Aaron David Miller
When it comes to the Israel-Hamas war and the future of the Gaza Strip—or the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict for that matter—it’s high time we retire the so-called “day after” conceit. It’s well intentioned, to be sure, and suggests a logical transition from active conflict to some new post-conflict reality, marked by significant change in the politics, economy, and security environment for Gaza. But the notion of the day after really doesn’t fit here. There’s unlikely to be a bright line separating Israeli military activities from a post-conflict period in which the focus will be on governance and reconstruction. Indeed, of late I’ve been leaning toward the depressing conclusion of my inestimable colleague Nathan Brown, who argues that there is likely to be no day after at all, only a “long twilight of disintegration and despair.”
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