Like clockwork

Like clockwork:

1. Egyptian diplomats painstakingly craft a de facto ceasefire between the Israelis and Hamas.
2. Although the Israelis won't admit there is a ceasefire (as they don't acknowledge that they might negotiate with 'terrorists'), they halt their military operations in Gaza.
3. Whoever is firing the rockets in the general direction of Israel stops firing them (the end of the rockets is what the Israelis claim is their main goal).
4. Hamas re-presents its proposals for a full ceasefire agreement with Israel, which must include the cessation of Israeli violence in the West Bank (Hamas takes its responsibility as the elected government of all the Palestinians seriously).
5. Israel attacks the West Bank (one of its famous, and utterly illegal, targeted assassinations).
6. Rockets start firing again.
7. Israel mounts an aerial attack against the northern Gaza Strip, described by the Israelis, of course, as a retaliation for the rockets.