Israel has begun reinforcing its military presence along the southern border, ahead of the “Day of Rage” planned for Saturday by Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, Kan news reported on Thursday.
Hamas has threatened to renew violence against Israel, including border riots, unless it is granted access to Qatari funds in cash. Israel, backed backed by the Palestinian Authority, is demanding that the funds be sent via wire transfer, as a means to ensure that the funds are spent on rebuilding civilian infrastructure in Gaza rather than Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees spokesman Abu Mujahid has said that the time allotted to the [Egyptian] “mediators” to work out a deal between Israel and the factions in Gaza had ended, and that a new phase of “response to Israeli conduct” had begun, Kan reported.
The escalation is part of a wider pressure campaign by Hamas to force Israel to agree to its terms of a long-term arrangement designed to increase investment programs and reconstruction in Gaza, following a May armed conflict.
While Israel is ensuring that humanitarian and basic goods enter Gaza on a daily basis, it is also demanding that broader programs to develop Gaza are tied to the release of two Israeli civilians being held hostage by Hamas, and the release of the remains of two MIA IDF soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who were killed in the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.