Gaza's ceasefire unravels | The return of blood and anger | The Economist

Gaza's ceasefire unravels | The return of blood and anger | The Economist: "The return of blood and anger

Nov 13th 2008 | GAZA CITY
From The Economist print edition
And the political cost of ending the ceasefire in Gaza

THE angry crowds are back on the streets of Gaza, along with the corpses wrapped in symbols of martyrdom and the militiamen in battle fatigues firing their guns. For five months the teeming Palestinian enclave has been quiet, thanks to a ceasefire agreed in June by Israel and Hamas. But that may all be coming to an end.

The new cycle of violence, rocket-firing, skirmishes and economic blockade started on November 4th, when Israeli forces made an incursion to destroy a tunnel which, they say, was to be used to abduct a soldier. In the view of Ehud Olmert, the outgoing Israeli prime minister, it is not a matter of whether full-scale hostilities resume, but when.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has a way of feeding itself. But both sides may have good political reasons to try to hold back. Israel will hold general elections in February. Neither Tzipi Livni, the head of the ruling Kadima party, nor Ehud Barak, the Labour defence minister, would relish going to the polls with rockets falling on Israeli towns—and face accusations that they are soft on security.

Hamas has benefited from the polarisation brought"