Last night’s launch of a Katyusha rocket at Gan Yavne quickly turned out to be the result of an internal Palestinian dispute. So for now, Israelis still scarred by last summer’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip can calm down.

Both Israeli defense officials and sources in Gaza provided identical explanations for what happened. The head of Islamic Jihad’s military wing is currently trying to impose a new local commander on his men in northern Gaza. The field operatives oppose his appointment, and a violent conflict has erupted between the sides – one of which then decided to escalate it by launching a rocket at Israel.

But Hamas didn’t approve the launch, and will presumably take steps to restrain the smaller faction.

Consequently, Israel’s response will be limited. True, this is the first time a relatively long-range rocket has been fired at Israel from Gaza since the war ended last August. But Israel, like Hamas, doesn’t currently want another war. Thus while the rhetoric will be harsh and official spokesmen will declare that Hamas is responsible for all fire from the territory it controls, in practice Israel is likely to make do with a symbolic retaliation, one calculated to avoid provoking further escalation.

Read the article in full at Haaretz.