Hamas on Thursday placed its military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, on "highest alert," presumably ahead of a full-blown military clash with Israel.
The Islamist terrorist group further vowed to "make the enemy [Israel] pay a heavy price, in blood, for its crimes against the Palestinian people."
Early Thursday, the Color Red alert, which sounds when an incoming projectile is detected, blared across the western Negev. The Israeli military said Gaza terrorists had fired nine projectiles at border-adjacent communities. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, two hit open areas near the Israeli side of the border, and the others landed on the Palestinian side of the security fence.
Hamas Spokesperson Fawzi Barhum issued a statement on Thursday, saying, "The Israeli escalation against the Gaza Strip ... reflects the occupation's desire to kill, and demonstrates that the occupation's leadership is murderous and criminal. The resistance will not abandon its duty in defending its people against [Israel's] aggression."
Islamic Jihad's military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, declared that the cease-fire, which went into effect on Saturday evening and has been violated a handful of times since then, "is over."
"The occupation's crimes will not go unpunished," the al-Quds Brigade said. "All options are being considered and we stand behind the equation of 'a strike for a strike.' The occupation would be wise to understand that the decision on going to war or ending it will not be theirs to make."
Speaking to new IDF recruits at an induction base in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is facing challenges on both the northern and southern fronts, against enemies in Gaza and in Syria.
"We are in the midst of conflict," Netanyahu said. "We are trading blows, but ultimately this is a battle of willpower. We are exhausting all the possibilities but we are very, very determined to defend our borders."
"We will do whatever it takes to maintain security, not just for the residents of the Gaza envelope but of all the citizens of Israel," he vowed.
On Wednesday, the tenuous cease-fire collapsed when a Palestinian sniper shot and wounded an IDF officer near the Gaza border.
The incident took place in the early evening hours near the abandoned Kissufim border crossing, when Israeli troops trying to keep a group of Palestinian children away from the fence came under fire.
The officer sustained moderate-to-serious wounds to his abdomen and chest and was rushed to Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba for treatment.
In response, IDF tanks and aircraft shelled seven Hamas targets in Gaza, killing a number of terrorists. Hamas later confirmed that the three of its operatives were killed in the strike, but stopped short of claiming its operatives had shot at the Israeli troops.
Prior to Wednesday's incident, it appeared that the brittle truce, brokered by Egyptian officials and U.N. Middle East envoy Nikolay Mladenov on Saturday, was largely holding.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot held a security assessment Wednesday with GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi, Director of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Tamir Heyman and top officials in the IDF's Operations Directorate.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later spoke with Lieberman and Eizenkot, as well as with National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, and was briefed on recent developments.
Wednesday's incident was the second time in less than a week that a Palestinian sniper was able to hit an Israeli soldier.
Givati Brigade Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi, 21, from Petach Tikva, was killed by sniper fire in a border clash on Friday.
Levi was the first IDF fatality on the Gaza front since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
