Can Israel and Gaza Find Real Peace?

The ceasefire’s actual terms are skimpy. It is unclear what a new monitoring system would look like. Some Palestinian and Egyptian sources at first spoke of an initial 90-day truce. The Israelis and Americans, by contrast, had preferred to talk of a “de-escalation” or brief “calming down” period. The basic agreement, in any event, is that Hamas must stop firing rockets; it will presumably stanch the flow of smuggled arms into Gaza, while Israel would stop its incursions and aerial attacks, desist from assassinating Hamas bigwigs, and loosen its stranglehold on Gaza, with its harsh restrictions on the movement of people and goods, often labelled as a cruel siege. The Palestinians also, in the long run, hope for broader international recognition.