Once this war between Israel and Hamas is over, a deeper conflict looms | Jonathan Freedland

A lasting peace has to become thinkable again. And it will be - if extremists on both sides are shunned

Beneath the surface of the war between Israel and Hamas, another conflict rages. In this clash, the battle lines are drawn in a very different place, and the alliances and enmities take unexpected shapes. We got a glimpse of it this week - and when the current violence subsides, we shall see it even more starkly.

Right now, that moment - what diplomats and others refer to as the day after" - seems a long way off, though the visit to Israel on Friday of the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, suggests that Washington is already looking at its watch: proof that even some of Israel's staunchest allies are alarmed by the mounting loss of life in Gaza. Blinken is urging Israel to do more to protect civilians; others demand a ceasefire, or at least a pause. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is under pressure. But this week, as he sought to make Israel's case, he received help from an unexpected quarter.