Gaza terror groups say fighting could soon resume if ceasefire not honored

Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip warned Wednesday that violence could soon resume and Tel Aviv could be targeted if Israel does not honor a ceasefire that ended a major round of fighting over the weekend.

In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also warned that Israel was preparing for more fighting with Gazan-based groups.

Beginning early Saturday, some 690 rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel, killing three Israelis. A fourth Israeli man was killed by an anti-tank missile fired at his car near the border.

In response, the Israeli military struck over 300 targets in Gaza, including a rare assassination of a terrorist operative whom the IDF said funneled money from Iran to terror groups in the Strip. The skirmish ended early Sunday when a Palestinian-announced ceasefire took effect that is thought to include measures to ease the Israeli blockade on the Strip.

The fighting, which was some of the heaviest in Gaza since a 50-day war in 2014, came after a number of other flareups over the past year between Israel and the Strip’s Hamas rulers, leaving many analysts to speculate that renewed violence in the Palestinian territory was only a matter of time.

Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese daily close to Hezbollah, quoted sources in the so-called joint command center of Gaza-based terror groups saying they gave Israel a week to honor parts of the agreement as they were aware of “the existence of information that the occupation does not wish to implement what was agreed upon.”

A source in the joint command center said terror factions in Gaza were continuing to prepare for fresh fighting in light of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments that the campaign in the Strip was “not over.” The source said preparations were taking place to protect against future killings of terror leaders despite the command center’s assessment that Netanyahu is not looking for a large-scale conflict.

“The leadership of the resistance has undertaken many security measures out of concern that major leaders will be targeted with the goal of the enemy improving its image in the eyes of its society following the painful blows it took in the last confrontation,” the source said.

The source also said “the next round [of fighting] will be more intense and harsh” and could include the targeting of major population centers such as Tel Aviv if Israel carries out targeted killings.

Details of the ceasefire, which Israel has not officially acknowledged, have not been published, though reports have indicated it includes the reopening of border crossings and the expansion of the permitted fishing area off Gaza’s coast.

Speaking at a Memorial Day event Wednesday, Netanyahu mourned the four Israelis killed over the weekend and suggested renewed fighting in Gaza was only a matter of time.

“The IDF acted with resoluteness against the terrorist elements in Gaza. I have said and am saying again — the campaign is not over,” Netanyahu said at a state ceremony for terror victims at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery.

He said he was acting with “consideration” to ensure Israel’s security, while noting the “moral chasm” between Israel and its enemies.

“We only want to build, they only want to destroy,” he said.