GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The sound of thunder mixed with that of Israeli bombing on March 11. Gazans could no longer tell when the sky was exploding and when a bomb was exploding.

Social networking sites were filled with posts combining the fear of a new war with the joy of rain, following a military escalation between Israel and the Palestinian resistance factions. The escalation began on March 11, after an Israeli airstrike assassinated three members of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, in the southern Gaza Strip. The Al-Quds Brigades responded by launching an operation they called "Breaking the Silence" on the evening of March 12, during which they fired 130 rockets and shells at Israeli cities.

Gaza resident Saad al-Waheidi tweeted on March 12: "Yesterday in #Gaza the sounds of shelling and 'glory' rockets overlapped with those of the thunderstorm … a magnificent symphony that will not be repeated."

During interviews with Al-Monitor on the morning of March 13, Gazans expressed their fears of a new war. "We were struck by terror last night after local rockets were launched [at Israel]. We were awaiting an Israeli response, and thought the sound of thunder was shelling. However, every time [we heard a sound], the sky would light up confirming it was thunder, thus we breathed a sigh of relief," said Khitam al-Hamayda.