears
that Iran was developing nuclear weapons. The attacks consisted of hundreds of airstrikes that caused great damage to the nuclear facilities they were targeting. In retaliation, Iran sent missiles to strike many prominent Israeli cities. The war between Israel and Iran officially lasted twelve days from the 13th to the 24th, aptly giving it the name The Twelve Day War. On the ninth day of the war, the United States became involved in the conflict when it allied with Israel and took offensive action by bombing three Iranian nuclear sites. The attacks came as a huge surprise not only to Iranians but to many Americans as well, since President Trump had stated earlier that he wanted to solve these differences diplomatically. The war came to a close on June 24th after Iran and Israel came to a cease-fire deal with the assistance of the United States.
On July 16, 2025, Israel launched attacks into Syria with the justification that they were protecting the Druze group who live in the area bordering both Syria and Israel. Israel has had long-standing relations with Syria and many debates over borders, but as of now, they have some control over the Golan Heights that borders Syria, which the Druze people mostly occupy. As Syria began to have many internal conflicts surrounding new leadership and Israel claims they began to fear that the Druze people would be targeted, Israel decided to intervene and strike Syria. The strikes did not last long, and shortly after, a ceasefire between the two nations was reached.
All of these conflicts were going on, on top of the central concern for Israel right now, their conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Over the summer, there have been many protests from Israeli citizens calling for the return of the civilians and soldiers who were taken hostage on Oct. 7th. There have not been many advancements in negotiations over returning the hostages, and Israeli citizens are extremely troubled about it. Meanwhile, in Gaza, starvation has reached new heights. Since the beginning of the conflict, Israel has controlled the entry points for aid and have allowed aid to get through, but recently Israel has imposed many blockades, which have stopped providing food and resources to Palestinians.The most prominent blockade starting in March of 2025 and lasting a total of three months. Every time a blockade has ended and goods began coming through again, the resources have been diminished, and fewer sites have been available. The location of these sites is also often in dangerous territories that Gaza’s citizens can’t get to safely due to the war. This poses a large issue for Palestinian citizens as levels of malnutrition keep rising tremendously. Furthermore, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has publicly denied the starvation taking place in Gaza.
As the war continues, experts say discussions of a two-state solution are no longer effective, as both sides have such polarizing views of the other. The Knightly News asked some Pace students their opinions and knowledge on what was going on and found that many students feel very conflicted and feel like they need more information about what is going on in Israel and Gaza.
“I was at camp when I heard news of what was going on in the Middle East over the summer, and I was really concerned and confused at U.S. involvement at the time because so much was up in the air,” said junior Piper Guilbert.
An end to the war, as well as possible more U.S. involvement, is still uncertain for now, but updates continue to come in day by day.
