Thanks for your very detailed and engaging response that covered many aspects of this from an Israeli perspective. I finally had time to read it in its entirety this evening. You brought up a few things I hadn't considered before. I also agree with your assessment of Syria being a "basket-case". The situation there is a complete mess, especially with both US and Russian troops posted there by invitation of al-Assad.

Furthermore, another worrying complication is Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally of the US, but the US still supports Syria's Kurdish groups. Turkey considers the Kurds a cross-border terror threat. I'm not sure how Israel's relations are with Turkey currently, but if some protracted conflict expands in the region, A rather bizarre situation could occur if tensions between Israel and Turkey escalate.

With Turkey being a NATO member, the NATO agreement is that if one country is attacked, all must respond. I doubt Israel would conduct any direct military operations against Turkey due to this, but Turkey does pose a diplomatic complexity being a Muslim majority country that has had shaky relations with Israel in the past... but is also a NATO member.... but also considers the Kurds which the US backs in Syria as a terrorist group which puts a strain on US-Turkey relations. The Middle East is confusing and complicated, especially for Americans that want to view everything as a simple 2-team football game or 'good-guy/bad-guy' narrative.

I appreciated that you mentioned Jordan and Egypt. I do think that Israel normalizing relations with those countries through diplomacy is a bright spot in the efforts towards peace that demonstrate that it is possible if both sides are willing participants acting in good faith.

Obviously, I don't think Hamas acts in good faith in this regard as you've pointed out, and I agree that they will not be the ones to push for peace either. Their actions only prevent it. Perhaps the death of Sinwar might provide an opportunity to wind down the operation in Gaza if Hamas' influence is substantially hindered.

I do think that as necessary as it is for Hamas (and any other group like it) to lose power for peace to have a chance, Israel will not be able to accomplish this solely through military action. At some point, Palestinians will need to decide for themselves and take the initiative in organizing new leadership. This is one thing the US has been slow to learn. People need to experience hope that there is a better future, and that there are more options available for economic survival and growth rather than joining terrorist groups to avenge their families death. For many Palestinian refugees that lack economic opportunities, becoming a martyr is the only job in town. As long as Hamas is the main employer, it will be hard to break the cycle of violence.

I agree about the monetary aid to Gaza as well - there's certainly a high risk that it could be used to propagate violence and the conflict, especially if Hamas is the controlling authority. Really, I think aid should be limited to direct humanitarian, medical and food aid only at this point since that's what's critically needed. Of course, Israel has a role to play here too ensuring that aid convoys are actually allowed into Gaza.

I think Israel also has its own problems with far-right groups within it that have no interest in peace - or at least are more conquest-minded when it comes to seizing more land to build Jewish settlements on. It's encouraging to know not all Israelis side with Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. Like the Palestinians, only Israelis can take responsibility for their own leadership and ensure those in power are genuinely interested in peace, and not hindering it for their own gain.