Rocket from Gaza causes no casualties or damage; Analyst: Opponents to Hamas rule firing rockets.
By YAAKOV LAPPINKassam field cool 248.88(photo credit: AP)
A Kassam rocket fired from northern Gaza landed in the Sha'ar Hanegev regional council on Saturday evening, causing no injuries or damage.
The rocket triggered the Red Alert air raid system throughout Gaza-border communities.
The incident continues a pattern of erratic cross-border shelling and rocket launches since the cease-fire was declared in June. The last such attack took place on Wednesday when a rocket fired from Gaza landed in southern Israel.
Opponents to Hamas's rule in Gaza were behind the cease-fire violations, according to Shlomo Brom, a senior analyst at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Study.
"The people who are firing these rockets are trying to show that Hamas's power is unstable," Brom said on Saturday evening. "They're trying to prove that Hamas does not have total control of Gaza. This is aimed at harming Hamas," he added.
"As to which group is doing this, it could be remnants of Fatah in Gaza, or another group," Brom said. "It certainly cannot be Hamas - this is not in their interest."
Brom said the post cease-fire rockets had been ineffective because the attackers have been hampered by Hamas's efforts to prevent such launchings. "The rocket launchers have bad conditions on the ground while firing," he explained.
He added that Saturday's rocket should not be enough to end the cease-fire, "so long as these are one-off sporadic incidents."
If the attacks become commonplace, however, then the cease-fire will be in jeopardy, he warned.
Brom acknowledged the possibility that the rocket launchers could be attempting to elicit an Israeli attack on Hamas as part of their efforts to harm the regime in Gaza. "But they surely must know that sporadic attacks will not be enough," he said.
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