Zeitz MOCAA presents We Proceed in the Footsteps of the Sunlight, the first museum survey exhibition of Ghanaian-German artist Zohra Opoku. The exhibition traces a decade of quiet revolutions in cloth, memory, and self within the artist’s practice. It draws together textured expressions of personal history and cultural inheritance and reveals an artistic journey that is constantly in motion.
Trained in fashion design and photography in Germany, Opoku extends her command of textiles into a layered visual language that moves fluently across photography, printmaking, and textile-based installation. For Opoku, fabric is a generative material through which questions of identity, memory, and ancestral lineage are thoughtfully explored. These themes unfold across the breadth of her practice, as she turns to printmaking, photography, and sculpture as complementary mediums for reflecting on selfhood and lived experience.
By attending to the intimate relationship between cloth and the body, her practice reveals how garments operate as conduits of memory—marking personal and collective histories alike. Textiles, given by family members or sourced from local markets, become double-edged: at once concealing and exposing, offering protection while inscribing recycled narratives of belonging, history, and materiality. Ultimately, Opoku proposes alternate modes of self-fashioning.
This tension between concealment and revelation underpins Opoku’s sustained inquiry into the interwoven and shifting contours of identity. Grounded in her Ghanaian-German heritage, she turns to family archives as both source and method—mapping intergenerational memory while positioning her work within broader conversations on womanhood and cultural inheritance.
In Opoku’s practice, cloth emerges as an active agent—shaping histories, signalling protection, and embodying cycles of transformation and continuity. This survey exhibition offers a reflective mapping of the artist’s trajectory over the past decade, articulated through several major bodies of work and anchored by three recurring elements: Water, indicating the liquidity of practice through the artist’s process, and sanctification of daily rituals as seen in After the prayer / before the prayer (2018). Breath, the ultimate life force which feeds the human spirit, lingering between the veil of life and death as explored in the series The Myths of Eternal Life (2020–2024). Ground, the stabilising force of nature, a place of comfort and rootedness, imbued with identity and familial belonging, as depicted in the series Queen Mothers (2016), Unraveled Threads (2017) and Give Me Back My Black Dolls (2024–ongoing).
The title We Proceed in the Footsteps of the Sunlight is drawn from the Book of the Dead, also known as Coming Forth by Day, an ancient Egyptian funerary text designed to guide the soul beyond the physical world. In Opoku’s hands, it becomes a quiet declaration; a tracing of the artist’s passage through turbulence, and a signal toward the path still unfolding ahead. The full extract reads: I proceed in the footsteps of the sunlight. I am one who knows the path of secrets (and) the Gate of the Field of Reeds. I exist therein. See me, I am come. I have overthrown my enemies upon the earth. My corpse, it is buried.
The curatorial intent of the exhibition speaks to emotional fortitude, mental tenderness, and spiritual depth. It positions Opoku at the centre of her universe—steady and alert—both protector of, and protected by, the sun that surrounds her: an omnipresent, life-giving force that has long illuminated her path. The exhibition unfolds as an homage to ancestral presence and future lineage—a recognition of her role as both guardian and the guarded, grounded in the knowledge that while this life is temporary, the soul endures.
We Proceed in the Footsteps of the Sunlight forms part of Zeitz MOCAA’s ongoing series of in-depth, research-driven solo exhibitions that centre and contextualise the practices of significant artists from Africa and its diaspora, as well as those engaging with pivotal themes in pan-African history. In the spirit of radical solidarity, this programme extends beyond the continent’s borders, attending to enduring and emerging entanglements that position Africa within a global context, and the world within Africa’s.
SpaceX’s Crew-10 astronauts will head home to Earth today (Aug. 7), and you can watch the action live.
The Crew-10 quartet’s Crew Dragon capsule, named Endurance, is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) today at 12:05 p.m. EDT (1605 GMT) and splash down 24 hours later.
You can watch it all live via NASA. Space.com will carry the feed as well, if the agency makes it available.
NASA’s stream will start at 9:45 a.m. EDT (1345 GMT) to cover the closing of the hatches between Endurance and the ISS, which is expected to occur at 10:20 a.m. EDT (1420 GMT).
Coverage will resume at 11:45 a.m. EDT (1545 GMT), 20 minutes before undocking. There will then be a lengthy break, with the webcast picking up again on Friday (Aug. 8) at 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 GMT) for reentry and splashdown activities.
