As of Monday morning no rockets have been fired into southern Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza since Thursday. Three rockets were fired in the previous week. One launch was detected in the direction of Kibbutz Miflasim on Thursday, but impact was not detected.

Arab media reports state Hamas security forces in Gaza are patrolling the northern area to prevent rocket launching teams from reaching the launch areas. A week earlier, Hamas reportedly arrested 10 suspects, including an Islamic Jihad commander on suspicion of firing rockets into Israel. They were compelled to sign a statement committing to halt attacks as a precondition to their release. Islamic Jihad reports they are having difficulty firing rocket into Israel due to Hamas efforts.

IDF officials believe Hamas’ actions are connected to the intensive efforts to reach a deal to prisoner release deal. As such, Hamas has indicated it will strike out at IDF soldiers, not Israeli civilians. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)