In Strategic Bind, Israel Weighs Freeing Hostages Against Destroying Hamas

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“Basically, it’s a stalemate,” said Andreas Krieg, a war expert at King’s College London. “It’s not an environment where you can free hostages,” he added.
“If you go into the tunnels and you try to free them with special forces, or whatever, you will kill them,” Dr. Krieg said. “You either will kill them directly — or indirectly, in booby traps or in a firefight.”

It is an unwinnable war,” Dr. Krieg said.
“Most of the time when you are in an unwinnable war, you realize that at some point — and you withdraw,” he added. “And they didn’t.”

Period	21 Jan 2024
Held at	The New York Times, United States