Splashdown is expected on Friday at 11:58 a.m. EDT (1558 GMT), in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. NASA will also hold a post-landing press conference on Friday at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT), if all goes to plan.
None of this is set in stone, however; the departure date could be pushed back if bad weather crops up in the splashdown zone.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
Crew-10 launched on March 14 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and arrived at the ISS two days later. The mission consists of NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi of JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Kirill Peskov of Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos. McClain is Crew-10’s commander, Ayers is the pilot and Onishi and Peskov are mission specialists.
Their replacements are the four astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-11 mission, who reached the orbiting lab on Saturday morning (Aug. 2).
Crew-10 has already ticked one important box on the journey home to Earth — a farewell ceremony, which the four astronauts and the other seven people currently living on the ISS held on Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 5).
“Crew-10 has had the absolute privilege of working here for the last four months, and we have so much gratitude for all of the ground teams that showed up every day to make this possible,” McClain said during the ceremony.
“We truly are very humbled to represent humanity, and we hope that we can be a reminder to others of the goodness of humanity and what we really can accomplish when we work together,” she added.
US President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs on countries around the world have come into effect in an escalation of his trade war.
“IT’S MIDNIGHT!!! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!,” Trump said on social media minutes before the midnight deadline in Washington, DC.
Earlier, the president hit India with a 50% tariff, which will take effect on 27 August unless it stops buying Russian oil.
Trump also threatened a 100% tariff on foreign-made computer chips as he pushes tech firms to invest in the US. It came as Apple announced a new $100bn (£75bn) US investment after coming under pressure from the White House to move more production to America.
Last week, the Trump administration announced a revised list of import taxes on dozens of trading partners and extended a deadline for countries to reach agreements with the US to 7 August.
Countries have been racing to strike deals with Washington to lower – or scrap – what Trump calls “reciprocal tariffs”.
His trade policies are aimed at reshaping the global trading system, which he sees as treating the US unfairly.
Export-dependent economies in South East Asia were among the hardest-hit by the new tariffs.
Manufacturing-focused Laos and Myanmar faced some of the highest levies at 40%. Some experts said Trump appears to have targeted countries with close trade ties with China.
Some major economies – including the UK, Japan and South Korea – have already reached agreements to get lower tariffs than Trump threatened in April.
The European Union has also struck a framework deal with Washington, in which Brussels has accepted a 15% tariff on goods from the trading bloc.
Taiwan, a key Washington ally in Asia, was handed a 20% tariff. Its president Lai Ching-te said the rate is “temporary” and that talks with the US are still underway.
Last week, Trump boosted the tariff rate on Canada from 25% to 35%, saying the country had “failed to cooperate” in curbing the flow of fentanyl and other drugs across the US border. The Canadian government says it is cracking down on drug gangs.
But most Canadian exports to the US will dodge the import tax due to an existing trade treaty, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Higher tariffs on Mexico were paused for another 90 days as negotiations continue to strike a trade deal.
On Wednesday, Trump’s said he would impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made semiconductors.
Major chipmakers that have made significant investments in the US appear to have dodged the new tariff. Government officials in Taiwan and South Korea have said in separate statements that TSMC, SK Hynix, and Samsung would be exempt from the new levy.
The White House did not immediately respond to a BBC request for clarification.
The BBC has also contacted SK Hynix and Samsung. TSMC declined to comment.
Also on Wednesday, Trump raised the total tariff on India to 50% as he pushes the world’s third largest importer of energy to stop buying oil from Russia.
New Delhi has called the move “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” and vowed to protect its national interests.
Brazil’s exports to the US also face a 50% tariff. Trump imposed the levy after accusing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of unfairly attacking US technology firms and calling the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly attempting a coup a “witch hunt”.
The US and China have held a series of talks as they tried to agree an extension to a 90-day tariffs pause that is due to expire on 12 August.
Large ocean animals can be protected throughout much of their lifecycle by huge Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), new research shows.
Scientists tracked sea turtles, manta rays and seabirds – all of which travel far and wide to forage, breed and migrate – in the Chagos Archipelago MPA in the Indian Ocean.
In total, 95% of tracking locations were recorded inside the MPA’s 640,000 square kilometre area – suggesting it is large enough to protect these wandering animals.
The study – by a team including Exeter and Heriot-Watt universities and ZSL – also assessed the impact of a smaller 100,000 square kilometre MPA and found seabirds would be less well protected in this scenario.
