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Southern Israel on Alert After String of Rocket Attacks

More rocket fire from Gaza may augur a broader escalation

by
Adam Chandler
December 26, 2013

It’s been an increasingly violent week in the Levant. Following a string of rocket attacks, an attempted bus bombing, a sniper attack, and a few other incidents on the border in recent days, citizens in southern Israel were put on alert again after two rockets were fired this afternoon from Gaza, prompting airstrikes by the Israeli Air Force.

The rockets from Gaza fell in open areas, causing no damage or injuries, Israel’s military said. It said its aircraft then hit a weapon manufacturing facility and a weapon storage facility in the enclave, which is controlled by the Islamist group Hamas.

To boot, late Wednesday night, another rocket fired from Gaza landed in an open field near Ashkelon. Just 13 months removed from the last war between Israel and Hamas–a war which was prompted by a steady stream of rocket fire from Gaza–the quiet has ended quickly. While fears of a potential escalation between Israel and Hamas still seem remote, a broader conflict would be the third since Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza in 2005.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.