Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summed up succinctly this week Israel’s dilemma vis-a-vis Hamas: War or truce? “We are working to prevent [Gaza] forces getting into Israel to harm our soldiers and communities,” Netanyahu told reporters Oct. 29. “But for there to be calm, the problem that could lead to humanitarian collapse (in Gaza) must be resolved.”

There is no certainty that either of these options will resolve the problem, but Netanyahu seems intent on exhausting all other avenues before deciding on an extensive military operation in Gaza. That same day, an Israeli political source confirmed that Israel and Hamas had been on the verge of a limited cease-fire deal, as reported earlier by Al-Monitor, but the escalation of Palestinian border protests Oct. 26 and the massive rocket fire later that night scuttled the understandings. 

For now, Netanyahu is busy deflecting right-wing pressure from his top ministers, such as Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, to deliver “the hardest blow we can’’ (against Hamas) and to conquer Gaza. A political source was quoted as saying Oct. 29 that even if Israel were to conquer Gaza and replace Hamas, “There are no volunteers to take Gaza off our hands.” Israel, obviously, does not want to be saddled with taking care of 2 million Palestinians and dealing at the same time with terrorism and resistance.

This raises the question of whether a cease-fire arrangement with Hamas — whether limited or broad — is achievable. There is no guarantee. As mentioned above, a few days ago, Hamas and Israel were on the verge of understandings over a limited deal that would allow Hamas to keep holding protests along the border with Israel but would prevent Palestinian attempts to infiltrate into Israel and to attack Israeli soldiers. At the same time, Israel and Egypt would ease their blockade of the Strip. Then the border protests escalated and the Islamic Jihad fired dozens of rockets at Israel, even brazenly admitting responsibility for the rocket barrages, which it has rarely done in the past.