What Is Israel Still Doing in Gaza?

Nearly a year and nine months into the war in Gaza, now the longest military campaign in Israel’s history, a fundamental question grows louder by the day: What is Israel still doing there?

The government insists it is about freeing the hostages. But many of those hostages could have already been released in earlier deals that were rejected, likely for political reasons. Others argue that the goal is to defeat Hamas. But even as the fighting continues, "humanitarian" aid, fuel and funding are being sent into Gaza, most of which ends up in Hamas’s hands.

Reports also point to weapons being transferred to Salafi crime families linked to ISIS. Soldiers are dying in the very same places they were fighting more than a year ago. There is no exit strategy. No timeline. Just repetition.

If victory is the goal, then something has gone terribly wrong. If political survival is the goal, then we are sacrificing lives for appearances. And if we are being honest, we all recognize by now that the Israeli government has no intention of implementing any meaningful population transfer in Gaza.

That idea, while occasionally floated, has no diplomatic or logistical pathway. So if even that best objective is off the table, the rationale for continued presence in Gaza becomes even harder to understand.

The most logical conclusion is that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not pursuing a coherent military strategy. He is clinging to political survival. His leadership, increasingly isolated and reactive, is costing Israeli lives and eroding global support.

Soldiers are dying. Hamas is surviving. The civilian population in Gaza remains. The war, stripped of all clear objectives, now appears to serve only one purpose - keeping the current government in power.

It is time for a change. Leadership must be grounded in vision, not fear. In strategy, not stalling. Netanyahu must step aside. Israel, and the Jewish people, deserve better.