Israel, Hamas agree to Egypt proposal for 72-hour truce | The Times of Israel   ‘Officials to head to Cairo for talks on long-term deal after military says all tunnels from Gaza into Israel destroyed’

Will this truce last? More specifically, will it last the full 72 hours? And, even if it does, what happens next?

Is it going to be a return to business as usual with more death and destruction raining down from the skies? Or has everyone had just about enough for now, each side retiring to lick its wounds and fight another day?

All in all so far, it’s been a pretty poor showing. It’s almost like watching a a movie that’s been seen a hundred times before. No real surprises, no new twists in the plot, the characters more or less the same with every viewing. Politicians have said what was expected of them, soldiers have performed their duty, the other side have striven against the script to very little effect, many have died and those that haven’t are now wounded, hospitalised, homeless, confused and left wondering what possible purpose can have been served here.

Or is the whole affair simply the result of a conditioned reflex, an inability to do anything else but follow along with the plot and hope that this time some kind of sense or resolution will emerge from it?

Then it may well be time to write a proper sequel, one benefiting from a totally revised storyline and an ending such that the audience can finally leave the theatre at last, knowing it need never return to this place again.

www.laxiankey.com  – ‘ for those of us with better things to do.’