What has the conflict in Gaza shown? After 23 days of fighting in the Gaza Strip, it is now possible to ask whether the moribund Middle East peace process can be successfully restarted and result in a solution to the decades of ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The peace process languished over many months prior to the intensifying of the conflict in Gaza. Israel continued to build settlements on the West Bank, one of the greatest obstacles to resolving the conflict. The Palestinian leadership was once again irreconcilably divided and the radical Hamas movement refused to respect the results of the negotiations led by the leading representative of the Palestinian Administration, Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah movement.
