Can five leaders make the Gaza cease-fire last?

By Walter Pincus,

The diplomatic activities under the current Gaza cease-fire will test whether a quintet of leaders — each with his own domestic critics — can find a peaceful rather than a military solution to solve the Palestinian situation.
The cease-fire language was direct but ambiguous:

“Israel should stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip by land, sea and air, including incursions and targeting of individuals.”
Does that mean no Israeli drones over Gaza?
“All Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.”
Is Hamas responsible for all jihadist actions against Israel from Gaza, such as the recent Tel Aviv bus bombing?
“Opening the crossings and facilitating the movements of people and transfer of goods and refraining from restricting residents’ free movements and targeting residents in border areas and procedures of implementation shall be dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the cease-fire.”
Does this end threats by Israeli soldiers to Palestinians who approach within the previous 300-meter-wide security zone on the Gaza side of the fence?
Both Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister of Gaza, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have already been criticized at home for settling on those terms.
Haniyeh faced criticism because there was no significant relief from Israel’s sea blockade, and the main land crossings from Gaza through Israel to the West Bank are still under Israel’s control. In addition, Haniyeh has not gotten Egypt to ease the controls it imposed at its southern Rafah crossing into Gaza to prevent the open smuggling of arms to Hamas.
Netanyahu has taken heat at home for initially backing down, not just from his threat to invade but also from his 90-day deadline for the cease-fire to lead to a more permanent agreement.
In a bid to satisfy his critics as he announced acceptance of the cease-fire, Netanyahu said: “I realize that there are citizens who expect a harsher military action, and we may very well need to do that. But at present, the right thing for the State of Israel is to exhaust this possibility of reaching a long-term cease-fire.”
But critics remain.
“One central issue was absent from the assurances given by Netanyahu and [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak: stopping the flow of weapons into Gaza,” said Aryeh Eldad, who represents the Power to Israel party in the Knesset. While Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, chief of staff for the Israel Defense Forces, said Thursday that Israel will continue operations to stop weapons-smuggling into Gaza, it’s unclear whether Israeli drones can operate over Gaza under the cease-fire agreement.
Since neither Israel nor the United States talks officially to Hamas, all cease-fire negotiations went through the Egyptians, putting Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi in the middle of an international issue while he faces serious problems at home.
The agreement states: “Egypt shall receive assurances from each party that the party commits to what was agreed upon,” and “Each party shall commit itself not to perform any acts that would breach this understanding. In case of any observations, Egypt, as the sponsor of this understanding, shall be informed to follow up.”

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