Threatened South to North, IOF Seeks Calm While Steeling For Worst

Local Editor

With tensions rising in the south amid fears that the Islamic Jihad resistance group will attempt to avenge a tunnel demolition two weeks ago, the "Israeli" military is finding that striking a delicate balance between keeping resistance groups from preparing for a future war and keeping the region relatively calm is easier said than done.

While neither side may be gunning for a fight, a miscalculation by the "Israeli" Occupation Forces [IOF] runs the risk of triggering a bloody tit-for-tat fight that can lead to all-out war.

For the past two weeks, the "Israeli" military has been trying to prevent such an escalation as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group has vowed revenge for the entity's demolition of its tunnel that crossed into "Israeli" territory from Gaza.

IOF troops in southern "Israel" have been on alert following last month's tunnel razing.

In the "Israeli" army's most recent measure, on Monday it deployed its Iron Dome missile defense system in central "Israel" - including at least one battery in the greater Tel Aviv region - out of concerns the group may retaliate with a barrage of rockets.

In addition to preparing for attack, the "Israeli" military has also been trying to prevent one, repeatedly warning against a retaliation in direct addresses to both the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Strip's rulers, Hamas.

The army blew up the tunnel, which originated in the Gazan city of Khan Younis and crossed into "Israeli"-occupied territory, near "Kibbutz Kissufim", on October 30.

In total, 14 revolutionaries were martyred, two of them from Hamas and the rest from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including two senior commanders. The bodies of five of the Islamic Jihad members, who were working on the tunnel inside "Israeli"-occupied territory, were recovered by the IOF a few days later.

Incidentally, Tuesday also marks five years since the IOF assassinated then-Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari in an airstrike, which sparked the week-long "Operation Pillar of Defense" campaign in Gaza. Palestinian resistance groups have been known to carry out operations to coincide with significant anniversaries.

Former Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin praised the military on Monday for preparing to counter the threats from Gaza, but warned it not to forget that "the northern front is ‘Israel's' main focus - Assad, Hezbollah, and Iran will seek to challenge" the IOF.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team