There was never a genuine will among the warring sides in Gaza to resolve the conflict. What existed instead was a massive international involvement, born out of one overwhelming fear: that Gaza might spark a full-scale regional war in the Middle East involving every major player, including Turkey, Iran, and the United States, which had made clear its unwavering support for Israel.
The decisive intervention of the U.S. and President Donald Trump reversed the dangerous trajectory things had taken. In recent years, Washington had invested heavily in fostering cooperation between Israel and the moderate Arab states. Allowing extremists to undo that progress was simply not an option. In short, the Israel–Hamas agreement, the return of hostages, and the release of prisoners represent a step that could allow the long and fragile process toward peace to continue.
That path, however, will be anything but easy.
First and foremost, more than one million Palestinians who have spent the past two years displaced amid Gaza’s ruins need immediate shelter. Their cities and neighborhoods must once again become livable. Schools have to reopen, businesses must resume, and -before any of that can happen- the basic infrastructure of a city reduced to rubble must be rebuilt from the ground up.
Beyond Gaza lies the broader picture, the enduring Palestinian question, which extends far beyond the enclave itself. Enormous challenges remain on the path to establishing a fully recognized and functioning Palestinian state, one that aspires to exist across Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. It is a state still lacking unified and broadly accepted leadership, and one whose very existence remains unrecognized by Israel, even though most UN member states have already granted it recognition.
Gaza and the immense tragedy of the past two years for both Israelis and Palestinians stands as a stark reminder of how far things can go when there is no dialogue and extremists prevail. This vast destruction and the countless dead may yet prove the futility of sterile confrontation and highlight the value of even a painful compromise.