Israel and Palestine: a diplomatic path forward?

Walking a tightrope between being a friend of Israel, and being the bearer of bad news about how much of the world views their prosecution of the war in Gaza, Blinken has sought to be both staunch ally to the Jewish state, and at the same time, urging restraint and the admittance of greater humanitarian aid.

Concurrently, he is seeking to engage the various actors in the region, chief among them Palestinian President Mamoud Abbas, who rules in the West Bank, which, like all things in the Middle East, is no easy task.

Blinken is, in effect, seeking to not only end a war in Gaza, but one between the Palestinians themselves.

For it was in the elections of 2006 that the Palestinians effectively went into civil war, with Gaza electing the terrorist organisation Hamas, and the West Bank choosing the Fatah party, which Abbas heads.

Nearly two decades later, there has not been an election since.

Blinken wants Fatah to take control of Gaza in a post-Hamas regime.

Accordingly, he agrees with the Israeli war-aim to wipe Hamas off the face of the earth to help make this possible.

For if Hamas remains there will only be more war, more division, more bloodshed, and ultimately, no peace.

But will Gazans accept a Fatah government? Or will the people, half of whom can't even remember a time when Hamas wasn't in control, rebel against them, leading to more fratricide?

But another serious question that many are asking is: will there even be a Gaza by the end of this conflict?

Israel seems determined, with its destruction of homes, mosques, and schools, to make the area uninhabitable. They're not just dropping bombs on these buildings: they are going in with demolition teams, and razing them to the ground. While widespread destruction may help its objective to destroy Hamas, one wonders where they expect the Gazan people to live once that goal has been achieved.

Do they expect them to sit around in piles of rubble? Or do they want them to be refugees again, but this time, to get out of the Holy Land all together?