Eleven months have passed, and the war is still going on, with no one able to predict when it will stop and how. The U.S. veto in the Security Council aborted all attempts to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, and the refusal of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu aborted the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement through the mediation of the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. The agreement would have allowed a gradual process conducive to substantial change in the political structure in Gaza by marginalizing Hamas and enabling a reformed Palestinian Authority to control and administrate the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu’s pursuit of “absolute victory” over Hamas, and his insistence on maintaining an Israeli military presence on the border between Gaza and Egypt, and in the “Netzarim corridor” in the center of Gaza, made all efforts to achieve a hostages/prisoner exchange deal leading to a political process a nonstarter.

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