Israel, Hamas and the Never-Ending War

Everyone saw this coming. Despite the ceasefire agreed to in October 2025, Hamas refuses to disarm, as they’d promised. Thus, Israel will have to disarm them by force. Hamas has made a token effort to disarm, but it doesn’t fulfill the original promise:

Israel and the U.S. have said Hamas needs to give up its weapons in compliance with the cease-fire agreement. Hamas is open to giving up what is left of its stock of heavy weapons, but won’t turn over its small arms, Arab officials said. Israel estimates the group has 60,000 rifles and 20,000 fighters. An Israeli official said Hamas won’t be able to shirk its obligation to relinquish its arms. The official said that if the group doesn’t willingly give up its weapons, Israel would force it to do so.

Meanwhile, Hamas proves that they never took the ceasefire seriously. They are rebuilding their military capability, are hiring and training more soldiers, are restoring the tunnel system that Israel had begun to destroy, and have received an infusion of cash, through intermediary sources, to fund their efforts:

Since the cease-fire ended, Hamas has cracked down on opponents and moved to strengthen its grip over Gaza. The group has been appointing new commanders to succeed those who were killed and has started rebuilding some of its damaged tunnel infrastructure, Arab and Israeli officials said. The group is also rebuilding its financial coffers with access to cash it had stored in tunnels, from taxation, and an influx from Iran, the officials said.

The primary question to be asked is: Did anyone think the ceasefire would bring an end to the war? Clearly Hamas has taken the break as an opportunity to rebuild its forces; Israel may have benefited from the break, since their reserve forces were already overtaxed.

But given Hamas’ reticence about disarming, the efforts they’ve made to restore their forces, and the declaration they made in December 2025, they fervently plan to continue the fight indefinitely, or, as they would have it, until Israel is destroyed:

The Hamas manifesto released in December 2025 underscores the organization’s belief that the outcomes of the war justified its costs. It portrays Hamas as the central pillar of Palestinian society and, as noted by the INSS, characterizes the ‘al-Aqsa Flood’ as a rebirth of a movement that perceives itself as victorious.

Israelis, on the other hand, want the war to be over. Now that they have most of the hostages back, they want to try to lead some semblance of a normal life. They hold onto this hope, while Hamas continues to restore its original fighting locations in tunnels, hospitals, schools and other government facilities. And other countries are unwilling to join an international security force in Gaza because they don’t want to be responsible for shooting Hamas soldiers. Any recovery as a result of the ceasefire is an illusion. It is beyond bizarre that any world leader could believe that peace can be restored by following the current path:

What comes next for Gaza may be driven by illusory signs of progress, such as Hamas allowing ‘independent’ Palestinians to manage daily affairs while it governs from the shadows through intimidation. The reality on the ground suggests that this would be more illusion than substance. And it is that reality, not diplomatic theory, that should guide decisions about Gaza’s future.

Either both sides should plan on a never-ending war, with all its tragedy and destruction, or realize that Israel’s only chance now to bring the war to an end is to destroy Hamas. Full stop.

[originally published in American Thinker]