Israeli officials said on Wednesday they believe Hamas is willing to make far-reaching concessions to strike an official and long-term truce with Israel.
This follows Hamas confirmation on Wednesday that they agreed to a cease-fire with Israel following urgent messages sent by senior Hamas officials at around 9 p.m. on Tuesday to Egyptian intelligence services in a bid to achieve a cease-fire after crippling Israeli airstrikes against Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel gave Palestinian terrorist organizations in Gaza "the strongest blow dealt to them in years," and warned against renewed rocket fire into Israel.
"When they try us, they pay immediately. And if they continue to try us, they will pay a lot more," Netanyahu said at a ceremony in Tel Aviv.
The Israeli officials said the truce would be for a period of five years. In return, Israel will demand restrictions on Hamas' military activity. Although the terrorist organization is not likely to relinquish security control of Gaza, it is believed it may agree to restrictions on smuggling, production of weapons and work on its terrorist tunnel project that threaten Israeli towns nearby.
Hamas seeks to build a sea port as well as an airport, which Israel categorically refuses to allow unless Hamas demilitarizes Gaza. Israel is demanding that Hamas repatriate the remains of two Israeli soldiers killed in a 2014 war, Lt. Hadar Goldin and Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, as well as information on three Israeli civilians who crossed into Gaza: Avera Mengistu, Hisham al-Sayed and Jumaa Abu Ghanima.
So far, the bid for a more lasting truce has been mired in the "exploration" stages. Israeli officials believe that following the recent cycle of violence, however, the time may be ripe to push further for a lasting truce.
Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, said Egyptian mediators intervened "after the resistance succeeded in warding off the aggression." He said militant groups in Gaza will commit to the cease-fire as long as Israel does.
Al-Hayya added that the understandings were reached with the help of several mediators, including Qatar, a move that was reportedly denied by both Egyptian and Israeli officials.
Hamas had reached out earlier through a Qatari representative in Gaza for a de-escalation, but this apparently failed due to Qatar's diminished standing in the Arab world due to their support of Sunni terrorist organizations.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri told Israel's Army Radio that he expected calm to be restored. "If there is calm, we will respond with calm. We've given Hamas a chance to prove that we can return to normal. ... If they release the reins there will be a very painful retaliation," he said.
"There is a good chance that routine life will be restored after the blow the army unleashed on them," he added.
"Israel used to initiate the strikes and end them unilaterally and impose new rules," said Adnan Abu Amer, an independent analyst in Gaza. "This time the resistance took the initiative. ... The resistance came out from this round in a superior position."
Between Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, Israeli military struck dozens of terror targets in Gaza as rocket fire continued toward southern Israeli communities, setting off air raid sirens in the area throughout the night.
The military said it hit drone storage facilities, military compounds and rocket and munition workshops across Gaza. The overnight Hamas rocket fire reached the city of Netivot for the first time since the 2014 war known as Operation Protective Edge. A home was directly hit by a projectile from Gaza, but no one was hurt.
Neither Israel nor the Palestinian factions in Gaza went full bore in their attacks, indicating that neither side was interested in escalating hostilities. Gaza terrorists did not fire long-range rockets at Israel's major cities as they did in 2014, and Israeli airstrikes zeroed in on only unmanned military targets.
With neither side appearing interested in a full-blown conflict, the tense calm appeared to be holding Wednesday as Israeli children went to school in the morning.
The border area has been tense in recent weeks as Palestinians have held mass protests aimed at lifting an Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas seized power in 2007.
Israeli fire has killed more than 110 Palestinians, most of them terrorist operatives, during the Hamas-led protests, which climaxed on May 14.
