For months, Netanyahu has touted that he would not relent until he secures "total victory" over Hamas. But with the group still standing after the truce, it has essentially won.

As Biden and Trump quibble over credit for Gaza ceasefire, it is the latter who will take up the presidential mantle in a few days. Pining over a Nobel Prize, he could push for a more lasting peace.

Biden has been pushing for a deal for more than a year with no success until now. Is Trump the reason?

The arrest of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya in northern Gaza shows that destruction is not the only aim of the occupation; humiliation is also a key component of Israel's war of annihilation

The Israeli prime minister's interests are served by a US president who will acquiesce to his hard-right government's every whim, but in Donald Trump he does not have a nodding dog

Destroying most of Syria's defence assets, Tel Aviv has left its northern neighbour vulnerable to the same instability that followed the dissolution of the Iraqi army. That suits Netanyahu nicely

The region is changing, in part due to Israel's own successes. But if it leaves foreign policy decision-making to a heavily politicised clique, it may not be able to reap the rewards.

Trump is unlikely to join an Israeli foray into Iraq, but he may decide to withhold the $250mn annual military assistance to Baghdad as a way to pressure the government to rein in its militias

Joyous at Iran's lost influence in Syria, Israel could have celebrated with Syrians after Assad's ouster. Instead, it rained bombs down, occupied land, and destroyed Syrian assets. Why? Ask Netanyahu

Sources of cash are drying up as front companies and drug production lines are dismantled and supply networks and smuggling routes are compromised. Iran is also questioning its funding of the group.