Following the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004, Mahmoud Abbas became the President of the Palestinian Authority. Abbas was a member of the Fatah part which advocated peaceful dealings with Israel. On December 14th, 2004 after becoming President, Abbas called for an end to the Al Aqsa Initfada started by Arafat, and a return to peaceful resistance. Abbas officially recognized Israel and condemned terrorism as a tool that has damaged Palestinian aspirations, and one that was contrary to the Palestinian Authority's desire to gain political leverage in peace negotiations. President George Bush was hopeful that this was a step towards a lasting peace in the nation, and with this hope in mind, he expressed a message of peace in his final state of the union address:
"We're also standing against the forces of extremism in the Holy Land, where we have new cause for hope. Palestinians have elected a President who recognizes that confronting terror is essential to achieving a state where his people can live in dignity and at peace with Israel. Israelis have leaders who recognize that a peaceful, democratic Palestinian state will be a source of lasting security. This month in Ramallah and Jerusalem, I assured leaders from both sides that America will do, and I will do, everything we can to help them achieve a peace agreement that defines a Palestinian state by the end of this year. The time has come for a Holy Land where a democratic Israel and a democratic Palestine live side by side in peace. "But actions on the ground were telling otherwise. Violence in the Gaza strip was rising. The Gaza Strip which had been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, was now occupied by Palestinians under the new leadership of Hamas. Hamas, a radical Islamic organization had won a majority of seats in parliament over it's rival party Fatah. Fatah, the party of Mahmoud Abbas refused to surrender control to Hamas, but by 2007 after intense fighting where more than 600 Palestinians were killed, Hamas took complete control over Gaza. With Hamas in power, militant groups began launching Qaasam rockets over the border into Israel, leading Israel to declare Gaza to be a "hostile territory".
To combat the rocket attacks, Israel put in effect a blockade preventing the transfer of electricity, fuel and other supplies in to Gaza. Then in January 2008, just days before President Bush gave his state of the union address, Israel followed up with massive airstrikes and a bloody ground invasion that led to over 1300 Palestinian deaths. Israel and Hamas finally settled upon a cease-fire, but Hamas remained in power. As rocket attacks continued to rise, Israel finally sealed the border completely, and on January 23 2008 after gunmen in the Gaza Strip set off an explosion near the Rafah Border Crossing, an estimated 1.5 million people crossed the Gaza strip into Egypt seeking food and supplies. Fearing that the militants might acquire weapons in Egypt, the Israeli police went on increased alert. Israel demanded that Egypt re-seal it's borders, but Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused and ordered his troops to allow the crossings to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, while verifying that the Gazans did not attempt to bring weapons back into Gaza. On January 24th, the UN Human Rights Council again condemned Israel calling the blockade, "collective punishment", but the proceedings were boycotted by both Israel and the United States. This was 4 days before President Bush declared that "we have a new cause for hope".
Unfortunately, Bush's cause for hope continued to fizzle out as through out the year of 2008 the firing of rockets from Gaza continued. Then in December 2008 as Bush was leaving office and Obama was preparing for his inauguration, Isreael began another coordinated attack including air strikes, rocket launches and a ground invasion known as today as the Gaza War, or "Operation Cast Lead". The conflict ended on January 18 with a cease fire, but only after as many as 1417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths. To Hamas, and the Palestinians, the war was known as the "Gaza Massacre" of 2008. Six years later in 2014 Israel would launch another military operation to again stop rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. This time estimates include as many as 2300 Gazans killed and over 10,000 wounded.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/11/hamas_in_gaza_how_the_organization_beat_fatah_and_took_control_of_the_gaza.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_breach_of_the_Gaza%E2%80%93Egypt_border
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gaza_(2007)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_War_(2008%E2%80%9309)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israel%E2%80%93Gaza_conflict
http://focusonjerusalem.com/WhoisMahmoudAbbas.htm
https://nevercastleadagain.wordpress.com/ (pictures)
http://media.search.lt/GetFile.php?OID=184760&filetype=4
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