Migration under double war: transnational perspectives and the role of a conceived third country

This article introduces the concept of double war as an analytical framework for capturing the experience of migrants who face simultaneous armed conflicts in their home and destination countries. The study focuses on migrants to Israel from Ukraine, Russia, and Ethiopia who arrived between 2022 and September 2023, before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War. Drawing on 63 in-depth interviews conducted during 2024–2025, it examines how dual exposure to war generates intertwined emotional, informational, and social challenges that create distinctive transnational dynamics shaped by instant communication, simultaneous engagement with multiple conflicts, and shifting mobilities. The study highlights sustained cross-border ties not only between home and host countries, but also with a ‘conceivable third country’, which emerges as a strategic reference point rather than a concrete migration destination. This third country holds a notable place in migrants’ discourse and planning, reflecting new layers of geopolitical awareness and mobility options. Migration under double war reveals shifting social boundaries, prolonged insecurity, and the reconfiguration of support networks across states. The study calls for renewed engagement with transnationalism as a crisis-responsive framework amid global instability. It ultimately challenges fixed categories of movement and underscores the fluid, interconnected realities of contemporary transnational life.