Insurmountable Abyss?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a new military offensive to seize Gaza City, Hamas's last major stronghold. Israel has called up 60,000 reservists for the operation, which is likely to displace hundreds of thousands more Palestinians.

Israeli tanks are reported to be rolling into Gaza City. The expansion of the military campaign into Gaza City, including plans for clearing civilian areas and seizing control, have sparked both international condemnation and domestic protests.

Meanwhile, President Trump is keeping his foreign policy focused on Russia and Ukraine as global outrage grows over Israel’s plans to launch a major new offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Throughout his current term, Trump has continued to show support for Netanyahu and has openly backed Israeli military operations in Gaza. In July 2025, Netanyahu reportedly informed his cabinet that the Trump administration supports his plan to annex parts of Gaza. Netanyahu indicated that the plan was communicated to the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio by Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.

Earlier, in February 2025, Trump floated a controversial plan for the US to "take over" Gaza, build the "Riviera of the Middle East" there and permanently "resettle" Palestinians in neighbouring countries like Egypt and Jordan. These countries firmly rejected the idea, which was widely criticized as potentially amounting to ethnic cleansing. However, Trump's proposals have emboldened far-right members of Netanyahu's government who advocate annexing Gaza.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is resulting in a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, including a formal declaration of famine. The severity of the situation is brought out by a report by the IPC (the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification), a UN-backed food security assessment. It has declared in an analysis released on August 22 that “over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death”. The IPC projects that famine conditions will spread to the governorates of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September 2025.

On August 22, Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that the famine was entirely preventable, asserting that food could not get through to the Palestinian territory “because of systematic obstruction by Israel." The conflict has displaced more than 90 per cent of Gaza's population—over 2 million people. Many have been forced to move multiple times in search of safety.

Israeli military operations continue to expand into areas previously designated as "safe," reducing the total protected area to less than 12 per cent of the Gaza Strip. While a January 2025 ceasefire allowed some to return to northern Gaza, renewed hostilities caused more displacement and intensified humanitarian challenges.

Gaza's healthcare system is almost completely shattered, with many hospitals destroyed or only partially functional. Field hospitals, like the Red Cross facility in Rafah, are operating beyond maximum capacity. Severe overcrowding, coupled with the near-total collapse of water and sanitation infrastructure, has led to a rapid spread of infectious diseases like cholera and hepatitis. The first case of polio in 25 years was reported in July 2024.

Critical medical supplies, including anaesthesia for surgery and equipment for dialysis, are scarce. Many health facilities have run out of fuel to operate generators, forcing the suspension of services. Repeated attacks on healthcare facilities and workers have further debilitated the system. The Palestine Red Crescent Society has said that it has lost 31 medics since October 2023.

Addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a complex and deeply challenging issue with no single, agreed-upon solution. Various proposals have been discussed by international bodies, regional powers, academics, and the public for decades, though recent events have created new obstacles to peace.

International efforts continue in support of the two-state solution, even while acknowledging its diminishing viability. For example, the UN conference in July 2025 emphasised "unwavering support" for a two-state solution. However, the realities on the ground, including Israeli settlement expansion and diminished support among both Israelis and Palestinians, make its implementation appear increasingly unfeasible. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has consistently stressed that the two-state solution, envisioning an independent Palestine and Israel coexisting in peace, is the only viable path to ending the conflict.

President Trump has expressed scepticism about the two-state solution. The US termed the July 2025 UN two-state solution conference an “ill-advised publicity stunt that will further embolden Hamas and undermine our serious diplomatic efforts to end the war.”

As the two-state solution loses viability, alternatives like a bi-national state or a confederation model are also beginning to get some attention. The bi-national approach involves creating a single, secular, democratic state in which Israelis and Palestinians would have equal rights. The confederation model involves creating two sovereign states, Israel and Palestine, that are linked by a joint governing framework.

However, the ground reality is that these approaches also depend on a level of trust that has been severely eroded by years of conflict and the ongoing war. Moreover, the profound power imbalance between Israel and the Palestinians presents an insurmountable challenge to establishing shared governance.

In conclusion, there seems to be no end in sight for the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, marked by a high intensity of violence in an extremely dense urban area, devastating loss of lives and an ongoing crisis of hunger, displacement, and destroyed infrastructure. Netanyahu has continued to assert Israel's military goals in Gaza while maintaining that a "total victory" against Hamas is essential for Israel's security and for achieving lasting peace in the region. Thus, the situation is poised to become even more desperate , with calls for a permanent ceasefire and unhindered aid access falling on deaf ears. As the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres put it, "Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis – it is a moral crisis that challenges the global conscience".

The writer is a retired Indian diplomat and had previously served as Consul General in New York. Views expressed are personal