According to the Jerusalem Post, Hamas, long a blood enemy and opponent of Israel’s very right to exist, has announced a temporary de escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip. From the article posted (as of this writing) just a few moments ago,

Hamas announced on Monday night that it has reached new understandings with Israel to de-escalate the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The announcement, published by the office of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, said the understandings were reached “after a round of discussions and contacts, including with Qatari envoy Mohammed al-Emadi.”

Further down,

The announcement came after two weeks of tensions between Israel and Hamas during which hundreds of explosive-laden and incendiary balloons were launched towards Israel.

“Understandings have been reached to contain the escalation and halt the Zionist aggression on our people,” Hamas said in its announcement.

Read: Hamas announces ceasefire understandings with Israel

This is huge Yuuuuge! Following shortly on the footsteps of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates…and today’s first flight by El Al Airline, direct from Ben Gurion Airport to UAE, this could be an indicator of further progress to come in the Middle East. I’ll have an analysis piece out on this tomorrow AM. But for now, it sure looks like more winning.