Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/October 8 to 14, 2023

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (October 8 to 14, 2023)

Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga, Ollieisanerd, Ltbdl and Rajan51.

⭠ Last week's report → Next week's report

War flared up on the Middle East again, and the impact here on Wikipedia is very clear below: only 7 articles aren't related to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, which means this conflict managed to score one more entry compared to the invasion of Ukraine last year. We live in troubled times.

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Gaza Strip	5,344,460	Saturday, October 7, was a day of Sabbath, a day of holiness and rest observed by Jewish men and women. This was the date on which Hamas began Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, breaching the Gaza–Israel barrier, murdering over 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds hostage. Israel began Operation Swords of Iron. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (#15) began retaliatory strikes and pledged to "turn all the places where Hamas is organized and hiding into cities of ruins". On October 8, Israel declared a state of war. The Israeli–Palestinian conflict has been ongoing since 1947, and centers on the fact that both Jews and Arabs claim the Holy Land for themselves. It is one of the longest lasting conflicts that continue to this day. The Israel–Hamas war is currently in its second week. Thousands on both sides have been killed, and more than a million have been displaced.
2	Hamas	5,213,111
3	2023 Israel–Hamas war	4,371,096
4	Israel	4,062,258
5	2023 Cricket World Cup	3,829,668	Only a nation of a billion can prevent a top 5 centered on the war, as India is hosting the world championship of its favorite sport. Last week saw the hosts win their first three matches, and five-time champions Australia lose their first two matches.
6	State of Palestine	3,813,694	#3 brings in the partially recognised country in an ongoing sovereignty dispute with #4, that conflict having itself a spot on the list of longest continuing conflicts.
7	Israeli–Palestinian conflict	2,921,208
8	David Beckham	2,553,561	Let's liven up with sports. In the world's most popular, football, the Netflix documental miniseries Beckham chronicled the English striker who currently is a co-owner of Inter Miami FC. In another that certainly ranks high on global popularity helped by the huge populations of India and Pakistan, cricket, the former is hosting the world championship (#5).
9	Cricket World Cup	2,370,824
10	West Bank	1,684,896	There are two territories claimed by the State of Palestine in the geographical state of... Palestine. The first is the West Bank, occupied by Israeli military, and is split into Palestinian enclaves and a contiguous Israeli occupied area. The second is the Gaza Strip (#1), ruled by Hamas (#2) as an oppressive de facto one-party state.
11	Palestinian territories	1,495,827
12	Hezbollah	1,046,714	#2 is closely linked to this equally radical Lebanese paramilitary and political group, that took #3 as an excuse to fire rockets at the Golan Heights (a territory occupied by #4, but that the international community recognizes as part of Syria), prompting Israel to retaliate with drone strikes and artillery fire in the Lebanon border.
13	Gaza City	947,901	The capital of #1, home to over 590,000 people. It naturally wound up targeted by #4, who also ordered an evacuation of the city with the intent of preventing civilian casualties (during this process, bombs exploded, killing 70 people, and it's unclear which side caused it).
14	Deaths in 2023	928,492	With their tanks and their bombs And their bombs and their guns In your head, in your head, they are dying...
15	Benjamin Netanyahu	922,454	#4 has brought in its Prime Minister who has also served in the same role two other times before. It's also brought in its long and complicated history, which you can read more about in its even longer article.
16	History of Israel	857,108
17	Iron Dome	842,618	#4's aerial defense system, that has been operating since 2011 to intercept the frequent Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. #3 has been pushing it to its limit.
18	Yom Kippur War	828,095	50 years ago, October was also marked by a Middle Eastern war as Egypt and Syria attacked #4 trying to recover occupied territories (the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel did return in 1979, and the Golan Heights, which as mentioned above are still occupied), which also had some Cold War tension given the Soviets supported the Arabs and the US Israel. Israel suffered heavy losses on the first days but eventually managed to hold the invaders and advance into their countries, leading to a ceasefire after just 19 days of war. #3 has many parallels, including a start with a surprise attack on a Jewish holiday (Simchat Torah instead of Yom Kippur), but one wonders if again the bloodshed will end in less than a month.
19	Mary Lou Retton	818,545	In a reminder of the problems regarding healthcare in the United States, the retired gymnast who was one of the big names of the 1984 Summer Olympics (5 medals, including gold in all-around) was critically ill with pneumonia and had to use crowdfunding to pay for her treatment.
20	Six-Day War	803,154	More things related to #3, including an older war (guess how long that lasted), the ancient city claimed by both #6 and #4, and a Jewish-centred ideology which supports #4.
21	Jerusalem	786,131
22	Zionism	765,992
23	Victoria Beckham	743,614	#8's wife, who'll always be 'Posh Spice' from the Spice Girls. Beckham shows that for someone known for her "resting bitch face" she's quite funny, like when remembering an obscene chant targeted at her, or discussing the circumstances of their third son's birth.
24	The Fall of the House of Usher (miniseries)	718,211	A Friday the 13th in the month of Halloween, and yet Netflix released Mike Flanagan's latest horror show (based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe) the day before.
25	Ismail Haniyeh	703,413	Keeping off a Bollywood blockbuster about a 57-year-old beating up people, a Hollywood blockbuster about a 68-year-old beating up people, and lots of other articles about Palestine (takes until #35 to move away from there with Taylor Swift, whose concert movie made an impressive $39 million on opening day) is one of the political leaders of #2, who ordered the strikes (#3) and has been very outspoken about all the events.