GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Tension between Israel and the Gaza Strip has escalated since US President Donald Trump unveiled his Middle East peace plan Jan. 28. Palestinians launched a volley of rockets and mortar shells at Israeli military targets and at the southern Israeli city of Sderot Jan. 29. The Israeli army responded Jan. 31 by bombing several Hamas positions in southern Gaza while threatening to take harsh action should rockets keep falling.
In light of these developments, Israeli sources expect the security situation in Gaza to deteriorate.
Meanwhile, popular protests against the peace plan continued in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Protesters carried the Palestinian flag and chanted slogans denouncing the plan Jan. 31. They burned the American flag and threw stones at Israeli forces. This comes after the Palestinian leadership held an emergency meeting in Ramallah Jan. 28, in the presence of all Palestinian factions, to discuss ways to respond to the peace plan. During the meeting, the participants agreed that the function of the Palestinian Authority (PA) must change.
The plan would establish two separate Palestinian and Israeli states, declaring Jerusalem a unified capital of Israel, and stopping the “malign activities" of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
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