News Analysis | Did Israel misjudge Hamas’s response?

Hamas seems to be prepared for this moment, given the way it is firing rockets.

The crisis escalated quickly this time. From a raid by Israeli armed forces in in the occupied Old City on Monday morning to rocket attacks from and airstrikes on Gaza in the evening. At least 35 Palestinians, including militants and 12 children, were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, while the rocket and anti-tank missile attacks from Gaza killed five civilians in Israel, including one Indian woman. It is too early to say which side the conflict would turn. But one thing is certain: that this is the most dangerous escalation since the . Since the beginning of Ramzan last month, Israel, faced with political instability at home, has been using force to prevent Palestinian movement and gatherings in East Jerusalem. But did it expect its use of force in Jerusalem would take the country to the brink of a full-scale war with Hamas? For Hamas, the Islamist militant group that runs Gaza, the Jerusalem conflict unfolded at a critical time. The coastal strip, under Israeli blockade for years, faces mounting economic challenges. Earlier when Hamas was the resistance movement, it could blame both the occupation and Palestine’s political leadership for the day-to-day miseries of Palestinians. But now, Hamas has been in charge of Gaza since 2007 and both its governance faces criticism from within. Hamas also largely stayed away from directly provoking Israel in the past seven years, while smaller militant groups fired rockets occasionally. This also led other Islamist groups challenging Hamas’s commitment to “resistance”.