Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently stood next to President Trump in Israel's parliament in Jerusalem and summarized the last two years of war:"Israel achieved amazing victories over Hamas and the entire Iran terror axis — Sinwar, Deif, Haniyah, Nasrallah, Assad — they're all gone."
This list refers to countries (Iran, Syria and Lebanon), groups (Hamas and Hezbollah) and individuals (Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyah of Hamas, Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah and Bashar al-Assad of Syria) that have been Israel's main enemies for decades.
Yet at the same time, "While Netanyahu was winning wars, he was not able to win any of the peace, or any of the peaces," said Paul Salem, who's based in Lebanon with the Middle East Institute. "He was not able to turn his military victories into sustainable political wins. He was digging Israel deeper into a hole."
Israel has also come under withering international criticism. This is mostly over the Gaza war, which began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which Israeli authorities say killed 1,144 people. In its ferocious response, Israel's military killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza health officials.
Israel faces charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice, and Netanyahu has been charged with war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel and Netanyahu reject both these charges.
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