JoMiran OP , 10 months ago

As Israelis reel from the shock of the gruesome assault by Hamas militants over the weekend, Palestinians are bracing for a retaliatory ground invasion of the Gaza Strip that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday would reverberate for generations.

More than 1,000 Israelis have been killed, infants and elderly among them, while more than 100 people have been taken as hostages, complicating Israel’s pursuit of Hamas. Some 900 people have been killed in Gaza as the territory, one of the most densely populated on Earth, has been pounded by Israeli airstrikes that have hit mosques and a crowded market.

Foreign Policy spoke to Khaled Elgindy, director of the program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute, about the timing of the attack, life in Gaza today, and the need for the international community to lay down guardrails as Israel prepares its response.

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.