Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks the ‘last chance’ to de-escalate war

Australian Strategic Policy Institute Senior Analyst Dr Malcolm Davis has described upcoming ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas as the “last chance saloon”. There are growing fears among the international community of a full-blown Middle East war after Iran vowed to exact retribution following the assassination of the leader of Hamas. “This is probably the only possibility where Israel could work out a deal with Hamas to de-escalate,” Dr Davis told Sky News Australia. “Otherwise, we probably are in a new phase of the war where Iran attacks Israel, Hezbollah attacks Israel and Israel retaliates massively and we escalate from there.”