Israel has resumed threats against Hamas and the civilian population in Gaza. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to intensify its attacks if the Palestinian Islamist movement does not prevent “drones, balloons, and kites from being launched from the Strip” towards Israel, according to a statement released this Sunday by the prime minister’s office. The new warnings come amid a stalemate in negotiations with the Palestinian militia, ten months after the establishment of a ceasefire, sponsored by the United States.
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“Israel warns Hamas that if the launches towards Israeli territory do not stop immediately, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will intensify selective operations against those responsible and evacuate the population from the areas used [for that purpose],” says the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, who is risking his stay in office in the legislative elections to be held at the end of October.
The statement was made public after Israeli authorities reported detecting four objects that flew over their territory this weekend near Israeli communities adjacent to the Strip and after a meeting of the prime minister with senior military leaders and the IDF, attended by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.
A photograph distributed by the Israeli army shows soldiers next to two kites that fell in the area. A Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, Basem Naim, said that children in Gaza habitually fly kites to “recover some of their childhood among the rubble” of the Strip, according to Reuters.
Inside the Strip, at least two people have died and seven others were injured in two Israeli attacks this Sunday, according to Palestinian health authorities. One of the fatalities was Mohammad Abdel-Salam Taha, a four-year-old child.
One of the bombings targeted a building in Al Zawayda, in the center of the enclave, where at least six were injured. “There is no ceasefire, there is nothing,” lamented Abu Ahmed, a displaced Palestinian who was near the area, to Reuters agency. “We want solutions, we want to live in peace,” he stated. The other attack occurred near the Nuseirat refugee camp, which houses tens of thousands of people.
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The Israeli government conditioned any progress in the negotiations promoted by the United States at the beginning of August on the total disarmament of the Palestinian militia. The Islamist organization, which had already formally accepted the proposal to hand over weapons, responded that if Israel did not fulfill its part of the agreement, starting with the withdrawal of its troops from the occupied areas of the Strip, they would not either.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, visited the Middle East this week and held meetings with Jalil al Haya, the new leader of Hamas, and with Netanyahu to try to get the negotiations back on track to end the conflict. The Israeli prime minister said they were “deep and constructive conversations” and took for granted that Washington supports his position. The Peace Board, the body promoted by the White House that oversees the implementation of the truce, said that “it is now up to Hamas to demonstrate if it really intends to comply.”
“Israel will not allow the terrorist organization Hamas — nor any other entity in the Gaza Strip — to threaten our communities again or undermine the sense of security of our citizens,” the Israeli government said in its latest statement.
Since the establishment of the ceasefire last October, more than 1,200 Palestinians from Gaza have died in Israeli attacks.
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