A glossary for the Israel-Hamas war

More: Speaker updates, a hurricane, and abortion rights.   Wednesday, October 25, 2023 Hi all, Today, we’re looking at Vox’s newly released glossary of terms for the Israel-Hamas war and unpacking what’s up with the speaker of the House. —Rachel DuRose, [Future Perfect]( fellow   UP FIRST Occupation, annexation, and other terms you should know related to the Israel-Hamas war People in the street near a heavily damaged building after Israeli attacks by warplanes and artillery fire as civil defense teams and civilians conduct search and rescue operations in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on October 24, 2023 | Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via Getty Images During any war — but especially in this ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict — terminology gets tossed around, often with no clear explanation. This is why Vox politics reporter [Nicole Narea]( and Vox world reporter [Ellen Ioanes]( created a glossary to “define and contextualize” some commonly used terms. Nicole and Ellen relied on the accepted laws of conflict and international humanitarian law (which is based on the post-World War II Geneva Conventions) to define these words. The lowdown: The Israel-Hamas war is between a nation-state (Israel) and Hamas, which is technically a non-state actor, albeit one with some, but not all, of the characteristics of a state. That makes it difficult to describe what’s happening using international humanitarian law (IHL), which was largely constructed with the assumption that war is a thing that happens between states. Hamas reportedly conceals much of its operations in civilian infrastructure in Gaza, thus blurring the lines between military and civilian targets. Meanwhile, Gaza's status — whether it should be considered officially occupied or under de facto occupation — has led to debate over what obligations Israel has under international law to those living there. Here are just some of the terms the glossary includes, and brief versions of their definitions (remember to check out [Nicole and Ellen’s full story]( for more exhaustive definitions): - Occupation: A territory is considered occupied under international law “when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army.” - Open-air prison: This term has been used since at least the late 1990s to describe the living conditions in Gaza, and references the inability of Gazans to come and go freely, the heavy surveillance they’re under, and the poor living conditions that result from years of blockades. - Collective punishment: When a government or occupying force harms a person or group of people based on the actions of another member of their group. It is a war crime, and it is prohibited under the third and fourth Geneva Conventions. - Zionism: A movement — based on a 19th-century political response to antisemitism in Europe — that supports the establishment of a permanent homeland for Jewish people, now in the region known as Israel and Palestine. The stakes: While these definitions hopefully help readers better understand the situation in Israel and Palestine, Nicole told me that this conflict revealed the limitations of the historical and IHL language to truly describe the situation. “We wanted to bring clarity to our readers who may be tuning into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the first time and hearing experts using unfamiliar terms to describe what’s happening,” Nicole told me. “There are also live debates happening right now about whether we should even be using some of these terms in this context. So after reading this, hopefully, our readers can come to their own conclusions on that front.” If you have questions about the ongoing war, let us know [here](. And [here’s where you can keep track of all our developing coverage](.   CATCH UP What on Earth is going on in Congress? Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) presides over the House of Representatives at the US Capitol on October 20, 2023, in Washington, DC. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images Today, the House voted on its [fourth nominee]( for speaker in the last three weeks. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) won the vote. Here’s the timeline of the events leading to his win: - October 3: Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted via a vote spearheaded by the most far-right members of his party, his longtime critics. [Reuters]( - October 11: House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) beat out Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) for the GOP nomination for speaker. [NPR]( - October 12: After it became clear he did not have the votes to win, Scalise withdrew from the race. [PBS]( - October 13: Following Saclise’s defeat, Jordan secured the GOP nomination for the role. [Axios]( - October 18–20: Jordan failed to win the speakership after three rounds of voting, and then lost a secret ballot among GOP members on whether he should maintain the nomination. [CNN]( - October 23: Nine lawmakers, including Johnson and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), make their cases to the GOP caucus for the speakership. [Vox]( - October 24: Emmer wins an internal vote on who should be the speaker nominee, but withdraws after realizing he won’t be able to garner enough votes on the House floor. Following this withdrawal, Johnson won the GOP nomination. [CBS News]( - October 25: In a 220-209 vote, Johnson won the battle for speaker of the House. To learn more about this historic battle for speaker of the House, [check out Vox’s coverage](.   VERBATIM 🗣️ “Indeed, I spoke of the grievances of the Palestinian people and in doing so, I also clearly stated, and I quote: 'But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas'… I believe it is necessary to set the record straight — especially out of respect for the victims and their families.” — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's statement to the media following his Tuesday remarks at the UN Security Council meeting in New York, which resulted in backlash from Israel. In the Tuesday remarks, Guterres said "the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum” but came after decades of Israeli occupation. [UN](   AROUND THE WEB - Hurricane Otis strengthened to a Category 5 storm before making landfall in Mexico. The storm likely brought "catastrophic damage" to the region, the US National Hurricane Center said, after it upgraded from a tropical storm to a powerful hurricane within 24 hours. [ABC]( - Abortion rights will play a [big role in this year’s November election](. More than a dozen states now have near-total abortion bans, with limited medical exceptions. Democrats hope to use their support for abortion access, something most Americans also support, to win votes. [The 19th]( - Companies are racing to develop platforms that can serve as the "Amazon of real estate." The digital age, an inventory shortage, and rising mortgage rates have only made buying a home more complicated. Startups are looking to build apps and platforms that consolidate it all — the search, the mortgage, and the insurance — in one place. 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