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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on June 22, 2025. (Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)
Middle East
Middle East
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(Screenshot via Fox News)
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A man passes the scene where a rocket fired from Gaza strip hit a building on October 7, 2023, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Amir Levy via Getty Images)
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Coalition Forces fire 120mm illumination rounds using an XM905 Advanced Mortar Protection System from a fire base in the al-Shadaddi region in Syria on February 14, 2023. (Nicholas J. De La Pena via DVIDS)
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The Gaza Strip in southern Israel shows smoke plumes billowing during Israeli bombardment on October 31, 2023. (Menahem Kahama/AFP via Getty Images)
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An Israeli armored vehicle near the Gaza border in Sderot, Israel, on October 16, 2023. (Photo by Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Members of the Australian Jewish community participate in a gathering called 'Balloons of Hope', which represents Israeli hostages who are currently being held by the Palestinian group Hamas, in Sydney, on October 27, 2023. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
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(What Really Matters logo)
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Coptic cave church in Egypt. (Amy Nelson via Getty Images)
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Pro-Palestine protest in Philadelphia on October 21, 2023. (Joe Piette via flickr)
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A man praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel. (Jake Warga via Getty Images)
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Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on June 19, 2023. (Department of State via Flickr)
Experts
James Barnett
Research Fellow
Michael Doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Douglas J. Feith
Senior Fellow
