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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/07/gaza-israel-war-hamas-destruction/
Israel Needs a New Strategy for Hamas
(Washington Post) Max Boot - Though Israel could never make peace with Hamas, a movement dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state, it had learned to live with a terrorist organization in control of Gaza as a lesser evil - compared with a renewed Israeli occupation, an even more extremist group such as al-Qaeda in charge, or Libya-style chaos. As a 2017 Rand Corp. study noted: "Israel's grand strategy became 'mowing the grass' - accepting its inability to permanently solve the problem and instead repeatedly targeting leadership of Palestinian militant organizations to keep violence manageable." Most Israelis have no desire for a long-term occupation of Gaza, one that would inevitably lead to further Israeli casualties and accusations that their troops are committing war crimes. But they are running out of alternatives.