GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Gaza Strip Interior Ministry said in its March 14 statement that the movement is following up on the Gaza rockets that were fired in defiance of a national consensus against them, and stressed that measures will be taken against the violators. For the first time since 2014, two rockets were fired toward Tel Aviv on March 14, despite the Egypt-brokered truce agreements between Hamas and Israel. Although the military wings of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad denied responsibility for the rockets fired, Israel shelled dozens of military targets belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip without causing casualties.

This is the first time that the Interior Ministry explicitly declared that rocket operatives, in a time of truce, will be prosecuted. The ministry and Hamas are committed to a media silence when it comes to holding accountable those who fire rockets toward Israel, although it does so discreetly. Holding them accountable publicly would consist of a violation of Hamas' principle of resisting Israel until the liberation of Palestine.

Israeli news sites reported March 15 the arrest of Hamas members who reportedly fired the rockets accidentally, as they were setting them up for any future battle. The reports indicated that the Egyptian delegation told Israel that the movement is very embarrassed, that the operation was not planned and took the movement by surprise. Nevertheless, Israeli estimates and analyses concluded that Hamas deliberately fired the rockets in order to pressure Israel to ease the siege on Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the Knesset’s March 17 meeting that truce talks with Hamas were renewed in order to reach understandings that would calm down the security situation in the Gaza Strip, following the recent escalation.