A violent full stop has been put on the Gaza peace process. Israel’s strike on the Hamas negotiating team in Doha has brought an abrupt and bloody end to the final diplomatic effort to halt the war. The attack is an unambiguous signal that the chapter on dialogue is closed and the final pages will be written by military force.
The Doha talks, with American backing, were the last, tenuous line of communication after previous ceasefires had failed to hold. They were a fragile admission that a political settlement was a necessary component of a lasting solution. The strike on the negotiators themselves is a definitive statement that this is no longer the operative belief.
Hamas is now faced with a future where its only choices lead to its own dissolution, either by capitulation or by annihilation. The possibility of a negotiated settlement that allows it to persist as a political entity has been completely removed from the equation. This strategy is a gamble that may inspire more resistance, not less.
The diplomatic architecture for peace is now a pile of rubble. Qatar’s mediation has been effectively sabotaged, and there is no viable alternative on the horizon. The strike has created a scenario with no diplomatic exits, locking both sides into a devastating war of attrition.