Don't know when to quit, as usual

The Times has an article by James Hider and Sheera Frenkel about Hamas blowing it again:

The fragile ceasefire in Gaza was under severe strain yesterday after Palestinian militants blew up an Israeli border patrol, triggering an Israeli air strike inside the blockaded enclave. The outbreak of violence was the worst since Israeli forces ended their three-week offensive against Hamas, the Islamist rulers in Gaza, more than a week ago. It came as George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, headed into the region to seek ways of ending the decades-old conflict.
Despite the attack, a senior Hamas official told The Times that the movement, which is shunned by the West and labelled as a terrorist organisation, was holding talks with European diplomats and expected to be brought into more mainstream talks soon. The fighting began when Palestinian militants triggered a roadside bomb near an Israeli army vehicle on the border, killing one soldier and wounding three others. Palestinian officials said that a 24-year-old man was killed in the resulting gunfire.
No Palestinian faction claimed responsibility for the bombing but it was lauded by the main groups. An Israeli aircraft opened fire on a motorcycle in the south of the strip, wounding a Palestinian militant and another man after the attack. “I don't care who fired,” said Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister. “Hamas controls Gaza and is responsible for everything that happens. Whenever they fire at me from Gaza, set off a bomb or launch a missile or smuggle weapons, Israel will respond.”
Israeli officials said that they expected similar attacks as their envoys try to hammer out a longer-term truce with Hamas in talks mediated by Egypt, where Mr Mitchell made his first stop in his Middle East tour. President Obama said before dispatching his envoy: “The moment is ripe for both sides to realise that the path that they are on is one that is not going to result in prosperity and security for their people. Instead it's time to return to the negotiating table.”
Mr. Mitchell, who compiled a report in 2001 into ways to tackle violence in the region, is not scheduled to talk to Hamas officials during his visit but Hamas hoped there would be progress in the truce talks.
“I think there will be a change in the dialogue with Hamas in the near future,” said Ihab el-Ghusiem, a Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman in Gaza City. “In the last year there have been many backdoor meetings and dialogue with Europeans. I personally sat with them myself. They reached the conclusion that they must talk with Hamas because we are not going anywhere soon.”
Israel has held only indirect talks with Hamas through Egyptian intermediaries in an attempt to persuade Hamas to end its constant rocket attacks into southern Israel. Hamas says that it will keep up the barrage until Israel opens its borders.
Ahmed Abul Gheit, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, expressed hope that a longer-lasting armistice could come into effect next month.
Mr. Mitchell faces a deeply complex task, underscored yesterday when Abul Gheit warned Britain, France and Germany against sending ships to patrol the waters off Gaza in an attempt to end arms smuggling to Hamas. Israel insists that it will only open the borders if there is monitoring to halt the flow of contraband arms.
The Egyptian minister said that Europe must understand Arab and Muslim feelings as anti-Israeli resentment rises and warned that the deployment could “have consequences in Palestinian and Arab relations with you”.
Ismail Haniya, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, said: “We expected France, whose motto is liberte, equalite, fraternite to send hospital ships to treat the children burnt by banned weapons or to set up a humanitarian bridge... rather than deploy a navy ship to reinforce the blockade.”
Mr. Mitchell's mission could be further complicated after Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said that Israel had every right to defend itself against Hamas, and blamed Hamas for the most recent bloodshed, in which 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died. “It is regrettable that the Hamas leadership apparently believes that it is in their interest to provoke the right of self-defence instead of building a better future for the people of Gaza.”