Israel-Gaza war in 2024: signs of more devastation, open-ended occupation
- Israel’s army chief predicts the war will last for months. Even if the war ends early in the year, Israel is likely to maintain a military occupation
- No Palestinian Authority acceptable to Israel appears able to take over soon. Nor will Hamas readily cede control
Sinwar hopes to trade remaining hostages from the 240 that Hamas and allied groups seized on October 7 for thousands of Palestinian prisoners, end the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza and put Palestinian statehood back in play.
Why it matters
Weeks of bombardment have left much of the Hamas-ruled strip in ruins, killing more than 21,000 people and wounding 55,000, according to Palestinian health authorities and displacing 1.9 million, according to relief agencies and Gaza health officials.
Hamas and its thousands of fighters are dug deep into the territory’s dense cities and refugee camps and there is little sign they are close to defeat, with battles continuing across the enclave and their leaders still at large.
The Israeli military has expressed regret for civilian deaths but blames Hamas for operating in densely populated areas or using civilians as human shields, a charge the group denies.
