Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will face a defining choice between a politically motivated "war of deception" in Gaza and a deal to release all hostages while ending the war. He must choose between his extreme-right ministers —Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich—or aligning with.

It is far from clear how late “later on” is. Israel has now been at war with Hamas for more than 19 months. Dozens of hostages have died. And, as Netanyahu’s backtracking implicitly acknowledged, there is no immediate prospect for the remaining living hostages to be freed.

Unacceptable, unbearable and unforgivable,” former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tells Fareed he thinks Israel is now committing war crimes in Gaza.