Will it be a ‘mistake’ when ‘angry youth’ from Gaza kill troops? – analysis

The summer heat may be fading, but temperatures are rising along the border fence separating Israel from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. A flare-up of violence with rocket fire and several violent infiltrations along the border fence has broken months of relative calm along the normally restive border.

Over a span of two weeks, nine armed Palestinians were able to infiltrate into Southern Israel before being engaged by IDF troops and killed. Four rockets have also been fired towards Israeli communities along the border, one of which struck the patio of a home in the college town of Sderot.

What happened? Did we miss something in Gaza? Or did Hamas catch Israel blinking?

It began on August 1rst when an IDF officer and two soldiers were injured by Hani Abu Salah, a member of Hamas’s border patrol when he tried to infiltrate into Israel. He had been wearing a uniform and was armed with grenades and a Kalashnikov rifle when he infiltrated into Israeli territory from the southern edge of the Hamas-run enclave. Abu Salah was killed in an exchange of fire at the border in the area of Kissufim in southern Israel.

Over a week later on August 10th IDF troops shot dead four heavily armed Palestinians who attempted to infiltrate with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), AK-47 assault rifles and grenades.  The four militants were identified as 21 year-old Abdullah Ismail Al-Hamaida, 19 year-old Abdullah Ashraf al-Ghomri, 20 year-old Ahmad Ayman al-Adeini and 21 year-old Abdallah al-Masri, all of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The next day 26 year-old Marwan Nasser was shot and killed by IDF troops after he opened fire on them while trying to infiltrate into southern Israel. During his funeral he was seen wearing a green bandana associated with Hamas’ military wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades.

On Saturday following a second night of rocket fire three armed Palestinians identified as 21 year-old Mohammed Al-Taramsi, 23 year-old Mohammad Abu Namous and 22 year-old Mahmoud Al-Walaydeh.  The three were wrapped in flags belonging to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah and Hamas’ Izzedin al-Qassem brigades during their burial.

While no group claimed responsibility for the infiltration attempts despite the men showing their allegiances to the various groups, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad has mourned the deaths of all the “rebellious angry youth” killed by IDF fire.

It’s funny, no armed group wants to take responsibility for them. Sounds like the excuse that the terror group gave when three rockets were fired towards central Israel by “mistake.”

But those “angry youth” who were “rebelling” against the “Zionist occupation” likely had one goal: To infiltrate into Israel to attack and kill soldiers or civilians. Whoever came across their path first.

Had they succeeded in attacking and possibly killed IDF troops or Israeli civilians, would that have been a “mistake”?

Recognizing the pattern of violent nighttime infiltrations over the past few weeks, the defense establishment has begun planning to build an additional wall along the border close to where Saturday’s infiltration occurred.

According to a report on Israel’s Channel 12 last week, the Defense Ministry is planning to build a six meter (20 feet) high defensive wall inside Israeli territory along a 9 km. stretch of Route 34 between the communities of Yad Mordechai and Sderot.

The additional wall, which is meant to provide nearby communities with additional protection from terrorist infiltration, comes in addition to another barrier, large sand berms and the planting of trees to protect citizens from threats like anti-tank fire emanating from the Strip following the death of an Israeli civilian by a Kornet anti-tank missile fired at his car in May.

In addition to all that, Israel’s new upgraded barrier with the Strip is expected to be completed – both above and underground – by next summer, to remove the threat of cross-border attack tunnels and stop terrorists from Gaza intent on carrying out attacks from infiltrating into southern Israel.

But until then, Israel is still vulnerable to ground infiltrations by “angry youths.” And one day those “angry youths” are going to succeed and then what?

Will Mister Security, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (who doesn’t seem keen on yet another military conflict with Hamas and other terror groups in the Strip) give the green light for troops to put a stop to the violence?

Or will the government continue to tiptoe around Gaza? Will it continue to place a bandaid over the festering wound that is the completely destroyed Gaza Strip building barrier on top of barrier on top of another barrier.

Because dead troops don’t win elections.