Tension on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip could grow worse, defense officials think.
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Hamas wants the situation to revert to what existed prior to Operation Guardian of the Walls in May, while Israel is unwilling to continue efforts to reach a long-term ceasefire without an agreement to return its missing fallen soldiers and civilians being held captive in Gaza. However, Israel is gradually allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, with the condition that Hamas violence – in the form of rocket fire, arson balloons, or rioting on the border fence – will cause Israel to restrict the flow of goods and equipment into Gaza.
The Israeli defense establishment thinks that if the border protests and the arson balloon attacks continue, there will be no alternative to another military operation against Hamas targets in Gaza. Nevertheless, the defense apparatus would prefer to postpone that scenario until after the High Holidays, which begin on Monday, Sept. 6.
Hamas is exploiting this preference and threatening to step up violence on Rosh Hashanah, on the pretext that the latest disbursement of Qatari aid money has not been transferred. Palestinian officials recently claimed that Israel was obstructing the transfer of funds, leaving tens of thousands of families in need.
One senior official who spoke to Palestinian media outlets said that Hamas and the other armed factions in Gaza had agreed to continue sending arson balloons over the border fence, hoping to cause wildfires in the western Negev, and have their "night units" harass residents of western Negev communities.
On Saturday, Hamas launched over a dozen arson balloons into Israel.
Photos and videos posted online showed masked Hamas-affiliated terrorists holding pictures of Gazans killed in recent clashes with Israeli forces while they launched balloons in the direction of Israel.
There were no immediate reports of any fires in southern Israel. Israel's new government has compared the balloons, which have sparked a series of wildfires in recent weeks, to rocket fire. It often responds to the launches with nighttime airstrikes on Hamas targets.
Hamas has also staged a series of violent demonstrations along the Israeli border in recent weeks calling for an end to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade.
A Hamas spokesman said Saturday that the Gazan people were determined to "break the siege" and no longer accepted the two countries' "gradual easing" of the blockade.
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