Across the Middle East, tension is rising as violence spreads in Damascus, Beirut, and Cairo. Yet one area has remained surprisingly calm: the Israeli-Gaza border. Perhaps that's why many have overlooked a promising development: Hamas has apparently decided—at least for now—that it has more to lose than gain from violence.

Even the Israeli military has taken note. “Hamas during the past year has shown both the capacity and in some cases the motivation to prevent terror attacks against Israel and provide stability for the security situation around the Gaza Strip,” explained Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, head of the foreign press branch of the Israeli military.

Hearing a senior Israeli military officer praise Hamas’ role in fighting terrorism is a shocking development. During the past two weeks, I interviewed over a dozen senior Hamas, Israeli military, and NGO officials to understand these surprising changes.

Hamas, the Islamic organization ruling Gaza since winning democratic elections in 2006, is labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. Hamas and Israel have been fierce enemies for over 20 years. During the Second Intifada, Hamas launched suicide attacks on pizza parlors and buses. In the last five years, Israel has launched three massive military operations in Gaza, killing thousands of Palestinians, including many Hamas fighters.

Now, with the violence in the region tilted to Israel’s northeast in Syria, something has quietly changed on Israel’s western front. Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar told me that the group “is not interested in raising tensions right now.” These words are consistent with the fact that rocket fire from Gaza into Israel has been reduced by an astonishing 98 percent. Rockets that have been fired have generally been so by the group Islamic Jihad, not Hamas. Similarly, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians this year, according to the Israeli human rights organization Btselem—a major drop from the 350 killed in the previous two years. Israel has also eased restrictions on Gaza’s economy. The maritime limit for Gaza fishermen was doubled to six nautical miles. For the first time in years, construction material for private usage was allowed into Gaza earlier this spring.