• Tweeter

  • republish

Israeli soldier on patrol not far from the Gaza border, November 14, 2019. REUTERS / Ronen Zvulun

After a deadly escalation this week and for the first time since the ceasefire between Islamic Jihad and Israel came into effect on Thursday, this truce has been respected for more than 24 hours.

With our special correspondent in Gaza, Marine Vlahovic

By bombarding several Hamas military sites on Saturday, Israel has further weakened the existing ceasefire . Still no Palestinian response, but the Jewish state has sent a clear message to the Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip: it is again held responsible for any " overflow " in the enclave.

Delicate position

This puts Hamas in a delicate position, says Mukhaimer Abu Saada, associate professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza: " If Hamas prevents other Palestinian factions from launching rockets, it will be subject to a strong public pressure, and Hamas is already under fire from critics here because it wants to maintain the ceasefire with Israel to let money from Qatari aid into the Gaza Strip. He is accused of no longer worrying about the Palestinian resistance. "

" Hamas will try to contain the other factions "

" But at the same time, if Hamas retaliates, continues Mukhaimer Abu Saada, he runs the risk of further Israeli bombing . It will take a few more days, but I think Hamas will try to contain the other factions or groups, unless Israel does not respect the ceasefire. "

Spontaneous demonstrations against the truce ceased for fear of possible repression by Hamas security forces.