"Also the U.S. and other international forces that were supposed to stand by Israel helped the truce as they don't want more turmoil in the region that would otherwise divert their focus on the Syrian issue," said the expert.
Echoing Houssam's view, Saed Lawendy, a political expert with al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said the truce represents a triumph for Hamas, but he traced the victory back to Israel's "poor estimate" for the Egyptian and international reactions.
"Israel thought Egypt will act the same way as the former regime, and forgot the close relations between the now powerful Muslim Brotherhood and the Hamas movement," Lawendy said.
According to Egyptian state news agency MENA, the agreement between Israel and Hamas requires Israel to stop all hostile ground, sea and air operations on the Gaza Strip, including invasions and operations targeting individuals.
The agreement also stipulates that the Palestinian factions stop all hostile operations toward Israel, including launching rockets and attacking border areas.
In addition, it calls for opening border crossings and facilitating movements of people and goods, without restricting the residents' freedom. Such procedures shall be implemented 24 hours after the agreement came into effect.
Houssam said that although the conditions do not pour in one's interests on the account of the other's, ensuring "safe" movements for the Palestinians on the borders bears good signals.
The ceasefire agreement is not time bound, but in the view of Lawendy and Houssam, this is normal as there were no ground invasions during the conflict.
However, they noted that as the current regional changes will make Israel think twice before any aggressions in the future, the truce will last for "a long time."
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling
Feedback
RSS