“Very large Marine Protected Areas (VLMPAs) are seen as essential for meeting international goals, such as the target for 30% protection by 2030,” said Dr Alice Trevail , from the Environment and Sustainability Institute at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.
“However, the conservation value of VLMPAs – defined as anything over 100,000 square kilometres – is debated.
“Our results provide clear evidence for the value of the Chagos Archipelago VLMPA for protecting a diverse range of large and mobile marine species.”
The researchers used tracking data on hawksbill turtles, reef manta rays and three seabird species: red-footed boobies, brown boobies and wedge-tailed shearwaters.
“These large animals play a variety of important roles in marine ecosystems,” said co-author Dr Ruth Dunn, from Heriot-Watt University.
“For example, the Chagos Archipelago supports a huge number of seabirds, and the guano (droppings) from these birds help to fertilise coral reefs and other marine species.”
In their assessment of a hypothetical smaller VLMPA (100,000 km2), the team found 97% of manta and 94% of turtle locations would still be in protected waters.
However, just 59% of all seabird locations would be inside the MPA because they travel over a larger area.
With the anticipated change in sovereignty, as the Chagos Archipelago becomes part of Mauritius, the study’s findings are increasingly important. While providing compelling evidence for the value of the MPA, Dr Dunn said that they also indicate areas that are priorities for future long-term protection to ensure the viability of this marine megafauna community.
Ernesto Bertarelli, President of the Bertarelli Foundation – funders of the study – commented: “Discoveries like this are only possible when scientists from different disciplines work together. By doing so, this team of researchers has shown how truly large Marine Protected Areas can provide vital protection to vulnerable species throughout their lives.”
The paper, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, is entitled: “Large marine protected areas can encompass movements of diverse megafauna.”
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Wondering what you’re seeing when you look up at the moon tonight? Wonder no more, we’ve got all the information you need about the current lunar cycle.
What’s the lunar cycle, you ask? This is a series of eight unique phases of the moon’s visibility. The whole cycle takes about 29.5 days, according to NASA, and these different phases happen as the Sun lights up different parts of the moon whilst it orbits Earth.
So, what’s happening with the moon tonight, Aug. 7?
What is today’s moon phase?
As of Thursday, Aug. 7, the moon phase is Waxing Gibbous. According to NASA’s Daily Moon Observation, the moon will be 96% lit up tonight.
There’s lots to see tonight, with your unaided eye alone, enjoy a glimpse of the Copernicus Crater, the Mare Fecunditatis, and the Oceanus Procellarum. With binoculars, you’ll also be able to see the Mare Humorum, the Archimedes Crater, and the Clavius Crater.
With a telescope, look towards the left (right if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere) to see the Reiner Gama and right (vice versa again) for the Rima Ariadaeus and Apollo 16.
When is the next full moon?
The next full moon will be on August 9. The last full moon was on July 10.
Mashable Light Speed
What are moon phases?
According to NASA, moon phases are caused by the 29.5-day cycle of the moon’s orbit, which changes the angles between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Moon phases are how the moon looks from Earth as it goes around us. We always see the same side of the moon, but how much of it is lit up by the Sun changes depending on where it is in its orbit. This is how we get full moons, half moons, and moons that appear completely invisible. There are eight main moon phases, and they follow a repeating cycle:
New Moon – The moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).
Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).
First Quarter – Half of the moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-moon.
Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.
Full Moon – The whole face of the moon is illuminated and fully visible.
Waning Gibbous – The moon starts losing light on the right side.
Last Quarter (or Third Quarter) – Another half-moon, but now the left side is lit.
Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.
LAHORE: Pakistan’s first urban on-road electric train – Super Autonomous Rapid Transit (SRT) – is being launched in Lahore.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had a trial trip on the SRT from Main Ali Town to Muslim Town here on Wednesday.
She also inspected the SRT operation andreviewed the road test drive amidst normal traffic. The SRT is already running successfully in Turkey, China and other countries.
“In Abu Dhabi, three bogies of SRT against a capacity of four have been installed. Norco International’s latest SRT has a capacity of 320 passengers. The first complete e-train SRT can travel 40 kilometers after a single charge,” she said and added the SRT would have air conditioning and other facilities.
It would reduce environmental pollution and improve traffic on roads,” she said and added that the beauty of Lahore would be doubled with the running of SRT. “Good news of SRT is also coming to Gujranwala and Faisalabad,” she added.
