A drastic reduction in activity represented, because Hamas an anti-tank missile at an Israeli school bus on Thursday, a 16-year-old boy and setting fired wounding critical way by the Israeli aerial, artillery and tank fire rate against targets in Gaza, 18 Palestinians of getoetet10 of which were militant and the rest civilians, according to officials in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas and other militant groups raised about 130 mortar shells and rockets, including several mid-range-ones, in the southern Israel in the last three days.
Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak, said Sunday that Israel had received several messages that Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls, Gaza, was interested in a cease-fire.
"If they fire on our communities to stop, we will stop trigger," said Mr Barak Israel Radio.
Hamas spokesman offered similar messages. Ghazi Hamad, the Deputy Foreign Minister who radio said Hamas led Government in the Gaza Strip, Israel: "we are interested in peace in the Gaza Strip, but also that the Israeli army to cease operations against our people."
Salah al-Bardaweel, a spokesman for Hamas, said that Israel have accepted the idea of reducing the hostilities. "The groups of the lull to, as long as Israel is,", said Mr Bardaweel.
The Hamas led Government said, that helped regional and European parties to achieve the slowdown. He thanked Egypt, but not the other mediators to call.
Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that if the attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers, "the answer very be hard."
Strategy towards Gaza, still further escalation with the potential for a total conflagration would be warned that a return to the quiet tense, pushed the largely in the last two years not the lack of a coherent balance Israeli Israeli analysts before that, prevents.
"I think, as far as Israel is concerned, we remain policy, a policy," said Efraim Halevy, former Chief of the Israeli secret service Mossad, who now head of the Shasha Centre for strategic studies at the Hebrew University. Israel, he said has "sit down and work out a policy, whether the Hamas to destroy, or whether it is something else."
"People have to understand, what is the ultimate goal," he said, adding that Hamas, must make some decisions.
During the relative calm of the last two years, both Israel and Hamas have upgraded weapons at your disposal.
The latest escalation began as the military wing of Hamas a Kornet anti-tank missile on the school bus from a distance of about two miles raised. It was an advanced, the first time Lasergelenkte weapon against a civilian target used.
Hamas said the attack was to avenge Israel's killing of three of the fighters of the group, on 2 April an Act, the Hamas said violated a previous cease-fire.
In a further development, which has changed the equation in the region, Israel's new iron dome missile defense system antirocket managed to catch eight of the nine destroy group tourism rockets of the Gaza Strip to cities in South Israel, them in the air.
The success of system, iron Dome, subjected to still evaluation, increases prevent additional damage and the Israelis sense of security. Mr. Barak, the Defense Minister, the Government with additional flexibility available said it provided and allowed on appropriate decision making.
However, independent commentators noted that the iron dome system could protect not Israeli communities near the border and not the possibility of Hamas or Israel includes carrying out a strike, that a large civilian toll, also unintentionally hinausgejagt and set off a war.
Despite its clear benefits, the new antirocket system "serves as no real solution," wrote Ben Caspit, columnist in the newspaper Maariv on Sunday. "The problem of Hamas in Gaza goes to the root, is strategic in nature and will be resolved not by the purchase of domes of various kinds."
Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in 2006 and then took a year later after a short factional war full control of Gaza. The Group has lost popularity, which escalate to speculation, that you can have tensions with Israel to create a distraction. A Palestinian poll in March found that two-thirds of the residents of the Gaza Strip supported demonstrations in favour of the change of Government.
But Amos Gilad, a senior official in the Israeli Defense Ministry, told reporters last week that the Palestinians would have to be removed work of Hamas.
Last month, a merchant ship in the open sea Israel intercepted and seized weapons, including six advanced antiship missiles, which it said is bound for Gaza. Hamas holds an Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, captured in a cross-border RAID and Gaza 2006 meeting.
Fares Akram contributed reporting from Gaza.
