Israel and Hamas have been fighting for years, so here's a question: Why hasn't Israel just ended Hamas once and for all? Israel has the backing of the United States, and it also has a massive military force that includes Merkava tanks and jets, including some sourced from the U.S. While no one's saying for sure whether or not they have nuclear weapons, they definitely have nuclear weapons. Hamas, meanwhile, is heavily armed but in a different way, one that relies on fast strike forces, mobility, and guerilla warfare.

According to the RAND Arroyo Center, it's complicated. There are two main things at play here, with the first being the fact that Israel doesn't actually want to have to be responsible for the Gaza Strip. It's a ton of people packed into a small space, with infrastructure completely dependent on Hamas, an unemployment rate of about half, an agricultural sector ruined by conflict, and a lack of access to basic necessities like clean water and sewage treatment. 

But defeating Hamas and leaving Gaza to fend for itself isn't an option, either, with experts saying there's a high chance of Hamas being replaced with another organization that's just as bad, or likely worse. That's led to the long-standing method of dealing with Hamas — according to an Israeli defense analyst speaking with RAND, "We want to break their bones without putting them in the hospital." Complicated? Absolutely.

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