HOUSING SCHEME: Speaking at an event held here in connection with the ‘Apni Chhat Apna Ghar’ project, the CM criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying that the politics of “chaos and abusive language” had been buried under the government’s performance.
“These people who indulge in arson and vandalism have no idea how fulfilling it is to serve the public,” she said.
She taunted the PTI, saying that IGP Dr Usman Anwar kept waiting (for the protesters), but no one came out to protest on August 5. “Now, the fate of Pakistan and Punjab will be written through service, not conspiracies,” she said.
She said that the Punjab government had set a new record by building 62,500 houses in six months. “Interest-free loans of more than Rs74 billion have been given under 5-10 marla Apni Chhat Apna Ghar scheme. The public has also set a record of 99.9 perecnt loan repayment.”
She said loan installments had been released to more than 37,000 families. More than 52,000 houses are under construction. She promised the people to provide them 100,000 houses every year.
✉My daughter and three friends have used Airbnb for four years and received glowing reviews from owners after their stays until this summer, when they rented an apartment in Cala d’Or, Mallorca. When they arrived, the air-conditioning didn’t work. The owner couldn’t be contacted after 4pm, so my daughter rang Airbnb. It was finally fixed after two sweaty nights, plus long calls to the Airbnb helpline, and Airbnb agreed to a partial refund. Later, the electricity kept tripping and the owner accused them of lying about this to get more money back. Worse still, after they left a fair, balanced review, they were shocked to see the owner’s retaliatory review, falsely claiming they haddamaged the apartment and left it very dirty, advising other owners to “proceed with caution” if asked to rent to them. There was no damage to the property and they actually left it cleaner than it had been when they arrived. Fortunately they had taken photos, but despite this, Airbnb refused to remove the defamatory review. Then came the £109 phone bill. Airbnb had given my daughter a US customer service number with no warning and she assumed it was included in her roaming. Despite screenshots, she has been told she doesn’t “fit the criteria” for reimbursement. I am appalled about the way my daughter has been treated and it feels morally wrong to let it go. Can you help? Sarah Dean
A. The owner’s behaviour was outrageous, and you and your daughter shouldn’t have needed my help to get her money back and her Airbnb rental reputation restored. An Airbnb spokesperson said: “We were disappointed to hear about this experience and want to make it right. We have fully refunded the guest and removed the review as per our policies. While calls to Airbnb’s customer service are typically free to use, this guest was charged due to human error and we have offered to reimburse them in full. All bookings come with AirCover, meaning in the rare event of an issue that the host can’t resolve, we’ll help guests find a similar place or give them a refund.” The apartment is no longer listed on the site.
The turquoise waters of Cala d’Or in Mallorca
GETTY IMAGES
✉ On July 7 we experienced the disaster area that is the Eurostar terminal at Gare du Nord in Paris. As instructed, the four of us arrived at 15.10 for the 17.10 service to London and found ourselves in a scrum of approximately 3,000 people in an area suitable for maybe 500; this was on a day when the temperature was 30C. It was chaos. The flustered staff were desperately attempting to extract those hoping to travel on the (delayed) 16.10 from the mass of people and get them through check-in. But, as the staff admitted, Eurostar is trying to run too many trains without the capacity to process the passengers. There was no alternative but to stand and shuffle forward in the sweltering conditions for two hours. There was no possibility to take a seat and for a group of 70-year-olds, this was completely unacceptable. Surely this is no way to treat paying customers. Mike Barclay
A. Unfortunately there’s no plan to expand Eurostar’s departure area at the Gare du Nord any time soon. The ambitious project to revamp the station in time for the 2024 Olympics was scrapped in 2021 and the only recent improvement to the Eurostar terminal has been the addition of an extra 100 seats. Eurostar said it was sorry to hear about your experience in the July heat, and that passport and security checks carried out by the French authorities and the station’s security provider can take additional time during peak periods due to the high volume of passengers being processed. It added that it was continuously looking at ways to “improve the customer journey in these high-demand conditions”. A spokesperson said: “Water refill points are available at Gare du Nord and we encourage customers to speak to a member of staff if they need any further assistance. Our teams will do their best to help.” Of course you could upgrade to Eurostar Premier, which comes with lounge access, to avoid the crush but a one-way ticket starts at about £245 (eurostar.com).
