Over three months have passed since the end of Operation Protective Edge and over a month has passed since the donor nations met in Cairo and committed themselves to infuse $5.4 billion into the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. However, any substantive reconstruction work has yet to begin, and thus the homeless in Gaza are still without a roof over their heads, while the wintry weather exacerbates the hardships. Moreover, Egypt has toughened its policy on the Rafah crossing, which is closed most of the time and has expanded its security zone along the border between the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip in order to uncover and destroy any smuggling tunnels. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ refusal to transfer salaries and budgets that the Hamas apparatus in Gaza needs to function has aggravated Hamas’ difficulties and worsened the conditions for Gazans.

The only source of hope is the cooperation between Israel and UN envoy Robert Serry and arrangements on the supervised entry of construction materials and heavy engineering equipment to rebuild thousands of residences. The agreements, which reflect a change in the Israeli and PA position on allowing construction materials into the Gaza Strip, were formulated in response to the worsening humanitarian situation and the threats by Hamas and other organizations in the area to escalate the security situation unless there were signs that the reconstruction process was beginning. But this is not enough to ease the frustrations and pressure in the Gaza Strip.

At the end of Operation Protective Edge, Israel and Hamas committed to renew their indirect negotiations for on a long term ceasefire. However, the talks have been postponed indefinitely, following the Egyptian decision not to invite the parties to Cairo in the light of the terrorist attacks in northern Sinai, and also due to difficulties in coordinating matters with the PA. Hamas wants to renew the talks to promote its critical needs, such as expanding the fishing zone, expanding the agricultural lands penetrating the security perimeter, and improving relations with Egypt, and in general demonstrate concrete accomplishments to the Gazan population.

Overall, the Gaza Strip resembles a pressure cooker set to explode and ignite another round of fighting between Israel and Hamas. This instability is compounded by the tensions between Fatah and Hamas and by the concerns that the reconciliation agreement might collapse. These have raised Hamas’ motivation to undermine the PA’s control of the West Bank and intensify incitement in Jerusalem, in the hopes of further igniting the tensions in the city and having violence spread to the West Bank.

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