It's been one month and one day since Hamas last released hostages. Many a hope has been raised and dashed since. And until a deal is done, Israel continues its pounding of the Gaza Strip, where an estimated half of the buildings in the north are either damaged or destroyed. So what would a release look like? Hamas badly wants a truce, Israel the return of more than 200 civilians abducted on October 7. We ask about the mediators and the players.
Ismael Haniyeh is the face of Hamas abroad, but who is calling the shots inside Gaza? Does Israel's leadership want to negotiate, or eliminate its interlocutors? Would a three or five-day truce signal a temporary respite or the first step towards spelling out an alternative to reducing all of Gaza to rubble?
That raises the broader question: if Hamas's aim on October 7 was to spark a reaction, they got it. But now what? What is the ultimate goal for Palestinians? What is the ultimate goal for Israelis?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Louise Guibert.
