NEW DELHI:

                   As Israel steps up its ground offensive in Gaza in retaliation for the deadly attacks by Hamas on October 7, voices favouring a ceasefire have grown. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of a ‘long’ war that would destroy the terror infrastructure of Hamas. The conflict has festered for far too long and, as noted analyst and author MJ Akbar says, bled the world and humanitarian sentiment. The rational street, not the emotional street, is demanding that some settlement has to be arrived at, he told StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale on ‘The Gist’. This is the moment for friends to step in and tell both sides that hostility by itself is not a solution, he added.