But is that really a win? It could certainly be a win in this particular battle. But does it help win the long term war between Israel and Hamas?

Because a "win" condition for Israel is that it gets to continue to exist.

One thing that discussions of the conflict often leave out is the possibility that there will never be an end to the fighting as long as Israel exists. It may be that there's no way to reconcile the two conflicting goals of Palestinian self-determination and Israeli existence.

It is possible. Burma/Myanmar has been in a continuous civil war since WWII, with no apparent way to square the desire of minority peoples in the area to have self-determination with the territorial integrity of the country. Been going on for eight decades, with no signs of stopping.

Maybe there isn't a stable end condition that Israel can ever live with, and the only "winning" is to just win particular battles even though the long term war will never end.

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