A war is being waged in the Sinai Peninsula between the regime of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the Islamic State (IS) entity, formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. It is an all-out, no-holds-barred war. Sisi knows that if he does not succeed in overcoming the deadly, recalcitrant terrorist elements in Sinai, it will be the beginning of the end of his regime. The Egyptians asked for and received authorization from Israel to operate heavy weapons and introduce arms into Sinai ordinarily prohibited there according to their peace treaty. Meanwhile the terrorists, on their part, are not taking it easy. They have been slaying scores of Egyptian soldiers and civilians in harsh attacks. Sisi decided to wipe the Egyptian city of Rafah off the map to create a completely sealed buffer zone between Gaza and Sinai. On Jan. 31, the Egyptian courts declared the military wing of Hamas a terrorist organization. It appears that the situation will only continue to intensify in the weeks and months to come.

The strategic balance in the region is as follows: Israel from the north, Gaza in the middle, Egypt's Sinai on the south. Gaza is blockaded on all sides, but armed to the teeth with missiles that can threaten Tel Aviv and most of the territory of the State of Israel. IS, meanwhile, is shedding much Egyptian blood in Sinai and does not appear to be on the verge of stopping. It's a free-for-all, everyone against everyone else, but only the residents of Gaza are trapped in a bubbling pressure cooker, which has exploded with growing intensity over the years.

"We have not managed to understand," said a high-placed Israeli military figure, "how it can be that the Gazans are not sick of the Hamas regime. How are they willing to continue to live in such a reality." This question, formulated by an Israeli security figure connected to the Palestinian experience in general and the Gaza experience in particular, is asked by the entire Israeli security system. During Operation Protective Edge, in July and August 2014, there were about half a million civilians in Gaza who became refugees, forced to leave their homes. Tens of thousands of Gaza residents lost their homes, which were destroyed in the course of the operation. About 2,200 people were killed in Gaza during the operation, and about 11,000 were wounded, including women and children, many of whom will never walk again or function independently for the rest of their lives.

In addition to all this, the Hamas regime is dictatorial. Hamas opponents are thrown from high places or shot in the knees to put them permanently out of commission. In the course of the operation, Hamas used brutal force to disperse spontaneous demonstrations that organized against it in Gaza. Now that the dust has settled, the fire has been put out, and business continues as usual. Hamas has absolute, boundless control in Gaza, and no one dares open their mouths or object. How can it be, Israelis ask. Why aren't the people disgusted with Hamas' rule?