Could the Israel-Hamas war pave the way for lasting peace in the region?

Hamas's murderous raid into southern Israel on 7 October triggered a new round of horrific bloodshed in the Middle East.

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Even if Israel's military campaign in response to the atrocities succeeds in defanging Hamas, it will leave behind a Gazan population that is reeling, suffering, and angry. Moreover, the war will damage Israel's relations with the broader Palestinian community and their Arab brethren throughout the region. Picking up the pieces will take quite some time.

It is hard to see any silver lining in this dreadful bout of violence. Nonetheless, it is worth considering whether the shock caused by the war could push the seemingly intractable Israel-Palestine conflict towards an eventual resolution. Might this tragedy, which has forced both Israelis and Palestinians to stare into the abyss, prove to be a turning point that will clear the path towards a lasting peace? Taking this possibility seriously, and gazing beyond the horizon more generally, is not just an exercise in wishful thinking. Exploring how the current conflagration could set the stage for peace can help provide a road map for Israelis, Palestinians, and the international community to follow after the dust has settled.

For starters, the scope and intensity of the conflict may drive home to Israelis and Palestinians alike that they need to break the cycle of violence that has plagued the region for decades. Admittedly, previous bursts of fighting have over time hardened attitudes on both sides, and for understandable reasons.

Israelis have tended to respond to sporadic assaults by Palestinians by retaliating and imposing tight restrictions on the Palestinian people an approach that has evolved, in part, from Israel's prior history with Gaza. When Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, it only cleared the way for Hamas to take power and begin launching a succession of attacks.