The Observer newspaper published an editorial in which it said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged, after the attacks on October 7, to destroy Hamas, and it was an “understandable pledge,” at the time, after the killing of 1,200 Israelis, but this goal was not achievable. Never investigate.

After eight months of war, and the killing of more than 35,000 Palestinians, Hamas is still fighting in areas that the Israeli army thought it had controlled, and amid a looming humanitarian catastrophe around Rafah, from which, once again, 640,000 Palestinians have been displaced, while it waits... Families of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas are increasingly concerned after three bodies were found on Friday.

 The newspaper comments that defeating “Hamas” remains a vital goal for Israel and most Western and Arab countries, as well as ordinary people who have been terrified by its movements. But Netanyahu failed, from the beginning, or refused to define a plan for the “day after” the war in Gaza and after the “destruction” of its rulers. Despite the availability of evidence, he refused to accept the idea that military force alone would not work. If “I want to defeat Hamas permanently, it must be political, legal, economic, and psychological, as well as physical.”

The newspaper comments that Netanyahu's actions indicate that he wants to wage a permanent war, and extend the life of his divided coalition and his political career. These tensions came to light when Defense Minister Yoav Galant accused the Prime Minister of leading Israel into an endless war, and said that the military and civilian occupation of Gaza would undermine Israel's security, as happened before 2005, and produced the Hamas movement.

Gallant called for Palestinian leadership in Gaza. His statements reflected previous plans to give the National Authority in Ramallah an important role in the post-war period. However, Netanyahu rejected the idea because he knew that his extremist coalition would collapse if he agreed. He said that he did not want to “replace Hamastan with Fatehistan,” and stressed that he would fight until the end. The newspaper believes that the dispute at the head of the Israeli government, and the blockage of ceasefire talks, may encourage Hamas to believe that it is winning the battle for international sympathy.

The newspaper says that there is a need to address the issue of the absence of an agreed upon peace strategy. In light of Netanyahu's adherence to his position, and the inability of the Israeli establishment to force him to change his mind, or oust him from power, there is a need for the international community to take action and lead.

The broad plan for “the next day” is there. It is based on a proposal in which Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco lead an international force in Gaza to prevent Hamas from rebuilding itself politically.

In a separate move, last week, the Arab League called for United Nations peacekeeping forces in Gaza and the West Bank.

US officials, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who is visiting Israel and Saudi Arabia, are developing a “grand plan” aimed not only at isolating Hamas and stopping the war in Gaza, but resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict.

On the table is a plan to normalize Saudi relations with Israel, in exchange for American security guarantees, and recognition by Israel and its allies, the United States and Britain, of the State of Palestine. The myth of the two-state solution may eventually become a reality. This remains a great ambition, but in the midst of blind anger stemming from the expansion of the war to Rafah, general hunger resulting from the interruption of food supplies, a legal case in The Hague saying that Israel committed genocide, and what the newspaper says is that “Hamas” is exploiting Palestinian suffering, we must Remember, there are ways through the swamp of misery. There are options, and even if he does not see them himself, Israel's friends must tell Netanyahu that it is time for him to choose the path of peace.