The Israeli-Palestinian war: Who 'won', who 'lost'?

WHEN a ceasefire is established and a war seems to be coming to an end, inquiring minds try to figure out who, despite all the bloodshed and destruction, has emerged as the winner, and who lost. At least that was the kind of post-mortem (no pun intended) that was done by politicians and pundits in the past.

But now after Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas agreed to an Egyptian-brokered bilateral ceasefire that began early on May 21 after 11 days of fighting, it seems to be more difficult than ever to make that type of cost-benefit assessment.

First, the 11-day-long fighting was the most recent of three wars between Israel and the Hamas group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2014, which suggests that we should probably consider it as one more battle in a war that could continue for a long time.