{"id":181628,"date":"2025-08-28T05:29:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T05:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/181628\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T05:29:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T05:29:13","slug":"why-its-hard-to-end-the-war-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/181628\/","title":{"rendered":"Why it’s hard to end the war in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel is on the brink of launching another major offensive<\/a>, this time in famine-stricken Gaza City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The international community, along with nearly all Palestinians and many Israelis<\/a>, wanted the war to end a long time ago \u2014 and a ceasefire seemed possible<\/a> as recently as last month. So why is the conflict set to become even bloodier, nearly two years after Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023, attack<\/a>?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Displaced<\/p>\n

Displaced Palestinians fleeing Jabaliya move with their belongings on a street in Gaza City, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jehad Alshrafi)<\/p>\n

Displaced Palestinians fleeing Jabaliya move with their belongings on a street in Gaza City, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jehad Alshrafi)<\/p>\n

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Critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuse him of prolonging the war for political reasons. Netanyahu blames Hamas, which still holds around 20 living hostages, and says criticism of Israel\u2019s wartime conduct is only making the militant group more intransigent.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants the war to end and the hostages to come home. But his envoy, Steve Witkoff, walked away from ceasefire talks<\/a> last month, blaming Hamas, and the president has exerted no public pressure on Israel to change course since it ended a ceasefire in March<\/a> that he helped broker. It\u2019s unclear if the U.S. is pursuing a different strategy behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

Hamas said last week<\/a> that it accepted a ceasefire proposal that mediators described as being nearly identical to one Israel had approved. The U.S. and Israel have yet to respond publicly. It\u2019s unclear if the allies, which have recently hinted<\/a> at seeking a comprehensive deal, are working on something behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look at why the war continues with no end in sight.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A demonstrator takes part in a performance during a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ohad Zwigenberg)<\/p>\n

A demonstrator takes part in a performance during a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ohad Zwigenberg)<\/p>\n

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Netanyahu won\u2019t back down<\/p>\n

Israelis have joined mass protests calling for a ceasefire that would bring the hostages back. They say the war continues because Netanyahu is trying to stay in power.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s governing coalition depends on far-right parties that want to continue the war until Hamas has been annihilated, facilitate the mass relocation of Palestinians to other countries, and rebuild Jewish settlements that Israel dismantled<\/a> in 2005.<\/p>\n

They have threatened to bolt if Netanyahu ends the war short of total victory. Opposition parties say they will step in and preserve his government if he reaches a hostage deal, but that would still leave Netanyahu severely weakened ahead of elections next year.<\/p>\n

Losing office would leave the Israeli leader far more vulnerable to long-standing corruption charges<\/a> and to public inquiries into the failures surrounding the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu denies any such motives. He says the war must continue until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated, and that any agreement leaving the militant group intact and armed would allow it to eventually rebuild and carry out another major attack.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An Israeli armored personnel carrier (APC) moves along the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Maya Levin)<\/p>\n

An Israeli armored personnel carrier (APC) moves along the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Maya Levin)<\/p>\n

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Hamas won\u2019t surrender<\/p>\n

Netanyahu says the war could end tomorrow if Hamas releases the hostages and lays down its arms.<\/p>\n

But he has also said Israel will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and facilitate what he calls the voluntary emigration of much of Gaza\u2019s population<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Palestinians and many others say that would amount to forced expulsion \u2014 and it\u2019s a nonstarter for Hamas.<\/p>\n

The militant group has said it is willing to release the remaining 50 hostages \u2014 less than half believed by Israel to be alive \u2014 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. It has also said it would hand over power to other Palestinians. <\/p>\n

But it has ruled out laying down its arms or going into exile.<\/p>\n

Even if Hamas were to agree to disarm, it would be difficult to verify. Other armed groups might soon replace Hamas at the vanguard of what many Palestinians \u2014 even opponents of Hamas<\/a> \u2014 see as legitimate armed resistance to military occupation.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what happened when the Palestine Liberation Organization, the leading militant group of its day, agreed to go into exile in Tunisia after Israel\u2019s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Hamas burst onto the scene in Gaza at the start of a Palestinian uprising five years later.<\/p>\n

From Hamas\u2019 perspective, giving up arms would leave Palestinians defenseless in the face of Israel\u2019s ongoing military rule and expansion of settlements<\/a> on lands they want for a future state. In their eyes it would all but doom that national aspiration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump, left, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listen during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump, left, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listen during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n

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No sign Trump is pressuring Israel<\/p>\n

In June, Trump sealed a ceasefire between Israel and Iran after ordering Netanyahu \u2014 by phone and social media post<\/a> \u2014 to call off a wave of airstrikes. The stunning intervention in an ongoing Israeli military operation was a powerful demonstration of the United States\u2019 leverage over its close ally.<\/p>\n

There has been no sign of that with the war in Gaza. <\/p>\n

Trump has demanded that Hamas release the hostages while exerting no public pressure on Israel to halt or even curtail its operations \u2014 as former U.S. President Joe Biden tried to do with limited success<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beyond providing billions of dollars worth of arms<\/a> to Israel, the United States has shielded it from U.N. calls for a ceasefire, sanctioned international judges<\/a> pursuing Israeli officials, cracked down on campus protests<\/a>, and even threatened Canada<\/a> with higher tariffs over its stance on the Mideast conflict.<\/p>\n

The influence of other countries over Israel, including the more than 30 Western-aligned nations<\/a> that have called for the war to end, pales in comparison. <\/p>\n

Any pullback in U.S. support would alarm Israelis and might force Netanyahu to make concessions leading to a ceasefire \u2014 but there\u2019s no sign of that. And it\u2019s unclear what further pressure could be brought to bear on Hamas in Gaza after nearly all of its top leaders<\/a> and thousands of fighters have been killed in one of the deadliest and most destructive military onslaughts since World War II<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Trump told reporters there might be a \u201cconclusive ending\u201d in Gaza in the next two to three weeks, without elaborating.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re doing a very good job,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it does have to, it does have to end.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s war coverage at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/israel-hamas-war<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel is on the brink of launching another major offensive, this time in famine-stricken Gaza City. The international…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":181629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[97,372,69,70,4526,57,4527,3464,99,3462,373,82,3463,50,365,13226,96,93,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-181628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","9":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-gaza","12":"tag-gaza-strip","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-hamas","15":"tag-international-agreements","16":"tag-israel","17":"tag-israel-government","18":"tag-israel-hamas-war","19":"tag-joe-biden","20":"tag-mideast-wars","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-religion","23":"tag-steve-witkoff","24":"tag-war-and-unrest","25":"tag-washington-news","26":"tag-world","27":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115104747551337924","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}