Thomas Friedman writes that every principal in the current Middle East war—Israel, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and the United States—has avoided an independent inquiry. He declares the conflict a universal loss, noting that the October 7 Hamas assault killed more than 1,200 civilians and kidnapped 250. The author argues that each side’s refusal to assess performance deepens the political fallout.

Israel’s response, described as a war of annihilation, has inflicted over 70,000 deaths in Gaza, according to the local health ministry, representing roughly ten percent of the enclave’s pre‑war population. The devastation has eroded Israel’s diplomatic standing in Europe and the United States, while Hamas claims the civilian toll bolsters its global propaganda, despite retaining control of only forty percent of Gaza.

Hezbollah’s involvement dragged Lebanon into a conflict that produced about one million internal refugees and left Israeli forces entrenched in southern Lebanon. Iran, after surviving a U.S.–Israeli air campaign, leveraged the Strait of Hormuz to choke roughly 20 percent of global oil flow, prompting renewed sanctions debates. Friedman concludes that no party will commission an inquiry, leaving the war’s economic and reputational costs unresolved.