Katie59
“All the aid agencies are saying the continuing attacks on Rafah will precipitate a humanitarian crisis of unimaginable proportions.”
Nonsense, we have already seen the unimaginable humanitarian slaughter - the holocaust in WW2.
These predictions mean nothing, Hamas has made it clear that they want to kill all Israelis, I suppose that is OK for the “aid agencies”
There is no peace deal possible that leaves Hamas in charge of Gaza security, Israel has got be secure or there will be another war in a few years time
What exactly do you mean by security? Hamas doesn't have anywhere near the same resources as Israel potentially does. Of course Israel needs to secure its borders and only a fool would allow Hamas to be responsible for doing that. Last year's attacks show that the IDF has some serious questions to answer about how secure the borders really are, especially with regards to the command structures.
It's unrealistic to think that Palestinians will just forget about this. They will hate Israel even more and attempts at reprisals must be expected. However, Hamas' resources will have been seriously weakened. Many of their fighters will have been killed, their infrastructure has been destroyed. They probably have some rockets and arms left, but not that many. If the rocket attacks can be stopped, Gaza and the West Bank should be left to self-govern, which includes their own internal security (without Israeli interference). Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza dislike each other anyway, but that's for them to sort out. Israel should stop trying to play them off against each other.
My hope is that Netanyahu will be replaced by somebody more pragmatic and moderate. Israel is never going to be secure while it has a sworn enemy on its doorstep. Netanyahu's strategy seems to have been to destroy that enemy. Another approach is diplomatic. It would be good if Israeli, West Bank and Gaza leaders could have regular meetings to discuss the way forward. West Bank settlement would obviously need to be an issue, as would the freedom for Gazans to control their own coastline ... and much more. They don't need to "like" each other. Saudi, Egypt, Qatar (and some other countries) need to be involved. It would be in everybody's interest, if there were agreements on all sides. The Middle East needs to sort something out without US or European involvement.
It's sometimes overlooked that there were Palestinians working in Israel and Palestinian companies doing contract work for Israel. Palestinians aren't actually medieval, donkey-riding peasants, which one poster on here seems to think they are. A way forward which doesn't involve war could be found, but it needs goodwill on both sides. At the moment, Gazans have very little hope for the future, so have turned to Hamas. Ensure their material welfare improves and gradually they will see less reason for radical solutions. I doubt very much whether Israelis and Palestinians will be "best buddies" in our lifetime, but there could be a situation where there is some kind of mutual respect.