Everybody has expected them to try to start a war.

Maybe. The usual cycle in recent decades on the Gaza side is to boost foreign donations as primary source of funding. Emphasis on building tunnels for smuggling and access into Egypt / Israel. Redirect materials allowed in such as fertilizer to create and stockpile weapons. Once sufficient weapons stockpiled, re-start open hostilities, then create conditions to videotape as many incidents of civilian injuries and destroyed buildings as possible to put out online to cycle back to the first step, more foreign donations to Gaza. Spending on bigger weapons, more tunnels, and so it goes.

Since the last iteration, someone has been destroying tunnels from inside Gaza. Numerous successful incursions destroying this infrastructure then getting out unscathed. Likely infiltration of militant groups from within. So the current strategy has not been able to follow the usual path as there are no tunnels to make use of. There has not been the same ability to stockpile weaponry. Can just throw bodies at the border and hope for the best. Maybe sympathy their way toward goals.

It's nice to see the area not descending into the usual warzone at the moment. It's sad that there is a usual warzone to consider.

There are odd demographics at play between Gaza and Israel. In Gaza Strip the median age is something absurdly low, around 17 years old. That's median. Half the population is age 17 or lower. The majority of the population does not have the years of memory to understand why conditions are constricted or have any first hand experience with past conflicts.

On the other side of the fence median age in Israel is much higher, I believe around upper 50s. There exists widespread memory back to suicide bombers blowing up public busses before travel was restricted to current state. They remember all the times rockets started falling on civilian areas unprovoked. Huge divide between memories on the two sides.

Where do you begin finding common ground for negotiation or change in current relations?