Hamas official threatens border raid if Israel doesn’t keep to ceasefire deal

February 19, 2019
JFJFP
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For first time in months, Gaza balloons spark fire in south

Fathi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, delivering a speech in the border region between Israel and the Gaza Strip

Adam Ragson writes in Times of Israel, “A senior Hamas official said on Tuesday that if Israel does not keep to the terms of a de facto ceasefire agreement it reached with the terror group, Palestinians will rush the Gaza Strip’s border with the Jewish state. Fathi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s politburo who is known for his heated rhetoric, made the statement at a protest in the northern border region between Israel and Gaza.”

“If the enemy does not return to its senses and does notimplement the understandings, we will storm the border,” he said in a short speech, without elaborating on what he specifically wanted Israel to do. “Our patience has run out. Our patience has run out.”…

“Israel and Hamas, however, reached a series of understandings last summer through intermediaries to provide Gaza with economic incentives in exchange for relative calm along the border.Egypt, United Nations special coordinator to the Middle East peace process Nickolay Mladenov and Qatar have been identified as the primary arbiters of this de facto ceasefire agreement.”

“Over the past several months, the details of the understandings have begun to materialize on the ground. Israel has allowed for trucks of Qatari-bought fuel to pass into Gaza, as well as funds from Doha for Hamas-appointed civil servants and needy families.“…

“Meanwhile, Hamas has taken action to significantly tone down the border protests in the past “months, but recent weeks have seen a resurgence of clashes with IDF troops. Hamas officials have recently accused Israel of attempting to evade implementing the de facto ceasefire deal in an effort to avoid lifting restrictions on Gaza.” (more…)

Palestinians climb the security fence along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, during clashes east of Gaza City, on February 15, 2019

Judah Ari Gross writes in Times of Israel, “A balloon carrying an incendiary device from the Gaza Strip sparked at least one fire in southern Israel on Tuesday, the first such arson case in several months, authorities said. The blaze burned grasslands in a wooded area outside the community of Kibbutz Kissufim in the Eshkol region. It was quickly extinguished, according to the Israel Fire and Rescue Services.”…The balloon attacks came as dozens of Palestinians took part in riots along the northern border of the Gaza Strip, across from the community of Kibbutz Zikim, the army said.”…

“At least seven Palestinians were injured by Israeli gunfire, to varying degrees, in the clashes, according to the Strip’s Hamas-run health ministry.”…

“Dozens of rioters — members of so-called “confusion units” — took part in the clashes, east of Gaza City, burning tires, setting off dozens of explosive devices, shining lasers at Israeli soldiers across the border to blind them, and attempting to breach the security fence.”…

“The IDF believes Hamas or the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second-largest terror group in Gaza, could attempt to draw Israel into a war by conducting an attack along the border — an anti-tank missile strike, an ambush from an as-yet-undiscovered tunnel, or a similar low-level but significant attack.” (more…)

 

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