We must find a path to unite all sides in order to deliver peace in Gaza

It should never have come to this – but the fact that the first aid shipments have now come ashore via the temporary pier on Gaza’s northern coast provides at least some hope for besieged Palestinians.

In the coming days, some 500 tonnes of water, food, medicine and other essentials will be transported through this new route. It is a relatively small contribution to Gaza’s needs, which are around 10 times that figure, but the symbolism is almost as important as the relief these supplies will bring to malnourished and sick civilians.

Building this mini-port at such pace has been a major achievement of military engineering. The project was led and largely funded by the United States, with wide international support. It is a strong signal to the Israelis that the international community will not stand by while famine stalks the Holy Land, and that the US president, Joe Biden, will do whatever it takes to try to avoid that further catastrophe.

The very fact of the man-made harbour’s existence is an indictment of Israeli policy, a very obvious proof to the world that the Netanyahu administration has failed in its duty, as an occupying power, to protect innocent lives, and to honour its promises to expedite aid deliveries.

Even now, when the shortage of food is so grave, Israel’s seizure and closure of the land crossing at Rafah is causing further hardship. So, too, is what appears to be the sabotage of aid deliveries from Jordan by Israeli settlers on the West Bank. None of this is helping Israel’s defence against the charge of genocide levelled at it in the International Court of Justice.

The aid pier, helpful though it is, is not going to be a permanent solution to the problems in bringing aid into Gaza. It thus raises the question, once again, of what the medium and long-term future of Gaza will look like – what is sometimes termed the “day after Hamas” question.

To this, there is no answer. Indeed, the Israeli prime minister defiantly, even proudly, insists that he has no interest in any such “vision” for the future until the war has been “won” and Hamas “destroyed”. Even permitting the assumption that either of those possibilities is realistic, this is further evidence of Mr Netanyahu’s callous and counterproductive attitude.

Such is his stubbornness that Mr Netanyahu has attracted public criticism from his own frustrated cabinet colleagues. The Israeli minister of defence, Yoav Gallant, has openly told Mr Netanyahu to undertake that Israel will not take over the military or civilian governance of Gaza, and that it will instead commit to “establish a local, non-hostile Palestinian governing alternative”.

Importantly, Mr Gallant was lobbying Mr Netanyahu on behalf of the consensus in the Israeli defence establishment, a powerful group that any Israeli politician would be wise to heed.

Mr Gallant’s concerns were echoed by another key figure, Benny Gantz, who is normally leader of the opposition but is currently serving in the war cabinet. Mr Gantz said: “Gallant speaks the truth. It is the leadership’s responsibility to do the right thing for the country at all costs.”

Neither Mr Gantz nor Mr Gallant is an appeaser, let alone “pro-Hamas”, but they know that Israel cannot afford to allow terrorism to fester in Gaza once more and leave Israeli citizens in a constant state of fear. Without some kind of plan for peace and the governance of the territory, atrocities such as those committed by Hamas on 7 October, or worse, will sooner or later be visited upon innocent people again.

Mr Netanyahu cannot neglect to have a policy for the 2.2 million hungry and largely homeless population of Gaza, who will remain Israel’s neighbours whether the troops pull out or not.

All the complex challenges of “the day after Hamas” will be worsened by a full-scale bombardment and invasion of Rafah. More civilians, too often children, will die, and more will suffer life-changing injuries, become orphans, and be otherwise bereaved and embittered. When President Biden some weeks ago offered a simple piece of advice to the Israelis – “Don’t do it” – he meant it, and his delay in sending a large shipment of bombs to Israel shows that.

If one of the war aims of Hamas was that the traditionally close relationship between America and Israel would somehow be ruptured in the chaos that followed 7 October, then the organisation can be sure it has achieved that end.

The longer this war has gone on, the farther Israel has become alienated from its regional friends and international allies, with a worryingly large proportion of the young in Western societies turning against the country. After all, one day, some of the students occupying their famous universities will be the foreign ministers, presidents and prime ministers of their respective nations.

Another ground offensive in Rafah will only make matters worse. The time has come for all concerned to contemplate a better future. Who will rule Gaza? How will they be held democratically accountable? How will a sovereign Palestinian state across the West Bank and Gaza function? Who will rebuild Gaza? Who will pay? How shall the UN guarantee an Israel-Palestine peace settlement? Where will Israel look to find treaty-based support for its rights to exist and to defend itself?

Some of these questions may now seem remote and fanciful but when the fighting stops, if not before, they will have to be answered.