Hamas eskalerte kraftig lørdag kveld med en rekke nye rakettangrep mot Israel. Faren for en større konflikt er overhengende.
Det er mange aktører som kan ha interesse av såkalt brinkmanship, å balansere på knivseggen.
Israel signaliserer at det ikke lar seg skremme. Kadima bakker en bakkeoperasjon, selv om akkurat det virker usannsynlig.
En alvorlig konflikt på Gaza-stripen nå kan ha en uoverskuelig virkning på stemningen i araberverdenen, og særlig Egypt.
The possibility of peace talks mediated by Egypt, mooted in the Israeli press on Saturday afternoon, was out the window by Saturday evening following a dramatic spike in Gaza’s rocket attacks.
Shortly after 9pm, a Grad rocket hit a home in Beersheba killing one man and wounding eight others, including a woman said to be in critical condition. Earlier that afternoon, another missile claimed by the al-Qassam Brigade, the military wing of Hamas, injured a three-month-old baby and a nine-year-old boy in a nearby town.
The Israeli Defence Force claims more than 70 missiles were launched into the country’s southern Negev region over the weekend. Most were intercepted successfully by Israel’s new Iron Dome anti-missile system, others fell in open ground without causing injury. Several missed Israel entirely, landing on Egyptian territory.
The Israeli Airforce has maintained a steady bombardment of the Gaza Strip since Thursday evening targeting militant leaders, smuggling tunnels and weapons stores. Medics in Gaza report 15 Palestinians have been killed in the attacks, including a teenage boy, and more than 40 have been injured.
Som om ikke det er nok. Pro-palestinske europeiske land, som Spania, mener at EU må gå inn på palestinernes side, og sørge for at det opprettes en palestinsk stat.
Spain weighed into the fray on Sunday with a statement from Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez stating the time has come for “a breakthrough in recognition of a Palestinian state” by the EU or risk “generating frustration among the Palestinian people’.
Ms Jimenez said it had long been a goal shared by “all countries” to seek a solution to conflict in the Middle East with acceptance of a Palestinian State, adding, “I think that there is now a degree of maturity to take steps in that direction.”
Defiant Israel rejects calls for restraint amid fears of full-blown conflict with Gaza
A three-day exchange of rocket fire and air strikes between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza is simmering at the point of full-blown conflict.