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Hamas-Israel Long-Term Ceasefire Not in Range
(i24News) Ron Ben-Yishai - The five-year hudna (ceasefire) with Hamas, which has been discussed in recent weeks by the media, is not even close to being reached by the Egyptian mediators and the UN envoy. The detailed reports about it were nothing more than psychological warfare on the part of the mediators and Hamas to create a facade that Hamas is ready for a long-term, stable peace if all of its demands are met, without any concessions on its part. At the same time, Israel is not prepared to accept the pattern of "small confrontations" that has become the norm with Hamas since the end of March. Israel will not allow Hamas to continue its "deterrence equation," according to which any IDF fire in response to a provocation by Hamas would be met with snipers, rockets and mortar shells fired by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In Israel, it is believed that calm can be restored by means of a controlled escalation. The first signal to Gazans came on Thursday when the air force destroyed a building of Hamas' internal security offices. Residents were warned in advance to evacuate the building. It was a reminder of the 2014 Gaza War, at the end of which the IDF dropped high-rise buildings in Gaza one after the other until Hamas requested a ceasefire. Israel is giving Hamas a chance to absorb this message and return to the conditions at the end of the 2014 war that began a four-year lull.