Terminology Used in the Israeli War on the Gaza Strip and Its Implications

Abstract

This study focuses on the linguistic terms used in the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip from October 7, 2023, to the end of 2024. New terms and expressions have emerged, imposing a war lexicon that has impacted the general linguistic vocabulary, leading to military expressions becoming commonplace in various fields. Language has been employed as a weapon in the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip through the role of language in warfare and the impact of war on language, examined in two main areas: the first area addresses the linguistic terms used in warfare and their implications, while the second area discusses the linguistic terms related to the effects of war and their implications.

The study's objectives have been achieved by identifying the new war terminologies and their implications that have proliferated during this conflict, which have become additions to the war lexicon, terminological expressions, and general linguistic vocabulary. However, we find the origins of these terms in the depths of Arabic dictionaries, and the evolution of some of their meanings confirms their authenticity in Modern Standard Arabic on one hand, and that the language of war has been an important tributary of Modern Standard Arabic on the other.