TEL AVIV, (BM) – In recent days, the intensity and number of rockets fired from Gaza to Israel have declined proportionately. This situation raises serious doubts among Israeli intelligence services that Hamas is preparing to launch a cross-border attack on Israeli territory as a last-ditch attempt to “win victory” in the missile war.
According to Israeli media reports, a ceasefire is imminent. Some experts believe that this will happen today (May 20), others that the day will be this Friday.
A source in the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense.com at the Israeli Ministry of Defense claims that the Palestinian political-military movement Hamas “has acted similarly on other occasions since the cessation of rocket fire.” Similar information is sharing by a senior officer of the Israeli Defense Forces.
“I don’t think Hamas can carry out a major surprise ground operation, but it can make an attack,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to Israeli military intelligence, Hamas has enough ammunition to carry out such an attack. However, it is not clear to what extent Hamas can mobilize quickly after Israel has carried out heavy air raids and rocket artillery shelling over the last ten or eleven days, both on the Hamas subway and by killing a dozen senior Palestinian political officers. -military movement.
International pressure is mounting
The IDF believes that Hamas is preparing such a suicidal cross-border attack is the declining tensions between the warring parties. Amid intense international pressure for a ceasefire, Gaza will want to have the last word and draw a political dividend from such action.
The United States, the United Nations, and the rest of the world are pushing for a ceasefire. Although US President Joe Biden has openly sided with Israel, Democrats in the United States are going for a quick ceasefire and peace talks. Israel was ready to launch an invasion of Gaza with heavy weapons, but the White House disagreed with Tel Aviv, and Israel canceled the operation.
The victims of the conflict have been 227 Palestinians killed, dozens of them children, 12 Israelis, and two children.
The Israeli military was surprised
An Israeli media source claims that the first days of the “rocket war” caught the Israeli army unprepared in the area of Ashkelon. According to him, the Israelis were seriously surprised by the continuous rocket fire with 150 missiles from Hamas, which caused technical problems with the Iron Dome air defense system. The Israeli military specialists later removed them.
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The other surprise was Hamas’s “passivity.” Despite the constant rocket fire, the Palestinians used only Qassam missiles, which have a simple principle of operation and a specific trajectory. The senior Israeli officer recalled that Hamas has much more modern missiles, such as the one in 2019, which fell in Israel and formed a huge crater.
The Israeli officer also said Hamas had large quantities of shells, explosives, and missile variants. According to military intelligence, he said the demolition of the Hamas subway had prevented Palestinian movement commandos from entering Israel.
What is happening in the area?
The violence began after the focus fell on controversial judicial and political actions over the Palestinian-populated Sheikh Jara district of East Jerusalem. An Israeli court initially ruled that Palestinians should be evicted from the neighborhood and be populated with Israelis. A hearing on the eviction followed, but it never ended last Sunday and was postponed.
On Monday, May 10, Jerusalem was subjected to a brief rocket attack by al-Quds and Hamas with a request on the eviction decision. Israel did not comply with the Palestinians, which led to a retaliatory strike and a rocket fire between the two countries for the second day in a row.
According to a field source, Israel has involved fighter jets and tanks in the conflict, which are hitting 130 targets in the Gaza Strip. These goals are related to the Hamas movement. According to the Israeli authorities, these goals are also associated with terrorist organizations.
The international community welcomes the actions of Israelis and Palestinians, but as statements from both sides make clear, both sides may reach no agreement soon.
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