Latest Updates

To break the violent impasse, Israel must change its policy toward Hamas and work toward a lasting ceasefire, recognising how much its own stability depends on the stability of Gaza.

In this translated interview, Ofer Zalzberg, Crisis Group’s senior Middle East and North Africa analyst, speaks to Le Monde about the factors that have contributed to the escalation of the Israeli military offensive.

With Hamas’s fortunes on the decline and Gaza suffering its worst isolation and economic constriction in years, it is only a matter of time until a flare-up with Israel escalates into a major conflagration – unless the two reach a modest understanding to extend a fragile quiet.

For peace talks to produce an agreement enjoying maximum legitimacy, Israel’s national-religious community should be engaged lest it obstruct the path to peace.