✉My friend and I want to visit Lucca in Tuscany in the autumn as a birthday treat. My friend also wants to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa so we thought maybe a day there first. How easy is it to travel on public transport between the two and can you recommend any reasonably priced hotels in both places? Christine Marks
A. That’s a great plan. Lucca is still relatively uncrowded in the autumn (especially compared to hotspots like neighbouring Florence and Siena) and it’s easily reached from Pisa; the train journey takes less than 30 minutes. In Pisa stay at the cosy B&B Relais dei Mercanti, a ten-minute walk from the tower and in a quiet street but in the middle of everything; B&B in a standard double starts at £106 at the beginning of October (relaisdeimercanti.com). Timed tickets to the tower start at £17pp and you mustn’t be late (opapisa.it). In Lucca it’s fun to stay inside the well-preserved Renaissance-era city walls; on top there’s a wide tree-lined path that’s ideal for burning off pasta lunches. The comfortable San Martino hotel, near the cathedral and the station, has a quirky history: it’s a renovated 1950s brothel where the rooms don’t have numbers but the names of the girls who worked there. B&B doubles start at £131 (albergosanmartino.it).
Tickets to enter the Leaning Tower of Pisa start at £17
ALAMY
✉I have a big birthday in August 2026 and want to book a luxury villa in the Mediterranean. We’re a party of tenand need at least five bedrooms. I want something with a sea view or within a short walk of a beach, local restaurants and shops. A pool would be a bonus. We have a budget up to £20,000 for the perfect place. Any suggestions? Joan Johnston
A. With a budget like that you can afford somewhere special for your bash. In a spectacular setting, with direct access to a beach via a rocky path at the end of the garden, the five-bedroom Beach House is a cool, contemporary, superbly equipped villa overlooking the Gulf of Valinco in southwest Corsica. The elegant interior is open plan and spacious and there’s a deck surrounding a large heated swimming pool. You’ll find an excellent little restaurant on the beach, with several alternatives in nearby Abbartello, five minutes away by car. A week’s self-catering for ten in August 2026 starts at £14,560 (simpsontravel.com).
• 19 of the best holiday villas in France
✉I’m looking for a health break in the UK that specialises in weight loss. Any ideas? Paul Johnson
A. Homefield Grange in Northamptonshire has a mainly female clientele but you will be very welcome on one of its five-night weight-loss retreats, which start at £2,461pp, including treatments, classes and juice cleansing or light plant-based meals (homefieldgrangeretreat.co.uk).
• 16 of the best wellness retreats in the UK
Have you got a holiday dilemma? Email traveldoctor@thetimes.co.uk
After nearly 700 days of war, the death toll in Gaza has risen to extraordinary levels. Amid heavy bombardment that has turned the territory into a wasteland of rubble and stringent blockades that have led to mass hunger and even starvation, over 61,000 Palestinians have died and over 145,000 have been seriously wounded, according to Gaza’s Hamas-affiliated health authorities, which do not distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters.
But the true number of the war’s casualties may far outstrip those figures, which do not include the thousands of bodies that remain under the rubble, the large number of dead that could not arrive at morgues, and the excess deaths from the destruction of infrastructure and the ensuing disease, famine, and lack of medical care. In February, the medical journal The Lancet published an extensive analysis based on a wide variety of sources (including obituaries) and estimated that the official death toll underreported the direct war deaths in Gaza by at least 41 percent and perhaps by as much as 107 percent, while not accounting at all for nontrauma-related deaths resulting from the impact of Israeli military operations on Gaza’s health services, food and water supplies, and sanitation.
In sum, the authors of the study suggested that Israel’s campaign has caused at least an additional 26,000 Palestinian deaths and perhaps over 120,000 additional deaths, with the true death toll possibly exceeding 186,000. Taking that into account, as of late July 2025, Israel’s war in Gaza has led to the deaths of between five to ten percent of the prewar population of about 2.2 million. This represents an unprecedented slaughter. Israel’s campaign in Gaza is the most lethal case of a Western democracy using the punishment of civilians as a tactic of war.
Leaders and scholars have long assumed that democracyoffered a solution to the worst pathologies of authoritarian states, especially the willingness of a government to subject populations to coercion, cruelty, and violence. Indeed, the United States and other Western democracies, including Israel, have insisted that democracy is crucial for the promotion of fundamental human rights, individual prosperity, and a more peaceful world. For Israel, a country that has long touted its democratic bona fides, to violate core democratic norms in such dramatic fashion cheapens the value of democratic government itself.
