I’ve tried to write this piece more times than I can count over the past 21 months–each time convinced, or maybe just hopeful, that the war was nearing its end. But every time a ceasefire felt close enough to grasp, it slipped through our fingers and was buried beneath the rubble of renewed violence.
Now, as Israel moves into what some are calling the “final phase” of its military campaign and ceasefire terms once again seem within reach, one question echoes: Who has won this war?
History, they say, is written by the victors. But in this war, there are no victors–only survivors. This is not a conflict that ends with parades or peace agreements. It is one defined by loss: loss of life, loss of humanity, and loss of our collective moral compass.
Unless there is a seismic shift–ideologically, politically, and spiritually–this is not the end of war. It is merely a pause in an endless cycle of destruction.
To take stock of what’s been gained and what’s been lost: since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has demonstrated its military and intelligence strength. Through targeted assassinations, beeper-gate, the destruction of terror tunnels, and even a strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, it has delivered unmistakable deterrence. It has come close to achieving the objectives outlined by Prime Minister Netanyahu: dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, returning over 100 hostages, and reestablishing deterrence.
But there is more to the story. In securing hostage releases, Israel has freed over 1,000 convicted terrorists, some of them mass murderers, likely including Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s eventual successor.
Trust in leadership has eroded. Trust between regional neighbors has vanished. Israeli society is splintered.
And although all this is profoundly tragic, perhaps the most dangerous legacy of this war is the next generation of radicalized Palestinians rising from the ruins of Gaza. This is a loss not only for Israel, but for the Palestinian people themselves and for the whole of the region.
Gaza today is a graveyard. Its infrastructure lies in ruins. Tens of thousands are dead. Children are orphaned. Hamas has failed at governance but succeeded at redirecting blame, cultivating despair and extremism, and planting the seeds of future wars.
For every Israeli bomb that falls, Hamas recruits another desperate soul.
Without education, economic infrastructure, or hope, what else can grow but extremism? Whether they fight Israel under Hamas’ current leadership as we know it or rebrand, the outcome will be the same: the fighting will continue for years to come because Hamas is not a movement, it is a mentality and it will exist until it is replaced.
Despite its most valiant efforts, Israel cannot do this alone. Only the Palestinian people can reject Hamas by renouncing the ideology of martyrdom that has long defined their national identity. They must choose leaders, not warlord, and invest in building a viable, peaceful future. President Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan may have been flawed, but its central thesis was right: we must show Palestinians what hope looks like and encourage them to embrace dreams of building skyscrapers and not bringing up shahids.
As Israelis and Palestinians bury their dead, the West too must confront loss: the erosion of moral clarity. In cities across Europe and North America, chants of “glory to the martyrs” and “resistance by any means” have echoed shamelessly through the streets and lecture halls since Oct. 7,2023. This is what the globalized intifada looks like: a celebration of violence dressed as justice, and a willful blindness to the cost of extremism.
If the world truly seeks peace, it must be honest about who and what it empowers. Support for Palestinian statehood cannot be untethered from demands for responsible leadership, human rights, and a categorical rejection of terror. Without those conditions, the West is not facilitating peace, it is funding the next war.
Peace will not be forged by missiles or speeches. It will be birthed by educators and engineers, by mothers and mediators, by those brave enough to imagine a future beyond vengeance.
It will come when young Palestinians are raised to live for something rather than die for nothing. When Israelis no longer fear the next infiltration, and Palestinians no longer glorify the last.
Until then, we are not witnessing the end of a war–only an intermission between tragedies.
Margaux Chetrit is a writer, public speaker and entrepreneur. She is a former parliamentary intern in Israel’s Knesset. From 2008-2015, she served at the Consulate General of Israel in Montreal.
