The humanitarian cease-fires between Israel and Hamas have provided some respite and allowed the battle fog above Gaza to dissipate a bit. It enabled both sides to assess their damages and map their achievements, but mainly to search for “honorable” exit points. Hamas and Israel resemble two spent, bruised boxers who have exhausted themselves in the ring and wait for the final bell.

Meanwhile, each side inflicts one more blow, throws one more punch to the face. Yet both sides understand that no knock-out will be declared, at least not in the current round.

Hamas spokesmen, mainly Sami Abu Zuhri, continue to boast that the “resistance” can fight indefinitely. But the movement’s leaders in Gaza and Qatar already know that they will not succeed in opening the border crossings and removing the strangling blockade on Gaza. None of them really believes that a Gaza seaport will be constructed in the near future or that the airport in Dhaniya, which was bombed in the second intifada, will be rebuilt and reopened. Even when Operation Protective Edge ends, Gaza will remain chiefly closed on its northern and southern sides and inaccessible by air and sea. On the day after the war, the Gaza Strip's residents will feel no large change in their lives.

When a final cease-fire is declared, Hamas will reveal that even if its performance in the battlefield opens the purse strings of the emir of Qatar, even if it gets a second chance at an alliance with Iran and Hezbollah, neither will halt the movement’s rapid economic collapse. On the contrary, it will deteriorate even more. The Gaza Strip leaders who emerge from the bunkers in which they holed up for weeks will find great destruction visited on Gaza. They will also discover that not all the residents of the Strip will be convinced by the victory march that the movement will try to perform for a third time. They have witnessed similar tragic spectacles, detached from reality, in the past.