Conflict between Israel and Hamas "likely to escalate"

This is the latest news from the Jerusalem Post, and it isn't exactly optimistic:

Defense officials: Conflict with Hamas likely to escalate

A tense quiet settled over southern Israel on Monday as a shaky cease-fire went into effect, ending several days of Gaza attacks and IDF counterattacks.

Defense officials said that the IDF would remain on high alert along the border.On Sunday night, a Kassam rocket hit south of Ashkelon but on Monday the border was quiet, with the IDF, Hamas and Islamic Jihad abiding by a cease-fire reportedly brokered by United Nations representatives to Israel.

IDF sources said they predicted that while the cease-fire had gone into effect, it would likely be limited in time.

That would be a safe bet, based on the last 60+ years of conflict in and around Israel.

“We succeeded in postponing a large-scale conflict with Hamas but that conflict is likely inevitable,” one senior officer said on Monday.

As an interesting footnote to this article we see the following:

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories announced on Monday that despite the recent escalation in violence, it had coordinated the transfer of 3,656 trucks to the Gaza Strip with food and medical supplies.

“Israel will continue to thwart any attempt to harm its citizens but will at the same time, will also continue its humanitarian efforts to assist the civilian population that is not involved in terror in the Gaza Strip,” defense officials said.

It is interesting that we are at a point in the Middle East in which no one believes that a so-called "cease-fire" will last more than a matter of hours - usually just enough time for Hamas/Hezbollah/PA to rearm and reload.

The question then becomes, will the next round of missiles and mortars resume at the same levels as before?

It looks like the IDF anticipates the escalation to continue into the "conflict" stage. When an entire region, such as the Middle East sits on a powder keg - any "conflict" could be the precipitating factor for this region - and when that happens we will probably see the prophetic battles that we have anticipated. Assuming we are still here, of course.