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Islamic Jihad and the Israeli Army star in their first major confrontation in 2020 endangering the unwritten truce between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas. The escalation, with missiles and bombings in the Gaza Strip, Israel and Syria, has erupted shortly after the monthly delivery of Qatari economic aid to the poor Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Israeli decision to expand the number of permits of Gazati workers in their territory to 7000. Two measures aimed at propping up the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu in a country that in seven days goes to the polls for the third time in less than a year.

As planned, the Israeli Air Force has attacked several bases and Jihad commandos in the Gaza Strip late last night in retaliation for the more than 30 projectiles fired in a few hours against southern Israel. The attack of the pro-Iranian Palestinian group was, in turn, retaliation for the death of Mohamed Al Naem (27). This member of his armed arm (Al Quds Brigades) was shot down by Israeli troops on Sunday morning while placing an explosive device on the border with Israel according to a video released by Israel. His death and, above all, or the action of the army to seize his corpse with an excavator caused the wrath of all Palestinian factions - from Hamas to Al Fatah - which soon resulted in an intense blast of rockets against several Israeli cities and kibbutzim .

Also as planned - although not so long - according to the numerous promises of the leaders of the Jihad "to avenge the ugly crime of the occupation." Half of the 30 projectiles were intercepted by Israeli defensive batteries, activated only when the target is a residential area, while the rest hit the open ground. There were no deaths or serious injuries. According to Palestinian health authorities, Israel's air attack caused four injuries.

What was not planned was that Israel will expand its response by attacking Jihad targets in Syria or confirm it after only a few minutes. "In the Adeliyah area, on the outskirts of Damascus, an Islamic Jihad complex was reached, it was used as an Islamic Jihad activity center for the research and development of weapons for its manufacture in Syria and Gaza as well as for fuel rockets, "the Israeli army said adding that the attacked facility was used to" instruct terrorist operatives both from Gaza against from the north "against Israel.

Syrian state media pointed out that their defensive batteries managed to neutralize a large part of the "hostile missiles" from several waves of the Golan in reference to the plateau occupied by Israel in the war of 67. It should be remembered that in recent years, Israel has launched numerous attacks on targets of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its allied militias such as Hezbollah. Netanyahu does not usually admit or deny such attacks although he does repeat that the goal "is to prevent Iran from turning Syria into a platform against Israeli citizens." President Bashar Asad, supported by Iran in the Syrian internal war, denounced in the past "Israeli aggressions against Syrian sovereignty and helping terrorist groups in Syria."

One of the keys now is to see how Hamas will act. He did not intervene in the previous escalation between Israel and Jihad on November 12 after the murder of the military leader of this group in Gaza, Baha Abu al Ata. The group of Ismail Haniyah and Yahya Sinwar allowed the massive retaliation of the second most important movement in Gaza but did not add its powerful armed arm in the escalation that, like the previous ones in the last two years, ended thanks to the mediation of Egypt and the envoy of the UN, Nickolay Mladenov.

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