Palestinians stand atop the rubble of a building damaged after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City March 14, 2012. A Palestinian rocket hit the southern Israeli city of Netivot late on Tuesday, and the military responded shortly after with an air strike in Gaza city.IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS
Three days after an unofficial truce between Israel and Palestinian leaders in Gaza, rockets continue to fly from the territory aimed at southern Israel.
But something remarkable has happened: Leaders of both Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, and Islamic Jihad, the more radical, Iran-assisted resistance movement that was responsible for most of the rockets fired in the past week, announced today they are not behind this new rocket fire and are actively trying to halt the missiles being fired, they say, by maverick individuals or cells.
And they made these announcements on Israel Radio, of all places.
Nafez Azzam, a senior Islamic Jihad official, told Israel Radio in Arabic that Islamic Jihad was "fully committed to the truce."
Something else was remarkable: Israel, which had been launching several spontaneous attacks on rocket launchers in Gaza in the first four days of the crisis, was being quite restrained in its response to the latest rockets.
While three Grad rockets were fired yesterday, one of which was shot down by the Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile system in Beersheva, and no injuries were reported, Israel's response was to strike hours later against a launching site in northern Gaza and a tunnel under Gaza's frontier with Egypt. These are relatively benign targets; no injuries were reported.
Again today, four Grad rockets were fired this morning, one exploding near the southern Israeli town of Netivot, and two were shot down approaching Beersheva.
Several hours later, Israel still had not struck back.
Contrast this approach to the one in which more than 25 Gazans, most of whom were militants, were killed in near spontaneous strikes between Friday and Monday.
Asked to explain why Israel was showing such restraint, Major General Amram Mitzna told Israel Radio: "… what we are trying to do is to gain time and we have to pay attention and see – is this trickle [of rockets]just their wanting to get in the last word?"
"There is some infighting today in the Gaza Strip among the various organizations, and Islamic Jihad apparently doesn't control all its members … But I have no doubt that the correct thing to do today is to try and lower the flames, because I don't think that it is possible to extinguish them entirely."
The "truce" mediated by Egypt, stressed that there would be mutual cessation of attacks – "quiet for quiet," as the Israelis like to say. For their part, Hamas and Islamic Jihad say they understand that Israel will not carry out any further assassinations of Palestinian leaders. A "targeted killing" on Friday of Zuhair al-Qaissi, leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, another militant organization, triggered the recent crisis.
Israel insists it will continue to strike at anyone about to carry out attacks on Israel.
It is worth noting that while both sides insist they will not talk to the other, today's communications via Israel radio (and other back channels) certainly came close to such talk.
Indeed, Maj. Gen. Mitzna, asked if Israel should talk to Hamas, replied: "The door to talks should be opened with the [Ramallah-based]Palestinian Authority. As long as we don't do that, we certainly shouldn't do it with terror organizations that don't recognize the State of Israel and whose goal is to shake up the Middle East."
He then added: "I do think that without a peace process and without dialogue and without an attempt to deal with reality, [nothing]is possible in the Middle East. It is the duty of the Israeli government to hold dialogue and I am among those who think that this could have results."