Trump the decider

A shipment of a ton of precision-guided bombs arrived in Israel recently from the United States, following months of delays by the Biden administration. The decision was made by the Trump administration, which is also expected to approve the export of 130 D9 bulldozers to the IDF shortly.

The Biden administration delayed the military aid due to a disagreement over the IDF's incursion into the southern Gazan city of Rafah in May. These shipments are now presented by the Israeli government as evidence of two things: the strengthening of U.S. support and the enhancement of Israel's military capabilities, should hostilities in the Gaza Strip resume.

Sunday marked the 500th day of the war. Those who are still alive among the 73 hostages in Gaza (the current estimate is that about half of them are) don't know for certain when, or even if, they'll ever return home.

What's certain, both to the hostages and to the rest of us in view of the war, is that their return won't be achieved solely through military pressure, and that resuming the fighting could significantly increase the risk of hostages dying in captivity.