Early this week, the daily al-Quds al-Araby reported that a high-level Egyptian delegation had spent the past few days shuttling between Ramallah and Jerusalem. It’s not hard to guess what the Egyptians were doing: trying to bridge the gaps between Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to prevent a renewed outbreak of fighting in the Gaza Strip.

At the moment, it still seems possible to prevent the truce from breaking down at the end of this month. But the almost complete absence of reconstruction work in Gaza and Hamas’ difficulty in presenting any real achievements from the war are increasing the risk that the fighting will resume.

Under the cease-fire agreement Egypt brokered in late August, the parties are supposed to return to Cairo around September 25 to negotiate over a longer-term truce. Hamas has recently been sending conflicting messages. Its military wing says it will resume the war if the organization’s demands aren’t met. But Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior member of Hamas’ political wing who lives in Cairo, says the possibility of progress in the talks must first be thoroughly explored.

As Haaretz reported on August 31, senior Israel Defense Forces officers have advised the government to be generous about easing the partial blockade of Gaza, on the theory that starting to repair the massive damage Gaza suffered is essential to prevent renewed fighting. Among other recommendations, they urged significantly easing movement through the border crossings and expanding Gaza’s fishing zone.

Read the article in full at Haaretz.