The American newspaper, The Washington Post, published an article by journalist Ishaan Tharoor, in which he said: “The Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, stuck to his position in the midst of increasing pressure on Israel from its Western allies, urging it to curb its campaign against Hamas.”

He said during an interview conducted on Tuesday by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based research center: “We intend to control the entire Gaza Strip and change the course of history.”

Herzog continued, "The current conflict is a conflict between a set of civilizational values," and described the Hamas movement, which carried out the operation of last October 7, as a "force of evil."

Before the outbreak of war, Herzog was widely viewed as more reasonable in the eyes of the foreign policy establishment in Washington than right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, he and many other Israeli officials have taken a hard-line stance, ridiculing global criticism of the Israeli bombing of Gaza, while refusing to talk about a ceasefire to save Palestinian lives and alleviate the horrific humanitarian crisis.

Another vote on the issue is expected in the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, where diplomats remained wrangling until the late hours of Tuesday over a resolution that would not lead to a US veto.

However, the Biden administration, as a strong supporter of Israel, seemed ready to indicate its dissatisfaction with the high death toll of Palestinian dead, which is approaching 20,000 people. Although, according to Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post, It was pressing Israel for language that called for a “cessation of hostilities” rather than a ceasefire.

Separately, there may be a possible pause, for one week, in the near future if Hamas agrees to release about thirty prisoners, who are still being held in Gaza. But Israeli officials were clear that they were prepared for a long war.

"Israel will no longer tolerate Gaza being a platform for Iran," Herzog, who is adept at speaking to officials and lobbyists in Washington, said, referring to Hamas's main foreign backers.

'Hamas is well established'

Even after launching one of the most violent and intense military campaigns in modern history, Israel was able to neutralize only a small portion of Hamas' armed force. In the process, Israel destroyed besieged Hamas-controlled territories, displaced nearly 90 percent of the population, flattened entire neighborhoods, sparked a major humanitarian catastrophe, and found itself teetering in a losing battle for global public opinion.

The American newspaper stressed that "Gaza's hospitals are in a state of collapse, and only a few of them are able to function; disease and hunger haunt the region, as sewage systems have failed. There is little electricity, and almost no gas for cooking."

The newspaper's correspondents spoke with Palestinians who spend hours every day desperately searching for food and water. “This war has humiliated us,” said Khalil Tafesh, a father. “At the end of the day, we just want to live. Children just want to eat and drink. As a parent, you will do everything you can to provide food for your children.”

Concerns over the current volatile situation are heightened, as much of northern Gaza, which was once densely populated, has been flattened, and the bulk of the Strip's population is crammed into temporary accommodation near the southern Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

The prospect of a refugee exodus has become more real, a displacement that many in the region may view as another tragic moment of Palestinian dispossession, a shock that will further disturb Middle East politics and is likely to undermine Israel's rapprochement with some of its Arab neighbors. 

“Whether this [refugee influx] happened as a result of a deliberate Israeli military strategy or because of circumstances... this may be a distinction that makes no difference,” a former senior Egyptian diplomat told Claire Parker.

Meanwhile, Hamas, although bruised, has not been defeated. While Israel seeks to decapitate its military leadership and eliminate a large part of its military capabilities. The ongoing campaign has proven difficult, regardless of Israel's superior capabilities and resources.

Even achieving an almost complete victory on the battlefield will not eliminate the group, which has roots in Palestinian society and positions itself as the standard bearer of resistance to decades of Israeli occupation and land seizure.

Michael Milshtein, of the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, told The Guardian: “I would call it a very flexible entity that combines a distinct ruling party, a secret organization and a charitable fund; it is not something that if you can kill the commander-in-chief the whole structure will be undermined.”

But Israel, in the process, crushed much more than that. “Instead of destroying Hamas, this war will destroy Gaza and make it largely uninhabitable, as we can already see in northern Gaza,” said UCLA professor of Israeli studies Dov Waxman. “This will fuel more militancy among Palestinians and more of support for the armed resistance".

This sentiment is underscored by the “scary” language coming from many prominent voices in the Israeli political establishment, including Netanyahu, who has discussed “reducing” Gaza’s population. Middle East historian Jean-Pierre Filho explains that his speech makes it clear that behind “Israel’s declared desire for revenge lies the desire to eliminate not only Hamas, but also the Gaza Strip.”

Some Israeli politicians say it frankly: “The entire Gaza Strip must be empty and destroyed, just as it happened in Auschwitz. Let it be a museum for the whole world to see what Israel is capable of,” said David Azoulay, the mayor of Metulla, the city located on the far reaches of Northern Israel: “No one should reside in the Gaza Strip for the whole world to see, because October 7 was, in a way, a second Holocaust.”

The official museum responded on social media, saying that the Israeli mayor's "statements may appear to be a call for killing on a scale similar to Auschwitz."