Depending on which Israeli official you ask, Israel is either close to a total and complete win over Hamas in Gaza or in the middle of what will be a long, grinding year ahead. On April 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that “we are one step away from victory” after nearly eight long months of combat. Yet Tzachi Hanegbi, Netanyahu’s national security adviser, had an altogether different assessment of the situation this week: “We’re now in the fifth month of 2024, which means that this year we are expecting another seven months of fighting.”
Whoever you believe, one thing is indisputable: Israel doesn’t have a plan in Gaza. Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, is winging it.
At first glance, this would seem like an odd statement to make. Israel, after all, has consistently stated that it has two objectives for this military campaign: defeating Hamas and freeing the remaining hostages.
Yet those two objectives have proven to be irreconcilable. While Netanyahu argues that military pressure is crucial to getting the rest of the hostages released, the facts thus far have demonstrated otherwise. To Hamas, the hostages are bargaining chips meant to force Israel to end the war permanently and for good—something Netanyahu has ruled out.
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