Israel’s defenders may insist that civilian deaths are inevitable in a conflict against a burrowed-in terrorist enemy. But it has been clear from Israeli actions—including the targeting of children by snipers, the relentless bombing of civilian infrastructure and residences, and the blockade and starvation of the civilian population—as well as the rhetoric of numerous Israeli officials that Israel’s war is not simply against Hamas but aimed at all the residents of Gaza. That is also the conclusion of numerous international institutions and human rights groups. Indeed, the notion that Hamas can be eradicated via military means is a “fantasy,” as the former Shin Bet director Yoram Cohen said this week. As civilians continue to suffer in Gaza, Israel has squandered the moral high ground for no good strategic purpose.
Israel’s critics may demand that, based on its treatment of the Palestinians, the country should not be considered a democracy. That understates the full dimensions of Israel’s behavior in Gaza. Even now, Israel retains the political institutions built on majority rule and the high levels of citizen participation in free elections that are the hallmarks of representative government and that have long characterized Western democracy. Independent experts, such as Freedom House, still recognize Israel as a democracy. What is truly shocking about events in Gaza is both the scale of the devastation and that the government of Israel can genuinely say that its policies reflect the will of most Israelis. The carnage in Gaza is not the work of authoritarians or demagogues but bears the imprimatur of democracy. Israel’s campaign thus has profound implications both for the long-term security of the country and the value of democracy around the world.
IN THE LIGHT OF HISTORY
In my 1996 book, Bombing to Win, I studied every campaign in the twentieth century that employed airpower with the intention of inflicting harm on civilians: 40 campaigns in all, including the Spanish Civil War, the Vietnam War, and the 1991 Gulf War. Only five of the 40 involved civilian deaths greater than one percent of the civilian population. These included four campaigns in and around World War II—Japan’s invasion of China from 1937 to 1945, Germany’s invasion of Poland from 1939 to 1945, the Allied bombing and invasion of Germany from 1939 to 1945, and the U.S. bombing and conquest of Japan from 1942 to 1945—and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1988. In proportional terms, Nazi Germany’s attack on Poland ranks as the deadliest of these campaigns, killing more than 20 percent of the prewar population over six years. That figure was enlarged, of course, by the Holocaust and the slaughter in ghettos and concentration camps of millions of Polish Jews.
Until Gaza, the worst civilian punishment campaign by a Western democracy was the bombing and ground invasion of Germany in World War II, which killed approximately two to four percent of the population, outpacing even the U.S. nuclear attacks and fire-bombing raids on Japan, which killed about one percent of the population. Those estimates from Germany account for deaths caused by both Soviet and Western forces, as well as direct and indirect deaths (as in The Lancet’sstudy on Gaza).
Whether it is called a “genocide” or not, no sensible observer could look at Israel’s war in Gaza and miss the stunning levels of devastation that Palestinians have endured. Beyond the mass death and suffering, the level of physical devastation is remarkable: satellite analysis by credible independent media outlets, such as The Economist and the Financial Times, reveals that at least 60 percent of all the buildings and 90 percent of homes in Gaza have either been severely damaged or completely destroyed. All 12 of Gaza’s universities, 80 percent of its schools and mosques, and numerous churches, museums, and libraries have also been demolished. No hospital in Gaza is fully functioning, and only 20 out of 36 hospitals are partially functioning.
And yet despite this mammoth destructive enterprise, Israel has not come close to fulfilling its stated aim of eliminating Hamas. The group still has significant appeal among Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. It may be diminished as a military force, but it can replenish its depleted ranks with new recruits—indeed, by some accounts, it has managed to bring in over 10,000 new fighters since the war began. The extreme brutality Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people has not produced the strategic gains that Israeli officials promised.
The moral case for harming civilians is always dubious even when such violence serves a strategic purpose. When that strategic purpose does not exist, however, the moral case evaporates altogether. Israel now finds itself in a morally untenable situation. Rather than incur the world’s growing wrath, increased economic pressure, and the greater likelihood of future violence, Israel must reverse course and pursue alternatives to its campaign of mass death in Gaza.
THE END OF STRATEGY
Throughout history, states have repeatedly punished civilian populations harshly to try to compel local communities to turn against governments and terrorist groups. But even intense civilian punishment rarely achieves these goals. Instead, it often leads to what I have termed the “Pearl Harbor effect”: growing support among the assailed civilian community for its government or for the local terrorist group.
