Israel-Hamas conflicts arose after new strike

Israel struck a facility in the southern Gaza Strip belonging to Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military branch, early Tuesday in retaliation to a shell fired by one of the Palestinian groups into an Israeli town bordering the Gaza Strip.

There was no material damage or injury, according to Palestinian and Israeli authorities, but they warned of an impending escalation.

The rocket was launched from Gaza following months of threats by Palestinian factions in response to Israeli airstrikes on Jerusalem and West Bank communities, particularly Jenin.

Since the start of Ramadan, the situation in the northern West Bank and Jerusalem has deteriorated following Palestinian gun strikes in Israeli cities that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries.

Hamas has warned Israel that continuing violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque might result in an escalation on many fronts, while Ziad Al-Nakhala, the secretary-general of Islamic Jihad, who is based in Beirut and backed by Iran, has pledged to face Israel if the attacks continue.

“The (Israeli) occupation’s threats to stop the facilities for Gaza cannot make us remain silent about what is happening in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” said Al-Nakhala.

Hazem Qassem, the Gaza-based Hamas spokesman, stated following Israel’s bombing: “The confrontation, which is a natural reaction of our people and their resistance against the usurping occupation, continues on all axes of conflict in Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank and the occupied territories. The Zionist bombing of some empty sites is a failed attempt to prevent our Palestinian people from defending the city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Islamic Jihad sources, according to local news websites, have given Israel until Wednesday evening to halt the attacks on Al-Aqsa before the terrorist organization returns to the fray from Gaza.

At the close of Ramadan last year, violence erupted during a flag march in Jerusalem by Israeli settlement organisations.

According to the Israeli publication Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli authorities denied a request for a similar march on Wednesday this year, anticipating an escalation.

The march is being held to commemorate Israel’s proclamation of Jerusalem as its united capital in the aftermath of its 1967 occupation and annexation.

Thousands of people take part in it and make their way to Jerusalem via the ancient city’s walls, the major market, and the Islamic area.

Egypt has been mediating between Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Israel in order to avert escalation in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the Jerusalem and West Bank events.

“The efforts of mediators are focused on searching for exits and preventing the outbreak of a new war in Gaza,” said Zaher Jabarin, a member of the Hamas political bureau.

“We have many means to pressure the occupation, and opening a new front in Gaza is one of the options, which has not been taken off the table,” he added.

Mustafa Ibrahim, writer and political analyst, said: “So far, the Israeli reaction has not gone out of control. There are calculated and customary responses.

“Hamas has its own considerations regarding a wide escalation. It is focusing on the West Bank confrontation as Gaza has not yet been reconstructed since the last war and the Hamas military capabilities have not been restored despite all the statements made in this regard,” Ibrahim told.