In Gaza, Netanyahu continues to gamble with uncertainty

It’s been nearly a year and a half since the first Israeli bombs dropped on Gaza following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught against Israel. But we still don’t really know what Israel’s end-game strategy is for the Palestinian enclave.

Does Israel plan on re-occupying the territory, as it did from 1967 to 2005? Is the goal merely to force Hamas to release the rest of the hostages — 59 are still outstanding, including 24 who are believed to remain alive — and to disarm? Or is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thinking bigger, perhaps by operationalizing President Donald Trump’s fantasy-land concept of turning the war-scarred Gaza into a Middle East vacation spot?