In June 2024, I argued in Foreign Affairs that at least in one way, Hamas was stronger then than it was before October 7, 2023. To be sure, Israeli attacks had devastated the group’s leadership and smashed much of its infrastructure. But according to the most reliable polling information available at that point, Palestinian support for Hamas had remained the same or risen in Gaza and the West Bank. Overall, the taproot of Hamas’s power—its ability to recruit new fighters to replenish losses—had actually increased. In January 2025, U.S. officials revealed that according to their estimates, Hamas had recruited around 15,000 new fighters since the start of Israel’s military operations in 2023, more than making up for the 11,000 to 13,000 losses that U.S. intelligence estimated the group had suffered.
Israel now finds itself in a morally untenable situation.
Much has happened since the start of this year: the end of a two-month cease-fire in March, the escalating Israeli siege and the tightened blockade on food and humanitarian goods entering the territory, the humanitarian crisis affecting Gaza’s entire population, and Israel’s announced intention to conquer at least 75 percent of Gaza—along with the overt consideration by some Israeli leaders that they should expel all Palestinians from the territory. For its part, Hamas seems to be stepping up its guerrilla tactics of ambushes and bombings targeting Israeli soldiers in Gaza, but the group has not been able to meaningfully defend the territory and its population from Israeli attacks.
Media reports in recent months have revealed sporadic demonstrations in Gaza against Hamas, suggesting that some Palestinians are fed up with the group and its actions. But according to recent polling, Hamas remains broadly popular among Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. The unprecedented scale of Israeli action has not yet exploded the assumptions in my original analysis.
Hamas’s relative power cannot simply be measured the same way one would measure the military balance between Israel and its state rivals. In contests between states, the military balance between opponents is of paramount importance. Their militaries usually engage in direct, large-scale battles to take and hold territory, control the skies over territory, or secure access to contested territory. The success of these operations is determined by key indicators, such as the numbers of fighters, stocks of weapons, and levels of economic support. If such factors determined the nature of combat between Hamas and Israel, the war would have been over long ago, since Israel far outpaces the group on all the usual indicators of military strength. That the war has continued for nearly two years and Hamas retains sufficient governing authority in Gaza to hide the remaining Israeli hostages and inflict casualties on the Israeli security forces strongly suggests that the true power of Hamas cannot be found in the traditional metrics of the military balance.
THE PERSISTENCE OF HAMAS
Terrorist groups such as Hamas fight asymmetrically. They rarely seek to seize and hold territory and almost never attempt to win pitched military-to-military battles. Instead, these groups seek to impose losses on their opponents in other ways, mostly through guerrilla operations that pick off enemy military personnel in small numbers and over long stretches of time and through attacks against civilians. Most often, they simply want to maximize harm to vulnerable civilian targets. And since they are always weaker than their state rivals in the usual military indicators, terrorist groups expect to suffer great losses as the conflict persists. As a result, the most telling power of Hamas is its ability to replace the fighters it loses with new ones. Estimates of Hamas’s fighting strength bear out this logic. According to the Israeli military, in early 2025, Hamas had as many as 23,000 fighters, a figure roughly the same as an Israeli estimate of the group’s size before October 7, 2023.
Hamas can recruit new fighters because it still enjoys support. Surveying public opinion is the best way to measure how much support exists among Palestinians for Hamas. The best available surveys conducted among Palestinian populations in Gaza and the West Bank are by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR), an independent, nonprofit survey center established in 1993 following the Oslo accords that collaborates with Israeli scholars and institutions.
My previous June 2024 analysis relied on the PSR surveys from 2023 and 2024. When recent surveys from May 2025 are added to the mix, a striking finding emerges: Hamas has more support among Palestinians today than it did before October 7. Hamas is now, for instance, substantially more popular than its main political rival, the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which dominates the Palestinian Authority. In September 2023, Fatah enjoyed a four-point lead over Hamas (26 to 22 percent). In polling from May 2025, Hamas now enjoys an 11-point lead over Fatah (32 to 21 percent).
The shift toward Hamas is particularly acute in the West Bank, where support for Hamas has more than doubled. There, support for armed attacks on Israeli civilians has risen from 48 percent in June 2023 to 59 percent in May 2025.
