Hamas wants the war in Gaza to end. Israel doesn't

Everything about the latest ceasefire proposal to bring relief to some of the Israeli hostages and to all the Palestinians struggling to survve in Gaza is a blatant brinkmanship game between Israel and Hamas. The terrorist-designated Hamas organisation appeared to surprise everyone, especially the Palestinian people, when they announced they would accept the latest proposal negotiated by Egypt and Qatar. But it wasn't a surprise at all. What Hamas wanted was to put Israel into a tough spot by accepting the deal at the moment when they knew the Israel Defence Forces were gearing up to invade the southern town of Rafah. They clearly hoped that by declaring they were ready for a ceasefire deal and a release of more than 30 hostages, Israel would be forced to stop the tanks rolling into Rafah. The opposite happened. And why was this? Simply, because Hamas wants to end the war in Gaza in order for a significant proportion of their fighters and leaders to stay alive and combat-ready. Israel, on the other hand, doesn't want the war to end, temporary ceasefire or not, because their mission is not yet completed, which is to destroy what remains of Hamas, including the killing or capturing of the main leaders who, miraculously, have survived the seven-month war. Two diametrically opposed strategies, which is why the slaughter and destruction in Gaza will continue, and why the Hamas ceasefire acceptance was just a ploy to stall Israel's military operation. Now the IDF tanks have entered Rafah and Palestinian families are fleeing the town and heading for what they pray will be a safe haven. The Palestinians and hostages and their families are the ones who will suffer the most.