BICOM

In an escalation of attacks on Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza, a Grad-type rocket hit southern Ashkelon last night. No injuries were reported. Two residents of the city were treated for shock. A mortar and two Kassam rockets were fired earlier in the day. The latest attack follows a mortar barrage over the weekend. On Saturday, 50 mortar shells were fired at farming communities in the western Negev. Two people were injured as they sought shelter. Hamas claimed responsibility for part of the firing.

Clashes have also taken place in the border area between IDF troops and Palestinian gunmen. A guided antitank missile was fired at a tank patrolling the border yesterday. Thanks to the employment of the new Trophy protection system, the tank suffered no damage and was able to return fire on the location the missile was launched from. Following this latest Grad attack, the IDF is expected to respond later today.

Israeli analysts have suggested a number of explanations as to why Hamas have suddenly decided to initiate and escalate armed attacks against Israeli civilian communities in the Gaza area. One such analysis is by Khaled Abu Toameh, writing in the Jerusalem Post. Abu Toameh has linked the unexpected escalation with developments in internal Palestinian politics. He suggested that the attacks were taking place in order to drag Israel into a military offensive and thereby divert attention from Hamas’s internal problems in Gaza. Hamas has been under pressure recently because of a growth of protests calling for Palestinian reconciliation. The movement has no desire to give up its Gaza enclave. It apparently considers that renewed conflict with Israel will enable it to silence protests and unite the population of Gaza behind it.