After a week of relative quiet, Palestinian Islamists launched incendiary balloons that according to Israel’s local fire department, ’caused a blaze in two separate locations, including near Kibbutz Be’eri and Agricultural community Shokeda, east of the Palestinian enclave.’ Thankfully, the abundance of rain limited the spreading fire – allowing firefighters to quickly extinguish the blaze.
In recent weeks, after an unofficial Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into effect, the number of air-borne explosives and incendiary devices flown from Gaza into Israel dropped almost entirely. Violent nightly riots have ended, and the weekly protests along the border have been held farther from the security fence. The apparent decrease in violence has led to the IDF’s decision to pull back additional forces that it deployed after a wider escalation appeared to be imminent. In addition, two border-crossings connecting Israel and the Hamas-controlled enclave were also opened, among other measures that were agreed upon through Egyptian mediation.
While the situation calmed down, an Israeli security official stressed that the Gaza frontier remains a cause for concern, and the Palestinian Islamist organization has already threatened to renew violence if Israel decides to breach the ceasefire arrangement.