Israel: rocket attacks escalate

Written by David Fletcher 06 Feb 2020
Israel: rocket attacks escalate

On 3 February Israeli media reported that Hamas, which rules Gaza, is afraid of being seen as a collaborator with Israel as a result of ongoing negotiations for a long-term truce. It also does not wish to appear less radical than the Palestinian Authority, which is currently denouncing Donald Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ peace proposal. Consequently, Hamas is permitting Islamic Jihad to fire rockets at Israel. Iran is reportedly putting pressure on both organisations to conduct terror attacks against Israel, both to take revenge for the US assassination of Qassem Soleimani and to influence the upcoming Knesset elections. On 5 February two mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, and the next day Palestinians launched projectiles and explosive balloons across the border. Exchanges are occurring almost daily.

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