Why is the war in Gaza still on?
Israel could have entered, toppled Hamas in a month, and established a different regime, not necessarily the Palestinian Authority. But that was never the real purpose.
The purpose is genocide. The destruction of the Palestinian people in Gaza is not a side effect, it is the central aim. It is not a reluctant option, it is a driving urge. But Israel knows it must be carried out carefully. One hundred thousand slaughtered in a single day would look bad, it would force the world to say ok you had the revenge, it would shorten the war. Instead, the plan is methodical, deliberate, step by step.
Keeping hostages in Gaza serves Israel’s interests. It is the perfect card to play: the refrain that the war cannot end until every hostage is home. But they know the truth. Many of those hostages are already dead, buried in unknown places. That is not the obstacle.
The real reason is simple. Israel needs the hostages to remain in Hamas’s hands because their existence justifies the continuation of the war. Israel have admitted it openly: even if Hamas were to release every hostage tomorrow, Israel would not stop. The war is not about the hostages. It is about erasing Gaza
The first objective is to wipe out Gaza’s civil infrastructure. From settlers from Sde Boas brought to demolish Rafah, to armed terrorists like Koko from the hilltops sent to destroy the only dialysis hospital in northern Gaza. From celebrating the demolition of water stations as a Shabbat ritual, to ensuring that no neighborhood remains inhabitable. Even Erez Winner, the general who designed the southern command’s operations, admitted only days ago that Gaza is being rendered unlivable by design.
The second objective is to eliminate Gaza’s educated class, the qualitative core of its people. Killing two million outright would not serve their purpose; it would only generate survivors and witnesses filled with hatred. The focus is instead on doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers those who sustain society. Think of the Israeli sniper who shot dead the only surgeon in northern Gaza back in the General’s. plan in Nov 2024. Think of the Givati soldier who told us directly that his commander ordered, “Destroy the neighborhood,” so that Palestinians can never return.
The motive behind both objectives is clear: Gaza must be emptied of Palestinians. The strip must be flattened, barren, erased. This is genocide, pure and simple. Sixty thousand are already dead, with hundreds of thousands more missing or wounded, but the goal is far greater. A million dead would mean millions more scarred survivors who will remember who destroyed them. Israel wants nothing left. No people. No homes. No future.
This is why the war drags on. It is not a battle against Hamas, it is collective punishment. The targets are children, women, civilians every last one of them. Hamas is the excuse, the cover story. Every week or two, Israel announces it has discovered another tunnel. Every month, it parades the seizure of two Kalashnikovs. These rituals are not about security, they are about whitewashing, about convincing their own people that the war still has a purpose.
Look at Khizaa in eastern Khan Younis. The entire town was wiped out. Afterwards, Israel declared, “We found a tunnel.” But the tunnel was not even inside the town. It was nonfunctional, its location already known, and five Hamas fighters had been killed there back in January 2024. Only in June 2025, two weeks after publicly announcing that tunnel’s elimination, Israel used it again as justification: “Dear Israelis, here is our reason.” And in the meantime, hospitals, schools, farms, cultural centers everything was erased, not for security, not for defense, but simply to leave nothing standing.
The message could not be clearer: you must leave. And if you refuse, then everything around you will be obliterated. And. If you then don’t you will be eliminated.
