The yeshiva attack followed Israel's recent military incursion into the Gaza Strip where approximately 140 Palestinians lost their lives, half of them civilian according to human rights organizations.

Shortly after midnight on Wednesday the inevitable response to the West Bank killings came when Islamic Jihad operatives fired 15 rockets into Israel's Western Negev region, causing some damage but no deaths or injuries, thereby ending the lull in fighting between Gazan fighters and Israel.

Prior to the resumption of hostilities there had been whispers – subsequently denied by both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak – that Hamas and Israel were negotiating, with Egyptian arbitration, a short-term ceasefire to cement the recent quiet.

The short-term ceasefire would have involved Hamas ceasing rocket attacks on Israel and in return Israel would ease the closure on Gaza, curb military raids into the impoverished strip and into the West Bank, and not target the leaders of Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

But Barak refused to commit to halting Israeli military operations in the West Bank in pursuit of "terrorists." And he kept his word with the assassination of the Islamic Jihad operatives.

Furthermore, talks between Hamas and the Israelis on an exchange of prisoners seem to be going nowhere fast.

Israel wants an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas fighters in June 2006 released, while Hamas wants hundreds of the more than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, many of them without trial, set free.

But Israel has accused the Islamic organization of hardening its criteria for a possible release deal. While Hamas claims that Israel doesn't appear to be in any hurry to resolve the issue.

According to the Israelis Hamas now wants 450 "major prisoners" out of 750 prisoners to be released simultaneously as the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is transferred to Egypt. The Israelis wanted to release the prisoners in three stages.

During the first phase, Shalit was to be transferred to Egyptian custody after which Israel was supposed to release 100 so-called "major prisoners," a group of Palestinian legislators from Hamas, as well as minors and women imprisoned in Israel.

In the second phase, Shalit was to be handed over to Israel and, at the same time, 350 Hamas prisoners were to be freed from prison. During the third part, which had no exact timeframe, Israel was to release 500 additional prisoners.

While the possibilities for a short-term ceasefire seem remote at present, would a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas be possible?

According to Hamas the answer is yes. Ahmed Yousef, Hamas's political adviser to de-facto Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, told the Middle East Times during an interview in his office in Gaza City, "In the next few years we would consider a long-term 'hudna' [or ceasefire] with Israel for 10 to 15 years."

"If Israel ceases its occupation of Palestinian land, halts military incursions into Gaza and the West Bank and recognizes the right of return of Palestinian refugees," Yousef added, "we would be prepared to sign a ceasefire with them."

When asked about what would happen in the aftermath of a long-term ceasefire agreement with Israel, Yousef explained that it was up to the next generation of Palestinians to decide.

"The current leadership of Hamas will not recognize a Jewish State, but maybe the next generation will be smarter than us and reach a different consensus as to a mutually acceptable accommodation with Israel.

"Perhaps if they have had the chance to live in an environment where there is not daily bloodshed, bombardments, bombings and killings and an economic siege they would be more approachable in regard to a peace settlement," Yousef said.

When asked what would happen to Israelis given that Hamas refuses to recognize the Jewish state, Yousef explained that Israelis would be allowed to live in an Islamic state as equal citizens.

"But really, there is so much hypocrisy in the West when they focus on our refusal to recognize Israel," Yousef told the Middle East Times, "while Israel does everything possible to prevent the establishment of a viable Palestinian state."

"[Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas and even [former Palestinian leader] Yasser Arafat recognized Israel. There are no rockets being fired from the West Bank, and in fact Abbas' security forces are arresting and disarming Hamas members at the behest of Israel," he said.

"Yet Israel is continuing to build settlements, expropriate our natural resources such as water. Furthermore, Israel has done nothing to ease the movement and access restrictions caused by nearly 700 checkpoints there which have crippled the Palestinian economy and made life unbearable for Palestinians," he pointed out, and asked: "What does the West say about this?"