Mahjoob Zweiri, director of the Gulf Studies Centre and professor of contemporary Middle East politics at Qatar University, has said Israel will be “under severe pressure” to not restart its military offensive on Gaza at the end of the four-day truce, Al Jazeera reports.

He told the news outlet the images coming out of Gaza showing the scale of destruction “will have a huge impact on the public opinion”. Zweiri argued that it was “obvious” that Israel’s ally the United States “has interests not to continue the operation” but noted that Israeli officials keep saying Israel is “ready” to resume its Gaza offensive.

“I am not sure that [they’re saying this] just to continue the war, rather it’s to tell their base that they are sincere and also to put pressure on Hamas to give more concessions and release more captives,” Zweiri said, adding that Israel has two goals: To weaken Hamas and achieve the release of captives.

“The more captives released, the less there will be a justification to continue the offensive,” Zweiri said.