Hamas has assessed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning a military operation in the Gaza Strip to deflect public opinion from the criminal investigations against him in Israel. On Aug. 9, Israeli air force planes attacked two Hamas targets in northern Gaza in response to the firing of a rocket from Gaza that landed in an open area of the Hof Ashkelon Local Council. The attack on Hamas’ military posts and on the Shati refugee camp — where Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, lives — was viewed by the movement's leadership as additional proof of their assessment that Israel is planning an escalation and preparing for a major military operation.
The heads of Hamas’ military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, view the airstrikes as a clear attempt to draw Hamas into a confrontation. The announcement the organization made immediately after the attacks leaves no room for doubt about how they see the situation: “This is crossing a dangerous line for which Israel will bear the consequences. We will not allow Gaza to be turned into a testing field for Israeli ammunition.”
Tensions between Israel and the Gaza Strip in the last week reached heights not seen since the cease-fire at the conclusion of Israel's Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Al-Monitor learned that the organization’s military wing has beefed up its military forces along the length of the border with Israel. Hamas' military posts, including the two hit days ago, are now manned 24/7 due to concerns about an Israeli invasion.
Even if Hamas' evaluation of the situation is not based on verifiable sources but on circumstantial evidence alone, it shows that the group's higher-ups are well-informed about what goes on in Israel. The movement’s leaders receive a collection of translated news bits and commentaries from the Israeli media on a daily basis. In addition, they have access to analyses by Israel experts voicing their opinions on the politics and diplomacy behind events. Of course, Hamas is mainly interested in how events might affect the Gaza Strip.
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