Hamas or Islamic Jihad: Who's responsible for Gaza rocket fire?
Analysis: One political analyst, who's very close to Hamas, wrote on his Twitter account the terror group was not behind the rocket fire; hours later, all the messages on his social media have disappeared; does it indicate Hamas's unwillingness to blame Islamic Jihad - the second largest faction in the enclave - or is that an admission of guilt?
"Rocket fire which deviates from the national consensus has an opposite effect,” he wrote on his social media, alluding to the fact that another Palestinian faction was responsible for launching the projectiles at Israel.
Although Al-Madhoun refrained from naming the suspected culprit, it’s fair to say that only a terror group which possesses great enough military strength could have fired 10 rockets in the space of just a few minutes.
On Saturday morning, all the messages on Al-Madhoun's Twitter account have mysteriously disappeared (and so have all his followers). Does it mean that Hamas thought the political analyst’s decision to make that information public was made to the detriment of the organization's interest? Quite possibly.
On the one hand, Al-Madhoun's social media post could quite easily be interpreted as him pointing a virtual finger at the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad - the second largest military faction in the coastal enclave - which might have unnerved Hamas.
On the other hand, the disappearance of the tweet could point to Hamas being responsible for the rocket fire. Everyone’s already familiar with Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar’s tricks, who operates like a mafia boss. He could have easily ordered to attack Israel to express his dissatisfaction with the way the ceasefire arrangement negotiations are being conducted.
It’s also possible that Islamic Jihad military wing’s commander, Baha Abu Al Ata, has decided for whatever reason to flex his military muscle.
There is also a possibility that radical elements within both Hamas and Islamic Jihad decided to sabotage the relative quiet on the volatile border to express their disagreement with the way the two biggest factions in the Strip are conducting themselves against the Israelis.
It’s important to understand that the Gaza Strip is very chaotic and not a single faction in it has a 100% sovereignty over that piece of land, with a lot of different elements pulling the string in different directions.
Therefore, not everything that happens in Gaza always has a clear and obvious explanation.
