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Haviv Rettig Gur: Israel’s Winning One War While It Loses Another
Palestinians create a stampede to get hot meals in Khan Younis, Gaza, on May 6, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Hamas’s fundamental plan for survival is Gaza’s humanitarian suffering. It’s the catalyst for international pressure on Israel. And it’s working.
By Haviv Rettig Gur
07.31.25 — The Big Read
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This column is an adaptation of a recent episode of the “Ask Haviv Anything” podcast. For more on the podcast, visit this link.

Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. ET, please join Haviv Rettig Gur for a conversation about this important topic.

Israel is fighting three wars in Gaza: a ground war, a humanitarian aid war, and an information war. They are all inextricably intertwined—and nothing has made that clearer than the global outcry over the question of hunger.

As mounting evidence emerges of widespread hunger in Gaza, Israel has allowed daily pauses in fighting to permit it to distribute a surge in humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, blame for the crisis has been cast upon Israel, who so far has offered almost no explanation or clarity on what went wrong. Politics has muddled policy and prevented both the development and publicity of a serious plan.

How is it that a leadership that demonstrated astonishing competence in the 12-day war with Iran has stumbled this badly to explain and execute any coherent strategy in Gaza?

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Haviv Rettig Gur
Haviv Rettig Gur is The Free Press Middle East Analyst, based in Israel. He is also the host of Ask Haviv Anything.
Tags:
War
Policy
Israel
Gaza
Hamas
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