It did not take long before the ceasefire that went into effect on June 19 between Israel and Hamas was tested. The launch of rocket attacks last week from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory prompted Tel Aviv to launch an armed incursion, leaving the truce tattered, but not yet terminated. Peace must be restored.
Obscured amid the confusion was one important development: the beginnings of a dialogue, however tentative, between Israel and Hamas. This could be the first step toward real peace in the region.
Egypt, which controls one of the borders of the Gaza Strip, has worked for months to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that wrested control of the territory last year from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and is now trying to prove that it can govern as well as it can lead the armed struggle against both Israel and the PA. Cairo's efforts culminated in an agreement that called for a complete end to mutual attacks in and around the Gaza Strip.