Israel on the warpath: What fate for Gaza after Hamas attack?

Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State has flown in to display support for Israel but also to negotiate a humanitarian corridor. But will that open a way out for desperate Palestinians? Gaza’s only other land border is with Egypt, which wants no part of a large influx of refugees. 

Antony Blinken is in the Middle East for what's perhaps the second death of the two-state solution. With its surprise attack, Hamas clearly prefers war. In the build-up, Israel's prime minister chose to go with far-right coalition partners from the settler community whose focus was imposing might on the West Bank. Looking ahead, what will hardliners – on both sides – gain from a Gaza Strip reduced to rubble?

Egypt’s foreign ministry says it has not officially closed its main Rafah border crossing with Gaza, but that Israeli airstrikes have prevented it from operating. There's been talk of aid and fuel going through... but Cairo's pushed back against proposals to establish corridors out of Gaza, saying an exodus of Palestinians from the enclave would have grave consequences on the Palestinian cause.

Could the current conflict also trigger a second exodus of Palestinians? Now that Israel's opposition has joined what's being called an emergency government, it's all about the war effort. Will it also signal a steering away from the radical right?

Produced by Charles Wente, Lila Paulou and Louise Guibert

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