The writer is director of regional security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies
The trade-offs and compromises needed to end wars inevitably test one’s values and expectations. Those who survey the immense waste and agony of the past two years may well balk at admitting that the deal agreed to on Thursday by Israel and Hamas will reduce human suffering and perhaps unlock a path to Israeli-Palestinian peace. However imperfect it is, it prevents worse prospects, notably the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
Commendably, it frees the Israeli hostages, it stops the killing of civilians in Gaza and it frees hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. It also calls for an immediate delivery of much-needed aid, even though Israel will remain in control of more than half of the Gaza Strip for the foreseeable future.