Tel Aviv's dilemma - Peacekeepers, Fatah or anarchy: what would follow an Israeli 'victory' in Gaza?

For weeks, Israel has pounded Gaza with missiles, as it gathers tanks and troops for a ground invasion with one stated goal: to destroy Hamas. It is a deceptively simple target, one that sounds urgent and necessary to many in a nation profoundly traumatised by the massacres of 7 October, hoping to reclaim their sense of security, and a military determined to restore its damaged authority.

- Emma Graham-Harrison, Julian Borger and Ruth Michaelson

"Now we have a lot of pressure from the Israeli population," a senior Israeli security official said. "We are really trying in headquarters here not to be emotionally irrational in every decision. The only conclusion is that we have to go in. We have to go in and clean it and to eliminate Hamas from the roots, not only militarily, but also economically, its administration."

But destroying Hamas is a political objective, not a military one. Even if Israel claims success after assassinating senior Hamas figures, destroying their arsenal and tunnels, and dismantling their administration, they have not said what they will do the day after "victory".

The Gaza Strip will still be there, albeit mostly in ruins. The population who survive the war will still be there, mourning new losses of loved ones and their homes. And the poverty and other deprivations that fed Hamas will only have intensified.

The national rage, the massing of military might, looked disturbingly familiar to the US president, Joe Biden, who warned Israel last week: "Justice must be done. But I caution this - while you feel that rage, don't be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were enraged. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes."