For the past three weeks, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has been engaged in an offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Gershon Baskin, an Israeli who has maintained communications with Hamas, has reported that the group is not interested in releasing any more hostages. This has been confirmed by the decrease in rocket attacks on Israel, indicating that Hamas' operations have been disrupted. However, Israeli casualties have been increasing due to close quarters combat, leaving the future of the conflict uncertain.