The latest round of hostilities between Gaza and Israel ended in a cautious calm following the death of a Palestinian girl and an Israeli worker on Dec. 24. It is obvious that this short round, which lasted only a few hours, reflected the desire of Gazan and Israeli decision-makers to postpone the ultimate confrontation that many Palestinians believe is inevitable. Toward that end, Egypt interceded between the two sides to end this latest skirmish.

A military source in Gaza told Al-Monitor that Israel was readying for a large-scale military campaign against Gaza, following the failure of its deterrence policy adopted after the last war in November 2012 and the increase of field activities by armed Palestinian factions, particularly after the discovery of the latest smuggling tunnel in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip. The situation was further exacerbated by the great pressure on Hamas from Egyptian measures adopted against it, the tightening of the blockade and siege, the continued destruction of tunnels and Tel Aviv’s fear that Hamas might decide to initiate a confrontation in an attempt to escape its political isolation.

The source affirmed that the latest cease-fire between the two sides would not last long. Hamas might view an armed confrontation with Israel as its last resort; it would open a military front there if it felt that it was in the process of losing control over Gaza because of the economic and security situation.

Despite the threats leveled by Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu against Hamas, a high-ranking Israeli officer with the Southern Command said that the army was working on containing the situation in Gaza and preventing it from further deteriorating on the northeastern border. This comes after it succeeded in destroying Hamas’ observation posts along the border during the latest round of shelling.