At 2 a.m. on Friday, an 11-day-long cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians came to an end as a cease-fire brokered by Egypt was enforced by both sides. The rockets fired by the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas and Israeli airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip only went silent, however, after claiming 12 Israeli and around 250 Palestinian lives. While the balance of power clearly tilted in Israel’s favor, a superior military power, many Palestinians felt the recent round of conflict brought them a tiny but significant victory since peaceful negotiations have yielded nothing.
