By Xinhua writer Wang Zhuolun
JERUSALEM, May 11 (NNN-XINHUA) – Although the recent clashes between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas were smaller and more intermittent than last year’s 11-day war, they were enough to put the fragile Bennett coalition government on edge.
On the first anniversary of the outbreak of the deadly war, Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, Defence Minister, Benny Gantz, and other high-level military officers, on Sunday participated in the “Chariots of Fire” military exercise, the largest in the country in decades.
Since Mar 22, tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have spiralled as deadly shooting and stabbing attacks took place across Israel, almost every time followed by Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank.
During this year’s Ramadan from early Apr to early May, repeated clashes broke out between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police in Jerusalem’s holy site, known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to Jews the Temple Mount.
In Israel, criticism of the government’s handling of the attacks is mounting, despite extensive measures announced by Bennett to beef up security, such as the formation of a National Guard that consists of professional security personnel and armed civilian volunteers.
Avoiding another war with Hamas and maintaining the ruling coalition are the priorities on the agenda, for the fragile Bennett government, as the Ra’am, the only and first-ever Arab political party to be included in a ruling coalition in Israel, threatens to turn the temporary suspension of its participation into a permanent exit.
“Bennett is in a difficult situation, due to the ongoing wave of terrorist attacks, as well as, internal problems within his coalition,” said Yochanan Visser, an Israel-based Middle East affairs analyst, noting that Ra’am is “in fact holding the government hostage.”
Ra’am decided to temporarily freeze its membership in both the Knesset (parliament) and the coalition on Apr 17, two days after over 160 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
If Ra’am pulls out its four seats in the 120-member parliament, Bennett’s coalition, which has only 60 seats now, will be in the minority and on the verge of dissolution.
Apart from one attack that killed an Israeli security officer, guarding the West Bank settlement of Ariel, on Apr 29, Gaza’s ruler, Hamas, has not claimed responsibility for most of the attacks. Despite the threats exchanged between the two sides, it seemed to Israel that, Hamas was not preparing for a military operation.
Israeli defence officials said on Monday that, Hamas is not believed to be behind the recent string of deadly attacks, but rather has been “riding the wave” to encourage more violence.
“On the ground in Gaza, the belief is that, despite the belligerent terminology used by the leaders, neither side is interested in a head-on clash at this time,” political analyst, Jack Khoury wrote, in an article in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.
An anonymous senior official in Gaza was also quoted as saying, Hamas is not interested in escalating the situation, specifically on the southern front.
Meanwhile, the Egyptians and the Qataris have been striving to avert escalation, especially rockets fired from Gaza, he added, citing a senior Hamas official’s remarks.
On May 10, 2021, Israel launched a large-scale military campaign against the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for the firing of rockets into Israel by the armed factions, led by Hamas, in response to Israeli provocations at the sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
During the fierce conflict, more than 260 Palestinians and 14 Israelis were killed, and thousands of Palestinians injured, until a cease-fire was reached on May 21.– NNN-XINHUA
