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Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett ordered fresh airstrikes in the Gaza Strip overnight, after incendiary balloons fired by Palestinian militants Hamas provided early evidence for the new prime minister.
Hamas balloons came after the Bennett government allowed right-wing settlers to march on the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem on Tuesday to celebrate the Israeli conquest of the Holy City in the 1967 war. balloons rose as social media carried images of Israeli police on horseback busting young Palestinians and throwing stun grenades to keep them hundreds of meters from right-wing settlers.
The three-day government retaliation strikes were the first such attacks since an 11-day airstrike last month. The Israeli military said Wednesday it attacked “military complexes and meeting places” overnight. There were no casualties.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and whose balloons caused small fires near the border, did not retaliate with rockets. This suggested that the ceasefire attacked by Egypt, the US and the UN, which ended the conflict in May, was maintained.
But the crisis underscored the challenges Bennett inherited from ousted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His predecessor had adopted a policy of “silence for silence” with Hamas, which responded to attacks with limited airstrikes. That changed when militant rockets hit the interior of Israel on May 10, sparking the recent conflict.
As the education minister of a previous government, Bennett, a millionaire of ultranationalist technology, had it he demanded that the military shoot Palestinians lighting incendiary balloons. The balloons, transported to Israel by the sea breeze, cause fires in the agricultural areas of Israel surrounding the Gaza Strip.
But Bennett is now at the helm of an eight-party coalition, which stretches from far right to left and depends on the votes of an Islamist Arab party that supports his government. He also faces pressure from the right wing to demonstrate his ultranationalist credentials with a tougher response and to signal his independence from the Islamist Arab party that supports his government.
“For the first time in Israel, we have a minority Zionist government: it depends on its existence in a party that is part of the Muslim brotherhood just like Hamas,” said retired brigadier general Amir Avivi, who heads Habithonistim, a group of 2,000 people. former Israeli generals, Mossad officers and agents lobbying for stronger military action. “Whether they are the ones who decide whether or not this government will exist, they have enormous political power, and we are concerned about Israel’s national security.”
There is no evidence that Bennett’s decision to attack was influenced by his coalition partners, and limited airstrikes in response to balloons are part of an established “climbing ladder” that the Israeli army has followed for years.
Tuesday’s attacks came after the march of far-right settlers, some shouting “Death to the Arabs” and “Let your cities burn,” from West Jerusalem to the East Jerusalem Damascus Gate. The Flag March was canceled on May 10, after weeks of clashes between Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Israeli police and just before Hamas fired a round of rockets at Jerusalem to warn Israel to stop a series of planned expulsions of Arabs and the march. This volley triggered the recent conflict.
The rescheduled march had been redirected to avoid the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s old city, a political decision by the Bennett government and a concession to its coalition allies. A smaller number of settlers were allowed to approach the old city while the Damascus gate itself was closed to prevent them from entering the Muslim desert.
For Netanyahu’s allies, the decision to change course was a failure of the Bennett government. “Personally, I don’t think we should cancel anything because of the terrorist threats; it’s not like we’re telling anyone in Gaza when and where to go,” said Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Jerusalem’s deputy mayor. who has defended more Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
“All of this is ours,” said Orly Hasid, 50, who had traveled from the coast to join the march. “We have won the war, so we own this city; Muslims must remember that.”
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