Factors in the Southern Command: Launching explosive balloons from Gaza and targeting Hamas

Despite the resumption of firearm balloon attacks by Hamas squads toward southern communities, fighters in the field say they have not been given clear instructions on how to act in case of identifying balloons or suspicious objects. At the same time, pressure on superstars to respond to launches is mounting, even though the IDF wants to preserve the regulation process

Factors in the Southern Command: Launching explosive balloons from Gaza and targeting Hamas

(In video: IDF attack in response to launch of Gaza bomb balloons, last week)

Sources in the Southern Command say that the blisters of the Gaza bomb blasts operate under the clear intent of Hamas in terms of the timing of the launches, the hours in which they are carried out and the extent of the cases. In recent days, commanders in the Gaza Division receive a photograph every few hours, with focal points from which bomb blasts are fired at Israel.

This map is a complex operational product made by field warrior observations, observational and other means of collection. Division officials explained to Walla! NEWS that "it is an effort to build a complete snapshot, but not all balloons are seen, and some of them pass indiscriminately."

The balloon blossoms attach a makeshift explosive device to the balloons, examining the wind directions and blowing them into the air - toward the territory of the State of Israel. However, to the fighters deployed along the border, the reality looks a little different.

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The intention is clear in terms of the volume and timing of their launches. A bunch of balloons found in Sderot, today

A bundle of balloons with a cargo found in the city of Sderot (Photo: Untitled)

The commanders instructed them to report any suspicious movement in the area to the IDF, and to try to clarify where any foreign balloons were being moved. Balloons, or ignore them.

Last weekend, in light of the increase in the phenomenon of terrorist balloons and the ranges to which they were launched, it was decided by the political echelon to attack Hamas. However, the action did not deter the governing body in the Gaza Strip, and in fact, inflicting terrorist balloons on Israel only intensified, and Israeli police terrorists continue to deal with it. Educational institutions have raised their heads and sent messages to concerned parents, asking them to talk to their children about contact with suspicious objects.

Despite the growing incidence of terrorist balloons in recent days, the political echelon has at this stage decided not to comment. The reason was not necessarily the weather conditions, nor the visit of diplomats to Israel, but mainly the desire to keep the regulation process alive and breathing.

At the political level, at this stage they decided not to comment. Balloons found in an open area in the cluster, last week (Photo: Police spokeswoman)

Balloon wreath in open area within the Eshkol Regional Council, January 16, 2020 (Photo: Police spokeswoman, official website)

According to military officials, Hamas insists that the arrangement process is delayed and that some of the undertaking does not materialize on the ground. In order to put pressure on Israel, the organization inflates explosives, or at the very least refrain from prohibiting the action intended to cause fear among the Israeli public.

Israel sent messages to Egypt, which mediated between the parties, according to which no action was taken and the process is progressing according to the summaries. According to the messages, if Hamas does not enforce the silence, and does not prevent the flow of terrorist balloons in the coming days, the IDF will have to respond.

The diplomats are coming - and the atmosphere is tense

There is no doubt that in light of the fact that high-level diplomatic missions will be arriving in Israel within the framework of the World Holocaust Forum in Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the atmosphere in the country will be very sensitive to terrorist events. Hamas is aware of this, and so in the first place they do not increase the rate of terrorist balloons, but also do not return "nightmarish" - the same actions designed to harass fighters along the border, in accordance with the threats heard in recent days in the Gaza Strip.

It is believed that, in line with Israeli messages, Egyptian pressure and the understanding that Hamas is not interested in escalating, the riots will cease - thus avoiding a military response. Until then, the center of pressure will be Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, who wants to see the regulation process advanced, to create peace in the south of the country while security attention is directed north, as well as towards more distant circles.

In the shadow of Gaza regulation efforts: Hamas is warming the area in Judea and Samaria

The pressures of the public and the political echelon will have to be balanced. Bennett stars (Photo: Ariel Hermoni, Ministry of Defense)

The transfer of the role of Defense Minister between the Prime Minister and the outgoing Minister of Defense, Benjamin Netanyahu, to incoming Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, with the participation of Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi. November 12, 2019 (Photo: Ariel Hermoni, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Defense)

Stars will be required to balance the pressures of the public and the political echelon, which in the near future will be sensitive to voters' votes until the third elections. Military officials estimate that if the Gaza launches do not stop, the political echelons may realize the threats - despite the presence of foreign diplomats in Israel and the rainy weather.