BICOM

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has increased its armoured personnel on the Gaza border in anticipation of violent demonstrations after Friday prayers today.

Following Wednesday’s Security Cabinet meeting, Yoav Gallant, a former head of IDF Southern Command, said: “I’m not going to talk about decisions taken by the Cabinet. However, I can explicitly say that the rules of the game are about to change. We won’t accept violence on the Gaza border fence and the continuation of the kite terrorism.”

Among the reinforcements sent to the border were dozens of tanks, artillery, infantry APCs and engineering vehicles. Israelis living in communities nearby told reporters that they have not seen such a significant concentration of IDF forces in the area in years. “It only looked like this during Operation Protective Edge or several years ago when there were tensions. It feels like something is about to happen, or they want to send a message to Hamas to beware,” one resident told Ynet. Flight routes at Ben-Gurion Airport were also re-routed yesterday due to the security situation.

Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam brigades, published a Hebrew video message on Thursday in which the group threatened Israel against making any “mistake”. Hamas has also refused to cancel today’s protests but reports suggest it has instructed its men to take action to tone down the demonstrations.

UN Middle East envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, told the UN Security Council yesterday that a “new conflict” is approaching and that they are communicating with Egyptian and Israeli authorities in order to “avoid the war”. Mladenov said Hamas and other terror groups must immediately stop “all provocations and attacks,” attempts to breach the border fence, end the use of flying fire balloons and kites, and halt tunnel construction.

Four Egyptian intelligence officials entered Gaza from Israel yesterday to join with Egyptian mediators trying to conclude a cease-fire agreement. The Egyptian delegation also travelled to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Majed Faraj and Azzam el-Ahmed, who holds Fatah’s portfolio for reconciliation. A senior Hamas official, Khalil al-Haya, said the Egyptians had discussed cease-fire efforts, as well as attempts at reconciliation with Fatah.