"It's not clear to what extent Hamas can maintain a cease-fire, especially in terms of imposing it on some of the non-Hamas organizations, and even among some of the Hamas people themselves," says Ephraim Kam, deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), a think tank at Tel Aviv University.
"Among the security establishment in Israel, the expectation is that it won't hold for long," he adds. "Many feel that the [truce] will just be a postponement of the unavoidable clash which might take place under even worse conditions, in which Hamas will have more sophisticated weapons and be better trained."
But, he acknowledges, that formula works both ways. "The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will also be able to strengthen itself to fight Hamas, if a showdown is going to take place."
Hamas officials in Gaza say they will have no difficulty enforcing the deal, and that it's up to Israel to make sure that it sticks.
"We are determined to keep to the commitments. The ball is in Israel's court – it is the one meant to implement the understandings into real actions," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri said.
Both the Israeli government and the Hamas leadership have been trying to do crisis management on many levels. Israeli politicians from many different parties have been working to force out Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who faces corruption charges. Hamas leaders, meanwhile, have to contend with the severity of the economic deterioration in Gaza since militants staged a violent coup a year ago, overrunning Fatah.
