A cease-fire was finally reached between Hamas and Israel on Aug. 4 in the wake of Egyptian intelligence negotiations with the Palestinian delegation.

Izzat al-Rishq, member of Hamas’ political bureau participating in the Cairo negotiations, told Al-Monitor that the movement “approved of Egypt’s call for a 72-hour cease-fire, as of 8 a.m. on Aug. 5 and of the launch of indirect negotiations regarding the truce conditions, based on the demands agreed on among the Palestinian delegation and presented to the Egyptian side.”

An Egyptian official close to the negotiations told Al-Monitor that the United States pressured Israel, while Qatar and Turkey pressured Hamas to agree to the cease-fire. “Public and secret efforts preceded the call for a cease-fire, and there was pressure on all parties to reach this stage, which might put an end to the raging war. The UN and the US administration have played a role to influence Israel, as did Qatar and Turkey with Hamas. Moreover, the battlefield in Gaza has madly flared up, which means that the alternative would be a new wave of actions and reactions and more victims.”

Ismail Haniyeh, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau and former Gaza prime minister, said in a speech on the evening of Aug. 5, “Hamas has shown great responsibility in dealing with the political actions and has communicated with Qatar, Turkey and Egypt to stop the aggression and lift the blockade to serve the optimal political purpose and to reach an end worthy of the sacrifices of our people and the performance of our resistance in a way that does not overlook the sacrifices offered by Gaza. The enemy will not get through politics what it failed to achieve in the battlefield.”