By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
The good news and the productive tone that came out of the Cairo talks on Thursday and Friday has disappeared.
It looks like there is no way for any ceasefire to emerge. Hamas has totally rejected the Egyptian proposal.
The main reason for their rejection is that Hamas gained nothing from the Egyptian brokered deal. There is no real success that Hamas can point to as an accomplishment from the entire operation.
But this is not a sign of total despair. The probable outcome of the breakdown of the talks will be the creation of a status quo without an agreement.
In the absence of a signed agreement, Israel will need to monitor and make certain that quiet reigns in the south. That means that things return to what they were before operation Preventive Edge and if Hamas once again begins to launch rockets at Israel, Israel must immediately respond and re-institute a system of deterrence by quickly and forcefully retaliating.
The system of deterrence forcing Hamas not to attack Israel will be based on Hamas' fear of retaliation by Israel.
If that system is in place a de facto ceasefire will work - and quiet will be returned to the south of Israel, at least, for the short term.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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