A deal to end the horrific suffering of Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages is agonizingly close. Tragically, the biggest obstacle to peace in Gaza might be political self-preservation - because the war’s conclusion would probably finish both Hamas and the right-wing coalition headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Wars end when public opinion demands peace. And there are new demands from Palestinians and Israelis alike to break the logjam and move toward a new ceasefire and hostage release. The anti-war protesters aren’t a majority on either side, but they illustrate the bitterness and exhaustion this conflict has produced.

Thousands of Palestinians courageously joined anti-war protests in Gaza last month, according to Associated Press reporters there. The AP quoted a Palestinian named Mohammed Abu Saker from the town of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza: “The protest was not about politics. It was about people’s lives. We can’t stop Israel from killing us, but we can press Hamas to give concessions.”

Anti-war feeling has captured some leaders of the Israeli defense and security establishment, too. An April 3 letter signed by former top security officials argued: “Netanyahu … is propelling Israel to catastrophe - harming the security of the state, damaging its democratic regime and its institutions, and leading Israel to a dictatorship.”

The latest peace proposal calls for a 45-day ceasefire and the release of 10 Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. But Hamas rejected the deal Friday because it wasn’t permanent and would require the group to disarm. Right-wing members of Netanyahu’s cabinet demanded that the war continue “until Hamas begs on its knees,” as one minister put it.

Palestinians’ opposition to Hamas might grow if Gazans had a sense of what might follow. Moderate Arab states want a non-Hamas government that’s anchored by a reformed Palestinian Authority. Many Israeli military and security leaders back that strategy, too. But Netanyahu refuses because his coalition partners would probably bolt in protest of concessions to the Palestinian Authority. Instead, what’s ahead for now for the Palestinians appears to be rule by armed gangs, bandits and private militias.

Meanwhile, Israeli bombs continue to ravage Palestinian civilians. Airstrikes Thursday killed at least 40 people, most in refugee camps, according to Gaza civil defense workers quoted by Agence France-Presse. Last month, an Israeli strike killed 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers, many shot in the head or chest, according to the New York Times.

The Gaza war is an enduring tragedy. The images are indelible. Israelis butchered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. Dead Palestinian children cradled in their mother’s arms. A Gazan landscape of ruined buildings and helpless civilians. Israeli hostages and their families in the torment of captivity. And crushed hopes for peace and security on all sides.

The awful truth at the center of this conflict is that Netanyahu has never had a plan for what happens when it’s over. He wants a Gaza that’s not governed by Hamas or reoccupied by Israel, but he refuses to create a pathway for eventual Palestinian governance because this would rupture his right-wing coalition.

“At this time, the war serves mainly political and personal interests, and not security interests,” wrote hundreds of reserve and retired members of the Israeli air force in another open letter this month. The chief of the Israel Defense Forces tried to suppress this dissent in the ranks, but it has only grown. While the hostages suffer in captivity, wrote the airmen, “every additional moment of hesitation is a disgrace.”

Israeli military leaders knew nearly a year ago that they had achieved their essential goals in Gaza and needed a viable Palestinian security force that could take control. “The idea is simple,” then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told me in April last year. “We will not allow Hamas to control Gaza. We don’t want Israel to control it, either. What is the solution? Local Palestinian actors backed by international actors.”

Gallant directly addressed the “day after” issue that Netanyahu continues to duck. What Gallant got for his honesty was ejection from Netanyahu’s cabinet. But his critique was echoed by the former security officials. “Renewing the fighting in Gaza for irrelevant considerations and without an achievable political goal … will not bring about the defeat of Hamas and will eliminate the achievements of the army,” they wrote.

Wars have consequences. Hamas, which began this nightmare, should never govern Gaza again. Netanyahu, who hasn’t been able to end the conflict, should be replaced, too, when the war is done. Both Israelis and Palestinians should be making the same demand: This war must end.

David Ignatius is a Washington Post columnist.