Gaza Crisis Remains Unresolved as Israel Focuses Military Efforts on Iran

Despite more than two years of conflict, Israel has not completed its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, with experts warning the terrorist organization is using the current focus on Iran to regroup. A fragile ceasefire established in October 2025 continues to hold, but analysts say Gaza remains a persistent challenge that will demand attention once the Iran conflict subsides.

While Israeli and American forces concentrate their military efforts on Iran, the ongoing situation in Gaza continues to present unresolved challenges, with Hamas maintaining its presence in the territory despite a fragile truce.

The conflict in Gaza has stretched beyond two years, with Israeli forces yet to complete their mission against the terrorist organization Hamas. A delicate ceasefire agreement took effect in October 2025, and while occasional violence persists, the truce has generally remained intact as discussions about the next phase move forward.

Dr. Sagit Yehoshua from the Dvora Forum and the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Reichman University explained the current situation to The Media Line: “Israel hasn’t finished with Gaza. With the attention elsewhere, Hamas now has the time to regroup. Hamas, like other Iranian proxies, has been trained to emulate the Iranian regime, and even when senior leadership members are taken out, there is always someone ready to replace them.”

The terrorist organization has received financial support and backing from Iran for many years. Dr. Michael Milstein, who leads the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, warned The Media Line: “At the end of the war with Iran, Israel will find itself at square one again in Gaza.”

However, political analyst Kobi Michael from the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute suggested to The Media Line that success against Iran could transform the Gaza situation. “If the campaign in Iran is ended successfully … Iran will be much weaker, and Iran will not be able to continue supporting Hamas and Hezbollah,” he stated. “Then it will change the entire situation in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon dramatically.”

The current focus has turned to Israel’s military operations against Tehran’s regime, conducted in partnership with the United States. Many Israelis view this confrontation as the peak of the broader conflict that started in October 2023, when Hamas executed its surprise attack and set off a chain of regional events. Throughout the past two years, Israeli military and intelligence operations have struck targets spanning Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran.

Despite these broader operations, Gaza’s status remains uncertain. The ceasefire terms require Hamas to surrender its weapons while Israeli forces complete their withdrawal, but this arrangement appeared impractical even before Israeli aircraft began targeting Iran last week. Milstein characterized Gaza as trapped in both military and political stalemate. “When it comes to the Gaza Strip, actually, we are in a sort of status quo,” he explained. “There is no progress with regard to the Palestinian technocratic government, because the technocratic government is not in the Gaza Strip yet. … Hamas does not allow the technocratic government to enter.”

Jerusalem officials have stated that Israeli troops will return to complete their mission if Hamas refuses to disarm voluntarily. Hamas counters that Israel has consistently broken the ceasefire terms and is advancing deeper into Gaza instead of withdrawing. According to Milstein, Israeli forces have maintained strikes against Hamas positions throughout the truce period. “The IDF continues on a daily basis to destroy all the terror infrastructure … tunnels … places that were used for manufacturing weapons and rockets,” he noted. When Hamas violates the ceasefire, he added, Israel responds with force: “This is to signal to Hamas that if they continue breaching the agreement, they will pay a price.”

President Donald Trump, who has committed significant political capital to ending the Israel-Hamas conflict, may soon expect results on that investment. “Israel will likely see even greater enforcement of the agreement by Trump,” Milstein observed. “Israel already started doing things it didn’t want to do in Gaza, but as a result of Trump’s desires. Israel would rather resume the fighting.”

This pressure is already evident in humanitarian matters. Israel reopened the Rafah Crossing after initial delays, responding to mounting international and American demands for increased aid access to Gaza. However, Rafah closed again when the Iran conflict intensified, stopping medical evacuations and civilian departures. When The Media Line requested information, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli military unit managing aid coordination for Gaza, stated the crossing remains closed due to the Iran war and “will reopen as soon as the security situation allows.”

