Israel Prepares for Potential Escalation in Gaza Strip Over Holidays as Egypt Reportedly Presses to Revive Peace Talks

Israel is preparing for potential escalation in the Gaza Strip over the Jewish holidays as Hamas threatened to continue to launch incendiary balloons from the Palestinian enclave, testing a fragile ceasefire that put an end to the violent clashes in May.

On Saturday night, Hamas launched at least a dozen arson balloons over the Israel-Gaza border fence. Meanwhile, Palestinian groups in Gaza are getting ready to step up the launch of incendiary balloons towards communities along the security fence in the coming days, Palestinian media outlets reported.

According to a report by Israel’s Kan news site, the IDF has reinforced its forces along the Gaza border, and put them on high alert along with its air defense forces and the Iron Dome batteries. Closures will be imposed in the West Bank and crossings in the Gaza Strip will be closed during the coming holidays, the IDF said, with the passage of goods shut other than in exceptions for humanitarian and medical needs.

Every effort will be made to prevent the escalation, but “if there is no choice, we will go to an escalation, including several days of fighting in Gaza,” sources from Israel’s defense establishment said.

At the same time, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi is leading a new initiative to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, according to a report by the London-based Rai al-Youm online site. According to “high-ranking” Arab sources, Egypt’s intelligence service together with Arab and European parties are preparing to present a “new peace initiative” in the coming days, the report said.

Tensions on Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip intensified over the past weeks as Hamas activists held violent demonstrations along the security barrier. Hundreds of Palestinians clashed with Israel’s defense forces and incendiary balloons were launched at Jewish communities around the Gaza Strip.

Udi Dekel, managing director at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) assessed that “it is time for Israel to change the rules of the game, stop being predictable, and adopt an aggressive proactive policy.”

“Hamas seeks to wage a campaign of attrition that will exhaust Israel through an ongoing campaign of harassment shifting between a number of fronts: terrorism and mob violence from the Gaza Strip, incitement in Jerusalem, rocket fire from Lebanon, and encouragement of terrorism in the West Bank. The organization believes that Israel will not begin a large-scale military conflict in the Gaza Strip now,” Dekel said in a report.

Dekel, who in the past served as the head of the IDF’s Strategic Planning Division, recommends that Israel enforce a total shutdown of the border crossings between the Gaza Strip and the Jewish state, and engage in a prolonged campaign against Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure .

“If Israel does not wish to change the rules of the game and incur the risk inherent in a proactive and unexpected policy, it should realize that it is choosing the path of conflict management and continuing to act according to the extortion rules defined by Hamas,” he said.