All Policy Analysis by Neri Zilber

Calculating the actual costs of reconstruction is important, but the most crucial question is whether the PA is truly ready to supplant Hamas and assume effective control over Gaza.

Hopefully, the latest ceasefire agreement will herald a new beginning for Gaza, liberating the innocent people of that shattered place from the dead-end ideology of a terrorist regime and any more of its "victories."

The international community should focus on systematically rolling back Hamas political and security control while opening Gaza to the outside world -- beginning with a reestablished PA foothold at the Rafah crossing.

Hamas forced the longstanding blockade through its continued rejectionism, and it is now trying to violently extort the international community, the PA, and Israel to give it what it wants without offering anything in return.

Israel's ground operations and objectives are limited for now, but the IDF is ready to expand the mission if Hamas chooses to prolong the faceoff and continue firing rockets.

The discovery of murdered kidnap victims in the West Bank and increased rocket fire from Gaza have brought Hamas and Israel to the brink of a new round of hostilities.

With a massive Israeli crackdown under way, the militant Palestinian movement is struggling to determine its true identity.

If U.S. policy was to "wait and see" how the Hamas-approved Palestinian reconciliation process would unfold in practice, the test is now.

How -- and if -- Hamas and Fatah overcome formidable security, institutional, and political roadblocks should dictate the international response to their unity deal and joint government.

Even as the deal offers short-term political benefits for both sides, it fails to resolve key issues separating them.

Israel has gotten few positive results from past financial measures against the PA, and both sides risk miscalculation and escalation when they employ unilateral tactics.

Far from disenfranchising certain groups, the pending legislation could spur smaller parties to form new political alliances that would likely favor the center-left opposition in future elections.

The death of Yasser Arafat and the approach of Palestinian elections on January 9 have rekindled hopes for the peace process. However, if history is a guide, Hizballah and Iran—which worked tirelessly to undermine the Oslo Process—will try to sabotage such efforts. (Indeed, Israeli intelligence reports cited in the Israeli