Skolorna öppnade som normalt idag i samhällena kring Gaza trots att närmare 40 raketer avfyrats mot Israel från Gaza under veckoslutet. Ingen har skadats direkt av attackerna men materiella skador har uppstått och ett par personer har skadats när de skyndat till bombskydd.
Beskjutningen kopplas ihop med oroligheterna i Jerusalem där arabiska demonstranter drabbat samman med polis och där också judiska demonstranter från extremhögern varit inblandade.
Som vanligt ger de palestinska ledarna Israel skulden för oroligheterna och kallar de arabiska demonstranterna för hjältar.
Oroligheterna i Jerusalem hänger i sin tur ihop med det kommande palestinska valet. Man vill ha fokuset bort från egna problem och framstå som Jerusalems och Al-Aqsa moskéns försvarare.
"...A 21-year-old from Sderot sustained a head injury while running to a shelter during a rocket siren. He was treated at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, where his condition was stable. Additionally, an 18-year-old woman suffered an acute anxiety attack because of the alarms and was treated at the same hospital, the medical center said.
The IDF did not conduct retaliatory raids in response to the Saturday night attacks in an apparent bid to stave off further violence. Though not unprecedented, this was a relatively uncommon decision by the military, which tends to retaliate harshly to such attacks.
Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade claimed responsibility for some of the rocket attacks on Friday night, while the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades took credit for attacks on both Friday night and Saturday night.
Israel, however, formally holds the Hamas terror group responsible for all attacks from the Strip, seeing it as ultimately responsible for what goes on in the enclave.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade and Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades tied the rocket launches to the ongoing unrest in Jerusalem, where Arab residents of the capital have repeatedly clashed with police and attacked Jewish Israelis, and where Israeli far-right nationalists have staged violent, racist protests..."
"...The Palestinian factions have succeeded in their effort to turn the dispute over the inclusion of Jerusalem in the upcoming Palestinian elections into a major theme of their electoral campaigns, which are set to begin this Friday.
They are already competing for the title of the best “defenders of Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque” against alleged Israeli efforts to “Judaize” the city and alter the historical and legal status of the holy site.
The factions, specifically Fatah and Hamas, are also seeking to use the issue of Jerusalem as a distraction from the internal problems and challenges they are increasingly facing on the eve of the elections.
Israeli authorities, on the other hand, evidently underestimated the calls made by the factions and their leaders over the past few weeks to turn Jerusalem into a battlefield for “constant clashes” with the Israeli security forces and “settlers.”..."
