The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared over the weekend that Israel had embarked on the “second stage” of its war against Hamas in Gaza. What did he mean – and is the Israeli government any closer to its objective of “wiping out” Hamas? While the desire to destroy Hamas is still present, I believe that the goalposts have moved. A combination of American pressure and an Israeli recognition of the operational complexity of a fully fledged ground invasion has pushed the government to narrow its set of objectives, perhaps making them more achievable. Instead of foolishly trying to uproot...