Palestinians

Even if an incursion into Rafah occurs without sparking a clash between Israeli and Egyptian forces, Israel will be facing two key challenges in its relationship with Egypt: the eventual status of the Philadelphi corridor and the rapid rise of support for Hamas inside Egypt itself.

The long-term political struggle against Hamas will be just as challenging for Israel as the current military campaign.

For opportunity to emerge from tragedy, two bridges must be built: one leading from the current situation to the “day after” the war, and a second creating a viable path to a Palestinian state.

Tehran may simply revive the group or replace it with another terrorist proxy, so Washington and its partners will need to disrupt the flow of Iranian arms and informal financial support to extremist elements in the West Bank and Gaza.

International media and NGOs have repeated the group's figures without caveats, giving credence to suspicions of Israeli misconduct and fueling accusations of war crimes and even genocide.

The Israeli cabinet’s internal differences over war priorities, the PA’s role, and Arab diplomacy are affecting relations with the White House.

Decades ago, Saleh al-Arouri helped the group realize that external support networks were essential to recovering from serious setbacks, and this playbook lives on despite his death.

His trip will not bridge all bilateral differences over the war, but its success can be measured by how it deals with urgent short-term issues while deferring key postwar matters.

Although the group’s conventional military capabilities seemingly peaked on October 7, an underperforming army is still an army, so the IDF has little choice but to continue ground operations until it can shift to a counterterrorism-centered strategy.