In its quest to crush Hamas, Israel will confront the bitter, familiar dilemmas of Mideast wars

The last four Gaza wars brought similar death and devastation but lasted just days or weeks, with international pressure and mediators cajoling the two sides into shaky cease-fires. It will likely take much longer this time around, but the same outcome could be inescapable. “The idea is, go into Gaza, destroy Hamas, make sure this can never happen again. And there’s no way to do that without incredible civilian casualties within Gaza," said H.A. Hellyer, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a U.K.-based defense think tank.