India, Feb. 18 -- Gaza, now a ghost town, stares at greater uncertainty than it faced at the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war just over 500 days ago. In the interim, an immense human cost has been paid, with 1,200 dead on the Israeli side more than 48,000 on the Palestinian side, and hundreds of thousands of Gazans rendered homeless. Sure, a tenuous peace has been achieved, and Israeli bombs are not raining down for now, but this peace remains fragile. The primary issues that led to the war - the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, the Palestinian's right to movement, and, most importantly, the question of Palestinian Statehood - have expectedly not disappeared. But there are new thorns emerging for lasting peace in the region.

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