When David Barnea, the director of the Mossad, met Qatari mediators on Tuesday for a new round of talks over further extensions to the current ceasefire with Hamas, he was indirectly negotiating with an organisation that, though battered, is far from down and out.
The stage of the conflict that followed the 7 October attacks by Hamas in Israel now appears to be coming to a close. Whether it is succeeded by a more durable ceasefire or by a new round of fighting, whatever comes now will be different.
