on Monday the Israeli military saw the deadliest single incident for its forces since the war with Hamas began October 7th Israeli officials confirmed 21 soldiers were killed near the Gaza border another three Israeli soldiers died Monday during the combat in the southern part of The Enclave the military is now focusing its efforts around gaza's second largest city hunis which is considered a major advance in the war which has caused widespread death and destruction while display placing millions of Palestinians but it's unclear whether the move will bring Israel closer to its goal of defeating Hamas or freeing the roughly 130 hostages still being held captive by the militant group according to the Associated Press a two-month ceasefire proposal was on the table in which hostages would be freed in exchange for the release of Palestinians detained in Israel and top Hamas leaders would be allowed to leave Gaza and relocate to other countries but is there enough pressure to cut a deal I'm joined by Michael Boyle associate professor of political science at Rutgers-Camden Professor Boyle always good to talk to you let me just ask you first about where this offensive is headed we saw a very deadly day for the Israeli military uh some 24 soldiers in total who were killed now they're fighting in this very densely populated area it seems as though it only gets worse from here it does the of operations has shifted to the South around hunas and that is also a stronghold of Hamas Fighters as well as a very densely populated area and so this is going to be much harder fighting with probably much higher casualties and what's recently happened where 24 Israeli soldiers were killed and what looks like a failed detonation around a building is only going to apply more pressure to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end this offensive early that's plus the growing pressure from the United States and Europe is going to lead a lot of people to ask the question you know can he really politically sustain intense street fighting in this South and especially as it pushes more and more to the refugee populations have been pushed to the South well and it's interesting because the public sentiment has really taken a shift not just from the US and Europe which we saw happen a little earlier on but also in Israel about the protracted nature of this war um and the hostages in particular how does that play into the chances for perhaps a ceasefire or an end to the war so there's there's growing pressure within Israel in part because the estimate is that there's at least 100 hostages that Israeli intelligent thinks are still alive we know that unfortunately at least 20 to 30 have been killed in the course of the war itself and increasingly families in Israel are saying it's time to prioritize the return of the hostages over what Netanyahu is promising which is victory over Hamas and if we start to think about those two goals it might be that they're in in in sort of incommensurate that is to say that if you absolutely destroy Hamas in the way that he's talking about doing so you might risk the lives of the hostages you might produce a greater humanitarian disaster and so increasingly there's domestic pressure saying that he's doing this for his own Survival that Netanyahu is running for re-election on the promise of an absolute victory over Hamas which is itself an illusion that's it's impossible to completely extinguish Hamas and even if you did you do so at the cost of these lives so I I think that is shaping the background context for a negotiated deal there is a negotiation going on mediated partially by Qatar and Egypt about possibly releasing hostages in up to as much of a two-month ceasefire now Netanyahu is arguing that it would be a two-month ceasefire it wouldn't be an end to the war but it would relieve the pressure by getting out more of the hostages if not all of the hostages but it would also entail some real significant costs because Hamas is arguing for a release of Palestinian prisoners and that itself is a is a costly move and the question is who do you release and how many do you release in order to get the 100 hostages back well I mean cter in particular is playing this really pivotal role at least according to reports in terms of these negotiations but have they taken h a turn since Israel's prime minister Netanyahu made comments about uh the potential of a two-state solution um and the fact that he doesn't see that being a possibility when it comes to the security of Israel so I think the hostage negotiation deals that have been gone by Qatar in Egypt there have been at least two different proposals on the table one from Hamas and one from Israel itself um talking about different terms Israel's terms are essentially a two-month break in the fighting release of all the hostages limited Palestinian prison release Hamas is asking essentially for a complete end of the war and withdrawal of ID forces from Gaza for those same uh hostages so it's unclear to me with those two kind of table proposals where we get to and whether there is a deal that is struck the larger political context which is you know how long will Qatar and Egypt continue to play a constructive mediating role when Netanyahu is ruling out a Palestinian State as a kind of foregone conclusion is an interesting question because US policy European policy and Arab State policy is all premised on a Palestinian State a two-state solution and if Israel takes this off the table it's not clear they continue to want to make his life easier or to negotiate deals essentially on his behalf and if he's going to require Arab State cooperation in post work Gaza it may be the cost may be essentially reversing that and allowing some form of a Palestinian State Professor Michael Boyle thank you so much for your time we appreciate your Insight thank [Music] you