Israel continues to pummel Gaza, as pressure for a ceasefire grows

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THE FIGHTING between Israel and Hamas is about to enter its second week. The bombardment of Gaza is “continuing with full force” and “will take time,” says Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. Hamas, which controls Gaza, continues to volley rockets at Israel. It and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant faction, have fired over 3,000 since the battle began on May 10th. But, behind the scenes, both Israel and Hamas are looking for a way out.

Start with Hamas, which has used the conflict to stake its claim to the Palestinian leadership. While Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of the rival Fatah party, has tried to stop protests in the West Bank, Hamas has portrayed itself as the defender of Palestinian protesters who have clashed with Israeli police in Jerusalem in recent weeks. But Hamas has paid a heavy price. Israel has destroyed its offices, tunnels and weapons-development facilities, and killed several of its senior commanders.

Then there is the price paid by ordinary Gazans. Israeli air strikes have killed nearly 200 of them, including dozens of children, says the Palestinian health ministry. On May 14th an Israeli missile reportedly hit an apartment in Gaza, killing eight children and two women as they celebrated the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. A senior Hamas commander was the target, said Israel.

Hamas, through Egypt, has offered a ceasefire—which Israel has rejected. In private, though, senior Israeli officers talk about ending their offensive. “We are getting close to the point where we have made the most out of this round in degrading Hamas’ military capabilities and deterring them from attacking us again any time soon,” says an officer. Meanwhile, international condemnation of Israel’s killing of civilians is growing.

Gaza, by far, has suffered the most. But it is the damage in Israel that makes it hard for Mr Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire. Many of his supporters live in towns that have been hit by Hamas’s rockets. Take Ashkelon, a stronghold of the prime minister’s Likud party that is just 10km from Gaza. Air-raid sirens sound almost hourly. Most of the rockets are intercepted by the Iron Dome missile-defence system, but some make it through. Across Israel ten people have been killed. As Ashkelon’s residents emerged from their shelters after an attack on May 16th, some chanted “Death to Arabs!” and “Bibi! Bibi!”, a nickname for Mr Netanyahu. “We don’t mind being under fire for weeks, as long as Hamas is destroyed at the end,” said one resident.

When the fighting began a week ago, Mr Netanyahu appeared to be on the brink of losing his job. Parties opposed to him were edging closer to a deal to establish a new government that would have seen Naftali Bennett, a nationalist, and Yair Lapid, a centrist, take turns as prime minister. But on May 13th Mr Bennett withdrew from the talks. He explained that rioting by Arabs and Jews in Israel’s cities would need to be put down by the army—and that there was no way Arab or left-wing parties, which were also part of the talks, would agree to that. A bigger issue, though, was that important members of his Yamina party were not willing to follow him into a government with Arab members.

Mr Bennett is now back in Mr Netanyahu’s camp. But that doesn’t mean the prime minister will be able to form a government (he failed when given the chance last month). Israel has held four inconclusive elections since 2019. Another one beckons. That suits Mr Netanyahu, who will remain in charge in the interim. His supporters may want him to continue pummelling Hamas, but that also holds political risks. The fighting in Gaza is exacerbating the tense situation in Jerusalem and fuelling violence between Arabs and Jews across Israel.

There is also the West Bank to consider. The main cities have remained relatively calm, but 12 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces in the territory since May 14th. Mr Abbas wants to keep a lid on things; his forces have arrested senior Hamas members in the West Bank. But there is little he can do about the fighting in Gaza.