After two years of war, the final 20 hostages were returned, and much of Hamas’s leadership was killed. The battlefield has quieted—but one question still remains: Did Israel actually win the war?
The purposes of the Israel-Gaza conflict were repeatedly outlined by Israel’s government, military leadership and public relations: return the abducted hostages and permanently dismantle Hamas.
“I believe Israel only succeeded with one of those goals, but to me, it is the more important one. I think Israel succeeded in its necessary and immediate duty to Israelis by returning the hostages to their families, but failed in their long term goal of dismantling Hamas,” said junior Alma Adiel.
Only 29 percent of Israelis believe they have won the war in Gaza, while 54 percent said they believe the opposite. Seventeen percent said they were unsure, according to a Channel 12 poll reported by the Times of Israel.
While the return of hostages marks a major milestone, debate continues over whether Israel has achieved its objectives.
This is because 85 of the hostages were killed, either on October 7 or in captivity. Many Israelis blamed the government and military, citing what critics described as a lack of urgency.
Another issue for Israelis and their government is whether to make a deal to release the hostages if the deal included releasing thousands of Palestinian prisoners. Most of these prisoners were charged with terror-related crimes, and those who weren’t are surely radicalized once imprisoned.
In a Fox News interview, Israel’s former spokesman, Eylon Levi, said that Hamas is, “demanding the hostage takers of tomorrow for the hostages of today. It’s demanding guarantees that it can remain in power in order to plot the next war.”
By “hostage takers”, he means that Hamas is demanding the release of terrorists from Israeli prisons. There is an immense fear that they will commit acts of terror once released.
He continued, saying, “What Israel is trying to do with this military operation is to get better terms for that ransom, so we can’t be extorted, so we can’t be blackmailed…but so that it [Hamas] can’t use them [hostages] to survive the October 7 massacre and continue plotting the next war.”
He called the situation an “impossible bind,” explaining that Israel is in a quandary between defeating Hamas and saving the hostages.
The Israeli government’s goal of dismantling Hamas was often vague, shifting in specificity based on conditions on the ground.
At times, “dismantling Hamas” referred to preventing its ability to attack Israel’s borders and civilians, while at other times it meant eliminating its military and governing capabilities.
Referring to this goal, Levi said, “If this war ends with the Hamas regime that perpetrated the October 7, still in power, it won’t end. It will just pause. And the next war will be a matter of time.”
“I don’t think it was ever possible to eliminate Hamas, militarily, nationally, or governmentally,” said sophomore Gilad Gefen, who recently moved to America from Israel. “Terror groups, at this point, are so rooted in the Palestinian national movement.”
Israel claims partial progress toward this goal, citing disputed figures that estimate around 20,000 militants were killed—an amount it considers a substantial portion of Hamas’s forces in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel has destroyed tens of thousands of Hamas’ rockets that it used to fire into Israel, with the IDF claiming only a few hundred are left in Gaza. Also, the tunnel system that Hamas built over the past two decades has been significantly damaged.
Sophomore Aeden Pinsker said, “Since there was no territory truly gained or lost, it’s hard to judge who won or lost. Therefore, the only real merit in this situation is based on who came out stronger, which Israel clearly did.”
However, intense international pressure regarding Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is preventing Israel from fighting Hamas to its full extent.
Levi said that Israel wants to defeat Hamas, “In the same way the international community defeated ISIS…You move civilians out of urban areas where terrorists are fighting and then you can fight against the terrorists.”
Here, he refers to the possibility of moving Gazans into neighboring countries to prevent any civilian harm. However, this would be cumbersome, dangerous to execute and could result in a permanent displacement of Gazans, critics say.
Levi blames the military failures on the fact that this never took hold, partly because of international pressure.
Israel has, however, done this on a smaller scale by ordering evacuations from certain areas of the Strip that it plans to attack.
Israel controls a bit over half of the Gaza Strip, and while the United States has been trying to form an international coalition of world leaders to run the Strip, there is still much concern regarding Hamas’ future.
Military experts have noted that Israel’s strategy initially was that the IDF would conduct raids into smaller pockets, then retreat after defeating Hamas and other terror groups in the area. The experts see that now, Israel realizes that Hamas simply regroups in those areas, and that only permanently controlling those pockets will prevent terrorists from doing so.
This has resulted in Israel’s control of over half of Gaza, as part of a ceasefire that has been in place since October 2025. However, lasting peace has not been achieved.
“The main issue is that Hamas has refused to lay down its arms, causing there to be fear that the ceasefire may break down, or that even if it does hold up, there will never be true peace,” said freshman Tamar Ashkenazi.
