Q. Last week, Israelis appeared to think the Gaza war was over. Now we seem to have entered a cycle of
ceasefires and negotiations. Has a new dynamic emerged?
A. Yes. Roughly speaking, it breaks down as follows. Both sides are now completely dependent on Egyptian mediation:
Israel willingly, because Egypt is more hostile than ever to Hamas and is strategically friendly to Israel; and
Hamas unwillingly, having lost any capacity to recruit its supporters Turkey and Qatar to mediate and having
accepted that the West Bank-based PLO and Palestinian Authority represent it.