For 15 years, the Gaza Strip has been under a blockade – at sea, in the air, and on land – and Israel has been trying to keep order.
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Egypt is also trying to keep things in line, and like Israel, isn't having much success. In the past three years, Egypt has seen three regimes – Hosni Mubarak, Mohammed Morsi, and Abdel Fattah el-Sissi – all of which tried to serve as mediators between Hamas, which rules Gaza, and Israel, which is trying to control from afar almost everything that happens there.
Anyone who wants to influence the Palestinian sphere, or wants to goad Israel and either can't or doesn't dare to enter into a direct military conflict with it, tries their luck via Gaza. That's what happened with Turkey and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who approved the Marmara flotilla and took a series of steps in support of Hamas by hosting the Hamas leadership. That's also what happened with Iran, which hosted some of Hamas' leaders and lent financial support to both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Gaza is not merely a problem for Israel, it is a regional problem.
Despite Hamas' seizure of power, and the hostility between it and Israel, there is still security coordination, even if it takes place through a third party. This week, we got clear and open proof of that – the face that Hamas didn't join the PIJ. Along with making efforts to prevent any harm to its security, Israel must take direct and unmediated action to secure a truce that will last for decades – a peace agreement. Obviously, Hamas wants to get to that point even more than Israel does, as a truce will allow it to build up Gaza and move toward Judea and Samaria, expanding its popular control. For Israel, nothing having to do with Hamas and the PIJ is positive, anyway.
Even though Israel initiated the 2005 disengagement, Gaza still hasn't disengaged from Israel. Gaza has no independent industry or any base that allows its population to live independently.
Israel's main concern has to do with security, worrying that if Gaza has an independent economy, the money will go to terrorism. That is a valid concern. It's happened.
But the moment that a long-term truce is in place, countries that support Gaza will invest in hospitals, schools, infrastructure, and create jobs and develop the Gazan economy. Gaza will recover. And naturally, normalcy will weaken Hamas.
Both the residents of Gaza and the residents of Israel's south deserve to live in quiet, far from the threat of war. For that to happen, there needs to be a brave leadership in Israel and a pragmatic one in Gaza that can create a deal that will benefit both sides.
A truce will contribute to the democratization of Gaza and academic growth, making it easier to connect the children of Gaza to the world. Today, most of them never leave. And if what I've written here starts 10 years from now, it will be enough.
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