More on Palestinian Incitement

Even before Ramadan began, Israel was accused of not allowing Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount.

In the first two weeks of Ramadan, tens of thousands of Muslim worshipers came to the Temple Mount. Then two days ago, everything turned upside down when young Muslims barricaded themselves in the mosques, prevented the worshipers from leaving, and vandalized the furniture inside the mosques.

Hamas has called for escalation and to clash with Israel in Jerusalem. One reason given by the Palestinian spokespeople was “to prevent a Passover sacrifice by the Jews”. 

As a result 34 rockets were fired into civilian towns in Israel FROM LEBANON, 25 of which were intercepted by Iron Dome. An additional five rockets were deemed as nonthreatening, and landed in open areas. However those that landed caused 3 injuries (shrapnel).  Gas station hit, office building/bank hit, chicken coop and van hit.  Multiple fires started in fields.

 Hezbollah aims to escalate the situation on the northern border. There were changes in Hezbollah's policy a year and a half ago on the border with new positions and Hezbollah operatives openly monitoring IDF activities sometimes while armed and/or in uniform - while limiting UNIFIL's freedom of movement and violating the UN Security Council resolution 1701. This presence of Hezbollah led to clashes between IDF soldiers and Hezbollah activists, mainly around the construction of the wall on the Israeli side of the border.

 Al-Jazeera reported that the rockets were fired from the Lebanese Palestinian town of Rachidiyeh, south of Tyre. Even if the rockets were fired by Palestinian factions, this could only have been done with Hezbollah's approval, or possibly following its decision.

  

 IDF stated  “Hamas is behind the rocket fire on the Israeli north. “Lebanon is responsible when rockets are fired from its territory. The IDF is highly prepared and we are looking at who knew about the shooting and whether the Iranians are involved.”

As is to expected an Arab report says that UNIFIL forces have evacuated all the bases in southern Lebanon. Where is resolution 1701?

By the way, those who thought international force could lead to a different reality should think again. Today, UNIFIL's statement called for "both sides" to calm down before there was any reaction from Israel and without any condemnation of Hezbollah.

As of this writing, the biggest dilemma in the Israeli security agencies is how to respond in a way that will create effective deterrence without escalating the situation into a war. As far as IDF is concerned, all options are open. And there is no point in guessing what, when, and where the reaction will come. Contrary to the assessment in Hezbollah and Tehran, Israel is strong, and its citizens are resilient.