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The Israeli assault on Gaza has included the bombing of an area with an intensity that military analysts say hasn’t been seen since the second world war.

Most of the weaponry is supplied by the United States.

Is this war different to others in terms of its scale and speed?

Presenter: Tom McRae

Guests:

Colin Clarke – Research director, The Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security consultancy.

Patrick Bury – Defence and security analyst at the University of Bath.

Sam Perlo-Freeman – Research co-ordinator at Campaign Against Arms Trade in the UK.

Israel has been in a state of near-perpetual war for decades, receives billions of dollars a year in aid and weapons, and has consistently broken international law by expanding its occupation and settlements.

Governments and international human rights organisations have called for war crimes investigations into Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

Yet, for leader Benjamin Netanyahu, it is “the only democracy in the Middle East”, a view often repeated by supporters.

Critics say Israel is a political entity that can only survive with repression, the denial of rights, and violence.

So is Israel a normal state? Could it be defined as a fragile state? Or does it have the characteristics of a failed state?

Presenter: Cyril Vanier

Guests:

Ali Abunimah – Co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, an independent online news publication focusing on Palestine

Paul Turner – President and executive director of the Fund For Peace, a non-profit research organisation that produces the annual Fragile States Index

Ilan Pappe – Israeli historian and author of, The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge

Israel’s military has resumed its assault on the besieged Gaza Strip after a seven-day truce collapsed.

More than 15,000 people have been killed in Gaza since early October, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The limited number of aid trucks going into Gaza is nowhere near enough to meet the desperate needs of millions of people, according to aid agencies, and the United Nations has warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.

After nearly two months of the Israel-Hamas war, the United States, a key Israeli ally, appears to be shifting its tone and warning against civilian deaths in Gaza.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says Israel risks a “strategic defeat” if it doesn’t do more to protect civilians.

It’s a sentiment being shared by other senior US officials.

So, what’s behind this warning from Washington?

Presenter: Laura Kyle

Guests:

Bushra Khalidi – policy lead for the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel at Oxfam

Elijah Magnier – military and political analyst

Hussein Haridi – a former assistant foreign minister of Egypt

Israel’s war has devastated much of Gaza.

The few days of calm under a temporary ceasefire with Hamas have all but disappeared now, with Israel resuming its air strikes and shelling.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly warned that he wants to eliminate Hamas.

And now, the Israeli army is reportedly using new artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help it expand its potential list of targets.

So, what are the implications for civilians in Gaza? And could it lead to even more deaths?

Presenter: Jonah Hull

Guests:

Meron Rapoport – Editor at Local Call and investigative journalist

Robert Geist Pinfold – Lecturer in Peace and Security at Durham University in the UK

Jessica Dorsey – Assistant professor in International and European Law at Utrecht University

Israel has one of the most advanced and well-equipped militaries in the world.

And yet, on October 7, Hamas fighters breached the Gaza border fence, infiltrated southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people.

Israel responded by declaring war on Hamas. Its bombing campaign has razed much of Gaza to the ground and killed more than 15,000 Palestinians.

Many in the international community have condemned the offensive as disproportionate.

After a brief truce, the bombardment has resumed – and appears to be expanding into the densely populated southern part of the Gaza Strip.

A year ago, senior government officials reportedly dismissed intelligence pointing to an impending attack by Hamas.

Who will be held accountable for the unheeded warnings? And what will it take for Israel to call its operation in Gaza a success?

Presenter: Jonah Hull

Guests:

Oren Ziv – journalist and photographer at +972 Magazine, an independent Israeli online news platform

Antony Loewenstein – author of The Palestine Laboratory, a book on Israel’s arms and surveillance industry

Omar Ashour – professor of security and military studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies