2008 Israel–Hamas ceasefire
Under pressure from Hamas, Islamic Jihad had agreed to abide by the temporary truce, which was meant to apply only to Gaza, but had balked at the idea of not responding to Israeli military actions in the West Bank.
[20] Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh described the proposed period in Arabic as a Tahdia, meaning a temporary moment of calm and not a formal cease-fire.
[20] Ha'aretz has alleged that even at the very beginning of the cease-fire Defense Minister Ehud Barak prepared a comprehensive intelligence-gathering program setting up battle plans against Hamas.
On the other hand, the Israeli blockade of Gaza was loosened, but the goods shipments, while up some 25 to 30 percent and including a mix of more items, never began to approach the pre-blockade levels.
[28][disputed – discuss] On 11 August 2008 Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that a military invasion of the Gaza Strip would not stop cross-border rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, but that the seven-week-old truce mediated by Egypt had halted the barrages for the first time in years.
The same day a senior Hamas official said that the Islamic organization was not interested in renewing talks to free the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit until Israel completely lifted the siege on Gaza.
[31] On 24 June 2008, Israel raided the city of Nablus on the West Bank, outside of the cease-fire area,[32] killing a commander of Islamic Jihad and one other Palestinian.
[32] On 25 June, Israeli forces opened fire against farmers in southeastern Gaza Strip, injuring Salem Ahmed Abu Raida, 82, in the hand.
[31] On 1 July a Palestinian woman was shot and wounded in the leg by the Israeli Army near the Sufa border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip while she was tending her sheep.
[36] Prior to the incident on 4 November, in which Israeli forces destroyed a cross-border tunnel and killed six of its operatives, Hamas had been scrupulously adhering to the ceasefire – not firing rockets itself and reining in other Palestinian groups.
[39] Support for Regev's view is found in a document provided to journalists, published by Israel's Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre: "Hamas was careful to maintain the ceasefire".
[40] Despite Israel's refusal to comply with the truce agreement to end the siege, Hamas brought rocket and mortar fire from Gaza to a virtual halt during the summer and fall of 2008.
[43] On 29 June, the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center commented that Hamas preferred to exert outside pressure on the rocket attackers and refused to confront them directly.
Shortly after the start of the truce, the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center commented that "rogue terrorist organizations" opposed to Hamas continued to carry out attacks.
[failed verification][1] However, the amount of rocket fire was only decreased by about 20% when comparing the lull in November 2008 to the time shortly before Hamas took power in Gaza.
On 20 November 2008, Human Rights Watch wrote an open letter to Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, and Khaled Mishaal, leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement, stating that: We recognize that until last week Hamas took efforts to halt rocket attacks by other groups as part of the 19 June ceasefire.
[45]The Palestinians who negotiated the cease-fire believed that the commerce in Gaza was to be restored to the levels preceding Israel's withdrawal in 2005 and Hamas's electoral victory.
[46] Israel permitted a 20% increase in goods trucked into Gaza in the pre-lull period, up from 70 to 90 truckloads a day,[17] and that included not only humanitarian supplies but also clothes, shoes, refrigerators, and construction materials.
[47] Israel has stated that food imports into the Strip were restricted by its inability to operate at border checkpoints facing constant Palestinian attack, and not because of any Israeli-imposed limits.
[47] It has also accused Hamas of underfunding the Gaza health care system, and then blaming the situation on Israel despite its free trade of medical supplies.
It maintains that some individuals claiming to require medical attention in Israel were in fact planning terrorist attacks, therefore forcing the government to impose travel restrictions.
[47] It also accused Hamas of continuing the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza strip via tunnels to Egypt, pointing out that the rocket attacks had not completely ceased.
[18][49] Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in mid-July that "easing restrictions on Gaza crossings is going very slow and the population doesn't feel that there is basically a real truce and a normal life.
"[50] Jimmy Carter has stated that he believes the cease-fire could have lasted had Israel been willing to lift the blockade and allow in an "adequate" amount of humanitarian supplies.
[59] According to a 17 November article in The Telegraph, "since violence flared on 5 Nov, Israeli forces and militants, some of them from Hamas, have engaged in almost daily tit-for-tat exchanges.
[56] Likud MK Yuval Steinitz acknowledged in an al-Jazeera interview on 4 January 2009 that Israel began actively preparing for Operation Cast Lead months beforehand, around June 2008.
At an Israeli Cabinet meeting on 21 December, Yuval Diskin, head of Israel's internal security agency, said he thought Hamas was "interested in continuing the truce, but wants to improve its terms...
At that time, Hamas also refused European mediation of the talks to release Gilad Shalit, citing Israel's unwillingness to cooperate on a cease-fire agreement.
[64] On 23 December, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, said in a newspaper interview that his group was willing to consider renewing the hudna if Israel refrained from operating in Gaza and lifted its blockade.
[74] A poll conducted on 1 January, four days after the operation begun, demonstrated that a decisive majority of Israelis support continuing the army's air campaign against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip without endangering the lives of Israel Defense Forces soldiers in a ground offensive.
