With 58 Israeli hostages still in Hamas captivity and over 3,000 Palestinians reported dead in recent weeks, Israel is approaching a fork in the road: Escalate the war or cut a deal. In her latest dispatch for The Media Line, Keren Setton unpacks the tense, high-stakes moment [1] facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as negotiations with Hamas hit what officials call the “critical hours.”
The stakes couldn’t be higher. While Israel pounds Gaza with airstrikes and ramps up ground operations under “Operation Gideon Chariots,” a negotiating team remains in Qatar, where indirect talks with Hamas continue. The pressure on Netanyahu is intense—from within his fragmented coalition, from the streets where families of hostages demand an end to the fighting, and from international actors worried Gaza is spiraling toward famine.
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“Israel has two choices,” says security expert Col. (res.) Dr. Hanan Shai. “Either focus on releasing the hostages or conquer Gaza and completely remove the threat of Hamas.” Right now, Israel appears to be leaning hard into the second option—betting on military dominance over diplomatic compromise.
But Hamas isn’t budging. It demands a full Israeli withdrawal, including from the Egypt-Gaza border corridor, and guarantees that the war won’t resume. Meanwhile, Israel believes Hamas is still hiding hostages in its vast tunnel network, much of which remains intact despite months of bombardment.
As Setton reports, this isn’t just about ending a war. It’s about reshaping what comes next. Will Hamas survive to rebuild, or will Israel see the fight through to the bitter end? For the full story on what’s driving these decisions—and what they might mean—read Keren Setton’s full report [1] at The Media Line.