The lulls after each round of armed clashes between Hamas and Israel are growing shorter. Just two weeks ago at the beginning of July, Egypt mediated yet another truce between the sides, ending another round of violence. But the events of July 13-14 prove that the understandings reached between the sides do not hold water. The fire kites that have become a daily routine and the protests along the Gaza border fence with Israel — albeit smaller than in the past — do not advance calm in the Gaza Strip. Army Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis claimed July 14 that Israel had carried out the heaviest daytime attack on the Gaza Strip since the summer 2014 war known as Operation Protective Edge. In the previous round on May 30, the military “broke the record” of nighttime strikes on the enclave set in 2014. In other words, the two sides are gradually escalating the intensity of their blows.
Israel claims it will have no choice eventually other than mounting another massive military operation against Gaza in order to restore its deterrence capacity. Indeed, pressure is growing on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — with more and more voices in the defense Cabinet, among them those of the rightist HaBayit HaYehudi party — demanding that the government abandon its policy of restraint and order a massive military response to the continued violations of Israeli sovereignty.
