Briefing | When the shooting stops

Optimistic plans for post-war Gaza have little basis in reality

Aid, policing, reconstruction—everything is even harder than it sounds

A Palestinian boy sits amidst the rubble of buildings destroyed after an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, Gaza
Photograph: Reuters
|GAZA and JERUSALEM

AFTER ALMOST 300 days, planning for the end of the fighting in Gaza is beginning to seem otherworldly. Politicians and generals have been talking about what might happen when the shooting stops since the start of the war in October. Diplomats have spent months shuttling around the Middle East, trying to broker a ceasefire. Yet the moment has not come—and even if it does, the obstacles to lasting calm in Gaza are daunting.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “When the shooting stops”

From the July 20th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

A Connect Four game board featuring a detailed print of the United States map on the playing surface.

Who will control the next Congress?

The new president is much less likely than usual to see allies take charge on Capitol Hill

Demonstrators wave flags and placards at a pro-Palestinian protest

Has the war in Gaza radicalised young Palestinians?

After Gaza, how will the Palestinians try to build their state?


Israeli soldiers stand next to a group of Orthodox men

A year on, Israeli society is divided about the lessons of October 7th

Hawks and doves, religious and secular, right and left—all the old cleavages are resurfacing


The bloodshed in the Middle East is fast expanding

Israel seems certain to retaliate to Iran’s missile attack

What Hamas misunderstood about the Middle East

A war meant to draw in the militant group’s allies has instead left them battered

After the decapitation of Hizbullah, Iran could race for a nuclear bomb

The embattled clerical regime might feel the need for stronger deterrence