The war aims of neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Gaza's Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar look attainable in 2024, and their fight may consign the Palestinian territory to yet more devastation and an open-ended Israeli occupation.
Netanyahu seeks to obliterate Hamas for its attack on Oct. 7, Israel's bloodiest day ever, and is seemingly willing to raze much of Gaza to the ground and risk reimposing a military occupation in the enclave Israel left in 2005.
Sinwar hopes to trade remaining hostages from the 240 Hamas and allied groups seized on Oct. 7 for thousands of Palestinian prisoners, end the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza, and put Palestinian statehood back in play.