Israelis fear that a blow against Hamas could trigger a backlash

“Of all the possible responses Hamas could take, the most disturbing concerns the hostages,” wrote columnist Nahum Barnea. “The argument that the killing will soften Sinwar’s position is just a story we tell ourselves,” he wrote, referring to Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza. Instead, he wrote, the killing is more likely to delay or even torpedo negotiations over the release of the hostages.

Mr Netanyahu met with representatives of hostage families on Tuesday evening, around the same time Mr al-Arouri was killed, and told them that efforts to free their relatives were continuing. “Contacts are maintained; they are not cut off,” he said.

But many families have become increasingly skeptical of Netanyahu’s promises to make the return of the hostages a top priority in the war. Now they fear that the hostages could be abused or even killed in retaliation for the killing.

“Of course this doesn’t help – it hurts,” said Lior Peri, whose father, Chaim, 79, was kidnapped from Nir Oz, an Israeli kibbutz close to the Gaza border. “I don’t know who is in charge and giving orders, but they certainly aren’t thinking about the hostages.”

Some Israelis familiar with the seemingly endless cycle of attacks and counterattacks in the Middle East prepared for retaliation.

After the killing, Admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israeli army’s chief spokesman, said the Israeli forces were “on high alert on all fronts for defensive and offensive actions.” But in what some analysts interpreted as an indication that Israel was not seeking a broader war with Hezbollah, Admiral Hagari emphasized that it was “focused on the fight against Hamas.”

Israeli public support for the destruction of Hamas is broad, but not unconditional. After almost three months of war, international outrage is growing over the number of Palestinian civilians being killed. And many Israelis are beginning to openly question whether the goal of destroying Hamas is realistic – and whether the costs would be bearable.

Most senior Hamas leaders in Gaza have escaped capture, and although Israel has begun to withdraw some troops from the enclave in what appears to be the beginning of a shift toward a more targeted attack, few Israelis were prepared for conflict of this length and with such heavy losses.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that one of its hostages in Gaza, Sahar Baruch, 25, was killed last month during a rescue attempt. It said it was not yet possible to determine whether he was killed by Hamas or Israeli fire.

While the war in Gaza has united many Israelis who were in political turmoil before the Hamas attack, tensions are beginning to resurface.

On Wednesday, Israel’s Supreme Court postponed a new law that would have made it more difficult for a prime minister to be declared unfit and removed from office. The court ruled that the law was intended to help Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges. The ruling came days after the court announced a sweeping law that would have curtailed the power of the judiciary, in another blow to Mr Netanyahu.

Euan district contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon; And Talya Minsberg And Michael Levenson From New York.