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Comment and Opinion

Haaretz: The jihadist genie released after Trump’s Jerusalem decision has yet to be put back in its bottle, by Amos Harel

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This is the up-to-date intelligence assessment, as presented on Thursday to the leaders of the Israeli government: Despite the relatively widespread rocket fire from the Gaza Strip – about 15 rockets over the past nine days – Hamas is not interested in a confrontation with Israel.

The Hamas government in Gaza has loosened the reins a bit for the extremist Salafi groups after U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech on December 6 and has allowed them to fire rockets as an expression of Palestinian opposition to the American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Since then, the organization that controls the Gaza Strip is finding it difficult to put the genie back into the bottle. Hamas’ security services have arrested Salafi activists who were involved in the rocket fire, but it seems as though it will take time until they manage to restore calm. The atmosphere in Gaza has been volatile ever since late October when Israel blew up an attack tunnel leading from Gaza into Israel, killing 12 members of Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

Read the full article at Haaretz.