After more than a year and a half of war, Israel has found itself in an “impossible dilemma” as it tries to defeat Hamas and bring home the remaining hostages, former Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy says.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Levy said that it is crucial that Hamas not remain in power — and that it is also vital to save the hostages languishing in tunnels under Gaza.

“If this war ends with the Hamas regime that perpetrated October 7th still in power, it won’t end, it will just pause, and the next war will be a matter of time,” Levy said. “Israelis don’t want war. We need this war to be over, but we need this war to be over with the total defeat of the Hamas regime, or else this won’t be the last Gaza war.”

Left: Israeli military vehicles in Gaza. Right: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Reuters)

“I do wonder if that had been the strategy from the beginning—defying international pressure—then it’s possible the war might have ended sooner,” Levy said. “But again, Israel is caught in this impossible bind because there are still hostages who are trapped in Gaza, whom Hamas is threatening to execute if the Israeli army gets anywhere near them to try to rescue them.”

This is not a new or empty threat. Several former hostages reported being threatened and said they were told that their captors would execute them if Israeli forces got close. Six other former hostages, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, met this fate when they were fatally shot just before the IDF could reach them.

Not all of Israel’s international counterparts have turned on the Jewish state. America’s approach to Netanyahu shifted as President Donald Trump returned to the White House. While the Biden administration put more pressure on Netanyahu, Trump appears to support Israel doing what it must to end the war.

Levy told Fox News Digital that “Israelis definitely got the impression that the Trump administration has Israel’s back and is willing to endorse any military strategy that it wants to implement, but there are also signs the Trump administration, you know, may want to wrap this up very quickly.”

President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right). (Getty Images / Fox News Digital)

Since Trump’s return to the Oval Office, dozens of hostages have been freed, including American-Israelis Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Edan Alexander.

Trying to get the hostages out of harm’s way while also taking Hamas out of power seem to be conflicting goals—something Levy acknowledges, saying, “We cannot afford to pay this ransom, but we also can’t afford not to pay it.”