Israeli Army Chief Benny Gantz, fresh from a visit to the border with the Gaza Strip, says that he believes the situation along the border remains “positive” and that things “seem to be going in the right direction.”
Starting Wednesday at 2 PM, the ceasefire was met pessimistically be many, but has survived through the weekend and now seems to have considerable momentum on both sides, suggesting it may not just be another of those 1-2 week deals that collapses almost the moment it began.
So far the only major incident came on Friday, when Israeli troops attacked and killed a Gaza farmer, then attacked demonstrators who rallied at the border to protest the attack. Even that hasn’t prompted retaliation from the strip.
A top Gaza Strip cleric, Suleiman al-Daya, has also issued a fatwa warning that it is a sin to violate the ceasefire with Israel. Given Daya’s support in Salafist circles, these comments may make it difficult for even the most radical factions to violate the pact.