During the conflict, Palestinian resistance fighters relied on a system of subterranean tunnels to stage attacks on Israeli troops deployed near the border. It has also tightened the 10-year-old siege on Gaza by blocking the import of cement and other construction materials.
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Israeli forces say they have been conducting operations against tunnels under the border of Gaza used by militants, and on Thursday discovered a tunnel built by Hamas.
It was Israel’s fifth series of airstrikes since Wednesday, when tensions spiraled over IDF efforts to locate attack tunnels dug by Hamas from Gaza into Israeli territory.
In a statement, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said: “We will not be deterred by the Hamas threats, and continue our actions in the wake of the violation of our sovereignty, until the last of the tunnels is found and exposed”.
During the 7 week 2014 invasion of Gaza, Israel killed some 2,200 Palestinians, overwhelmingly civilians.
Hamas’s Gaza leader, Ismail Haniya, said on Friday that the group was “not calling for a new war”, but would not accept Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory. Israel’s military responded with tank fire.
Hamas and other militant groups in recent days have fired at least a dozen mortar rounds at Israeli forces stationed along Gaza’s border – as the troops searched for hidden tunnels.
The spike in cross border violence has raised concerns for a ceasefire that has held since the last round of hostilities in Gaza ended in summer 2014.
The strike Friday morning, in which a missile was launched at a Hamas watch post, followed the targeting from the Gaza Strip of soldiers patrolling the fence along the southern part of the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported.
Peri said Hamas is not interested, at this stage, for its own reasons, in entering another war with Israel.
Hamas “is using mortar fire to communicate that fear to Israel”, he said.
The border region has remained relatively quiet since the 2014 conflict, despite allegations by the army that Hamas is building new tunnels from the enclave that could reach into Israel.
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On Thursday, Israeli General Yoav Mordechai denied reports about a cease-fire agreement between the sides. Hamas said the Israeli government was looking for “false victories” and spreading lies to improve its image at home and overseas.
