the reason it persists -- let's be honest -- both israel and hamas haveptions. there are things they uld do differently that would break the cycle. it would require boldness, compromise, doing all kinds of things. there are many things they could do to break out of this. neither does. the reason is, it serves a broader intest. they have priorities beyond avoiding the next round of violence. for the israelis, this toxic relationship in gaza serves the interest of the settlement group. it makes it possible for israel to say, hamas is divided, terrorist organization, the settlements are a forward defense against terrorists and the plo and go ahead and settle with the west bank. that is a national imperative for israel acrding to the nation state law of 2018 and israel poly. for hamas, their main goal is to take over the palestinian national movement, to take over the pa and the plo and to exercise control in all the palestinian areas and dominate the national movement. for them, this violence is the main competitive advantage in domestic palestinian politics. they