Aid deliveries continue but at reduced levels. The Kerem Shalom crossing, Gaza’s primary entry point for humanitarian supplies, has gradually resumed operations. Relief organizations report approximately 200 to 250 trucks entering daily, significantly below the roughly 600 trucks per day that UN agencies consider necessary for Gaza’s population. The World Health Organization has issued warnings about hospitals facing severe shortages of trauma supplies, medications, and fuel.

Yehoshua suggested President Trump’s post-war agenda could increase pressure on Israel. “When Trump wants something, he wants it immediately and doesn’t stop at any means,” she noted. “After the war in Iran, Trump might also be even more considerate than before of the needs of his Arab partners.”

This dynamic extends beyond Gaza’s borders. Israel’s relationships with Arab and Gulf nations have historically been influenced by Palestinian issues. Establishing normalized relations with Saudi Arabia, a goal shared by both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump as part of regional restructuring, has traditionally required Palestinian progress. If the Iran conflict creates new opportunities, pressure on Israel for Gaza concessions will likely increase.

The ceasefire achieved the release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas, fulfilling one of the government’s declared war objectives and representing a significant accomplishment Netanyahu attributed to his leadership. However, he ended the campaign before achieving Israel’s broader objectives, primarily due to American frustration with the prolonged conflict.

Gaza, a small coastal territory housing more than 2 million Palestinians, remains Israel’s most immediate and pressing challenge. Netanyahu had promised to eliminate Hamas and remove its weapons and governing authority. Neither objective has been accomplished. Hamas continues to control Gaza, albeit in a diminished capacity, and has only been displaced from areas along the “Yellow Line,” where Israeli forces remain positioned under the ceasefire terms.

“As long as Hamas controls Gaza, and so it still does, albeit weakened, this problem will not be solved,” Yehoshua stated.

Political constraints contribute to this predicament. Netanyahu leads Israel’s most far-right coalition government in history, with members advocating for complete Gaza occupation and renewed Jewish settlements there. He has rejected these proposals, recognizing the international opposition, particularly from the United States, that such actions would generate.

“The inability to decide and the lack of strategy by the government that didn’t give any serious thought to the matter has caused Israel to drag its feet,” Yehoshua explained. “Choosing not to decide is also a type of decision.”

For years, Israel underestimated Hamas’s capabilities. This miscalculation helps explain the devastating impact of October 7, 2023, when the organization killed approximately 1,200 Israelis in a single day. More than two years later, after Israel has engaged stronger adversaries elsewhere, Hamas persists. Its deep integration within one of the world’s most densely populated areas has constrained Israel’s military options from the beginning.

While Washington has supported Israeli operations in Gaza, it also seeks stability in the region. A strategy developed by President Trump’s close advisor Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff proposes a demilitarized Gaza managed by a technocratic administration instead of Hamas. Currently, this remains conceptual. The proposed government has not been deployed, Hamas continues functioning as a military entity, and no unified authority is prepared to assume responsibility for reconstruction, public services, or security.

Palestinian attorney Hiba Husseini challenged the notion that Hamas alone prevents this transition. “Based on my information, it’s not only Hamas that is objecting to the technocratic committee,” she told The Media Line. “It’s also Israel.”

Milstein questions whether the proposed arrangement would genuinely end Hamas rule. “Trump will probably push for further Israelis withdrawal from Gaza,” he predicted. “The technocratic government may be instated, but it is actually a cover for Hamas still ruling Gaza. To rid Gaza of Hamas’ hold, all of the territory must be conquered. That’s not something Trump will give a green light to.”

Husseini offered a humanitarian perspective, expressing concern that Gaza could become overlooked amid the Iran conflict. “The more important things for me are the humanitarian conditions in Gaza and also the longevity of this war without proper shelter, food, and medical supplies in the Strip,” she said. “Nothing has changed. Unfortunately, Gaza is now on the sidelines. … I hope it won’t be a forgotten situation amid this bigger regional picture.”

Netanyahu has frequently managed to sideline Palestinian issues. However, once attention shifts away from Iran and military operations conclude, Gaza will return to prominence—still unresolved, still unstable, and still awaiting solutions that no one appears prepared to provide.