Israeli author and journalist Gideon Levy said in an exclusive interview with N1 that he does not see Israel or Hamas entering negotiations to end conflict in foreseeable future.

He also warned about the risks that would emerge if Hezbollah and Israel entered a full-time conflict.

Hezbollah, Levy stressed, is Iran's and not Lebanon's power and they operate independently.

If the war with Hezbollah happens, we would see the things that were not seen before, he said.

Hamas and Hezbollah do not operate under the same circumstances – Gaza, he stressed has been a “cage” for the past 16 years and Hezbollah operates in a free country.

These two fronts cannot be seen as equal, Levy added.

Speaking of the experience of being in Sarajevo in 1993, the Israeli said he always thought the horrors he had seen there were the worst but what is happening in Gaza now, seems much worse.

He also said he did not think back in 1993 in Sarajevo that the conflict would ever end but then he returned in 2003 and he could not believe his eyes. The problem in the Middle East, according to Levy, is much deeper.

This conflict, he went on, dates back to much earlier than October 7. It is a unique phenomenon where one people lived in their country and then another people came and said that God promised them the same land. The war about to whom the land belongs has not ended to this day, he said.

Once they both realise that they both have the right to the same land, it is the moment to start the peace talks, according to him.

Levy criticised the Israelis for intentions to displace Palestinians. Palestinians were born here and they will stay, he stressed.

You cannot use the attacks of October 7 to justify the attacks on Gaza, he said, noting that majority of the Israeli population wants the conflict to end.

In the end, he conveyed a message to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying that not many went through what they did. The 1993 visit to Sarajevo left a huge impression on him, and is something he will never forget.

Ten years later, in 2003, he returned to a different reality.

Look at Sarajevo in 1993 and in 2003, and it will fill you with hope. Maybe something unexpected happens because many things in history were unexpected, he concluded.