The latest flurry of Gaza cease-fire talks — the back-and-forth over now-familiar sticking points and appeals from around the world — obscures a grim truth about the monthslong efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war and free scores of hostages.
Any deal requires the signatures of two men: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
They are sworn enemies, notoriously tough negotiators and know that the outcome of the talks will profoundly shape their legacies. In Sinwar’s case, it could mean life or death.
Both have strong incentives to end the war. But they may also think they stand to gain by holding out a bit longer, and that war is preferable to a deal that falls short of their demands.
Uh, I don’t see many strong incentives for Netanyahu to end the war. They mostly all point in the continuation direction.
Not really seeing them for hamas either, they don’t exactly want to go back to even the pre-Oct 7th status quo. That being an unacceptable state featuring Israeli rapprochement with more and more Arab nations amid expanding settlement was how we got into this mess in the first place. They essentially turned their organization into one giant suicide bomber, and there’s just no point in calling it quits halfway through.