As rocket barrage hits south, Israel concerned over Hamas policy shift

The instability in Egypt, the tensions in Gaza, and the possible fallout from the continual massacres of the Syrian regime signal a growing regional anxiety which have already directly affected Israel.

 

A Hamas policeman looks at a motorcycle that was hit in an Israeli air strike in Dir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip June 19, 2012.

 The past 24 hours have seen, for the first time in over a year, a clash between Israel and Hamas on the border with Gaza. Hamas’ willingness to take responsibility for the ongoing rocket fire reflects a change in the organization’s approach to the current situation. It is unclear which direction the recent developments will take, but they do raise worries among the top Israeli officials. In previous rounds of violence, but sides knew how to quickly restrain their fire, in order to prevent a wider confrontation.

Since the end of the Operation Cast Lead in January 2009, Hamas has generally refrained from firing rockets into Israel. Sometimes, other organizations (Islamic Jihad or smaller “renegade” factions) fired rockets while Hamas either turned a blind eye to or opposed such actions. Other times, the group stood behind rocket launchings perpetrated by organizations indirectly subordinate to it. The last time Hamas took responsibility for a rocket launching was in April 2011, when it fired an anti-tank missile at a school bus full of Israeli children, killing one. In a later incident, the military wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for the firing of Grad rockets into the city of Ofakim, although the message was taken down from the group’s website only a few hours after it went up. This time, Hamas is announcing openly that it launched the rockets over the past two days. In one instance, the group claimed responsibility for a rocket launched Zikim military base, as an intentional attack on a military target (the rest of the rockets were aimed at civilian targets, but exploded in open areas).

Masked Palestinian militants in Gaza prepare to fire rockets into Israel. 

So what jolted Hamas? The latest round of fighting is connected, at least indirectly, to the tensions on the border with Egypt. The latest rocket fire began on the southern Negev on Friday, followed by the attack on the border fence on Monday, which killed Saeed Fashafshe, an Israeli citizen and resident of Haifa. Up to now, it is unclear which organization is responsible for the rockets – whether it was based in Gaza or perpetrated by a Bedouin group which identifies with global jihadists, or even in a co-production. Residents of Gaza said today that they did not establish mourning tents in honor of those who were killed near the Sinai fence, indicating that the terrorists were foreigners who came to Sinai from outside of Gaza.

On Monday, in several air strikes which took place after the attack near the fence, the air force killed another six Palestinians, who according to the IDF were involved in sniper fire, attempted rocket launching, and laying explosives. The Palestinians claim that all those who were killed were civilian. Among the dead was one member of Hamas. The rocket fire might simply be Hamas’ response to the deaths, although we must take other developments, ones we are not necessarily privy to, into account.

Of course, all this is taking place on the background of the Muslim Brotherhood’s likely victory in Egypt’s presidential elections, which strengthens Hamas’ position in Gaza. IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, visited the location of Monday’s attack on the border with Sinai, and demanded Egypt act to enforce its sovereignty and halt the attacks. The instability in Egypt, the tensions in the Gaza Strip, and the possible fallout from the continual massacres of the Syrian regime against the opposition, signal a growing anxiety, the implications of which have already been felt within Israel’s borders.