Waiting for food in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, August 2025 Hatem Khaled / Reuters
In Gaza, support for Hamas has remained flat, despite the enormous suffering brought on the territory in the wake of Hamas’s October 2023 attack. In September 2023, Hamas had a 13-point lead over Fatah in Gaza (38 to 25 percent), and in May 2025, the numbers were almost the same: Hamas held a 12-point edge over Fatah (37 to 25 percent). The one sign that the Israeli campaign may have changed some views in Gaza is the drop in support among Gazans for armed attacks on Israeli civilians, which fell from 67 percent in September 2023 to 37 percent in May 2025.
But the polling suggests that Israel has not succeeded in severing the connection between Gazans and Hamas. Far from dwindling, support for Hamas has grown or remained the same, and the willingness of Palestinians to attack Israeli civilians remains high enough to satisfy Hamas’s recruiting needs, despite the most brutal punishment campaign by a Western democracy in history. For Israel’s security, the tragic reality is that Hamas likely retains the key asset that could allow it to carry out another major attack down the road: vast numbers of fighters willing to fight and die for the cause.
Hamas’s abiding popularity could be a factor in wider violence beyond Gaza. With Israeli forces stepping up raids on Palestinian refugee camps and settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank, the region is now a powder keg. The West Bank is home to 2.7 million Palestinians and 670,000 Israeli settlers living in proximity. Recent Israeli plans to expand settlements in the West Bank and rhetoric from far-right figures calling for the territory’s annexation will likely add fuel to this potential fire.
Israel’s announced intention to seize control of at least 75 percent of Gaza and then confine Gazans to a small portion of territory won’t succeed in divorcing the population from Hamas. As Palestinians are driven into a small corner of the enclave, Hamas will just move with them; this plan is no more likely to defeat Hamas than were the previous population transfers that forced people from area to area inside Gaza. Indeed, such Israeli actions will cause more suffering among civilians—and produce more terrorists. Israel could go further still, expelling Gazans into the Sinai Desert, but such a drastic measure would stoke the possibility of future retributive violence targeting Israelis. And most damaging for long-term Israeli security, throwing Gazans out of the territory would leave Israel open to accusations of engaging in ethnic cleansing, undermining any moral case for supporting the country.
Military operations that, intentionally or not, result in historic levels of civilian deaths are ultimately leading to a more dangerous situation for Israel, making it a less desirable home for Jews and a more likely target for those seeking revenge. Instead, Israel should establish a new security perimeter between Israeli civilian population centers and the Palestinians in Gaza, allowing Gazans enough space to rebuild their lives, letting humanitarian and economic aid to flow into the territory unimpeded, and working with international allies to foster alternative political arrangements to Hamas or Israeli control in Gaza.
THE STRATEGIC COSTS OF IMMORAL ACTIONS
Since the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, international support for the country has been based in significant part on the recognition that Jews were the victims of the worst genocide in history. The war in Gaza, however, has seen a swelling tide of condemnation of Israel for committing intentional harm to civilians, mass atrocities, and even genocide. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants that require some 125 countries, including France and the United Kingdom, to detain Israel’s prime minister and other members of Israel’s cabinet. Even within Israel, prominent voices are calling for a course correction: former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has declared that Israel’s actions in Gaza are tantamount to a “war crime,” arguing that “what we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation: the indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing of civilians.” As Israel becomes an international pariah and faces stiffening resistance to its rule in Gaza, the historic scale of its punishment of civilians is only jeopardizing the country’s long-term security.
Many Western countries have already begun to make moves to chastise Israel, including by joining much of the rest of the world in formally recognizing a Palestinian state, a step that could lead to large-scale humanitarian intervention in Gaza and economic sanctions on Israel. The United States will likely not follow that path, but U.S. President Donald Trump is mercurial. He has already contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and insisted that the starvation of Gaza must end. Rifts within Trump’s base are widening over Israel. U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a leading hard-right Republican, declared that Israel is in fact committing genocide in Gaza, borrowing from rhetoric heard more often on the left. A tactical alliance could grow in the United States between elements of the far right and the far left that seek to roll back U.S. support for Israel.
Israel is the most militarily powerful country in the Middle East and has scored numerous victories over its opponents in recent years. But it is also a tiny country surrounded by rivals. And it needs close relations with major Western democracies to ensure the viability of its economy. Those relations could be tested and strained as Israel continues waging the worst campaign of civilian punishment ever performed by a Western democracy, a campaign that has not come close to eliminating Hamas and has given Israel more adversaries and left it more isolated. Israeli leaders must decide whether their ongoing immoral actions in Gaza are really worth the costs to their country’s future.
