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Why Hamas, Islamic Jihad are not firing rockets?

The two groups have not claimed responsibility for any rockets fired since Friday

10.08.2014 - Update : 10.08.2014
Why Hamas, Islamic Jihad are not firing rockets?

GAZA CITY 

Three days into the expiry of an Egyptian-brokered 72-hour truce between Israelis and Palestinians, the two most prominent Palestinian resistance factions have not claimed responsibility for any rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on Israeli cities.

This has led observers to suggest that the Palestinian resistance powerhouse is following calculated tactics amid Israel's deadliest offensive in years.

"Israel and the resistance are currently in a state of no peace and no war," Nagui al-Batta, Israeli affairs expert at the Gaza-based Palestine Security Academy, told Anadolu Agency Sunday.

Palestinian factions launched several rockets at Israel Friday as soon as the ceasefire expired, blaming Israel for failure to renew the truce.

Israel said nearly 50 rockets have been fired since Friday morning.

A number of Palestinian groups claimed credit for the attacks.

But the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Gaza's most prominent resistance factions who are currently in Cairo for indirect talks with Israel, have not claimed any of the rocket firing.

"The resistance delivered a message to Israel when their rockets reached most Israeli cities and their fighters attacked Israeli troops," al-Batta said.

"Now, the resistance does not need to seek military escalation and is now looking for a political solution," he added.

"The real battle that needs to be won now is international popular opinion, which has tipped in favor of the Palestinians," asserted the expert.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets in the US, Europe and Africa to show solidarity with the blockaded Gaza Strip, where Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,939 people, mostly civilians, since July 7.

Palestinian factions are demanding the lifting of a years-long Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, building a port in the coastal enclave and release Palestinian prisoners.

Israel, for its part, insists on disarming Palestinian factions.

Tactic

Palestinian political analyst Moshir Amer said that by refraining from firing rockets Hamas and Islamic Jihad employ "a certain kind of tactic or political maneuver."

"The resistance wants to say that it calls the shots when it comes to the situation on the ground, in terms of the intensity and timing of rocket fire," he told AA.

Samir Awad, political science professor at the West Bank's Birzeit University, agrees.

"The resistance wants to rearrange its cards following the extent of the damage from the Israeli operation and see if negotiations will bring forward any radical solution to the crisis," he told AA.

"I do not expect the resistance to intensify attacks after their rockets had already reached across Israel," Awad said. "They might, however, have other surprises."

More than 1,939 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza since July 7, while more than 10,000 others injured.

Israel says "Operation Protective Edge" – its deadliest offensive on the Gaza Strip in six years – aims at halting rocket attacks from Gaza.

According to Israeli figures, at least 64 soldiers were killed in battles with Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip and three civilians in rocket attacks.

By Hedaya al-Saidi

www.aa.com.tr/en 

Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
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