Hamas claimed yet again that a missile that demolished a home in central Israel on March 25 was fired from Gaza by mistake, a “mishap” of the sort that occurred March 14 with the firing of two rockets at Tel Aviv. Israelis are no longer buying the explanation and are beginning to realize the attacks were deliberate.

Despite the assessment that Hamas was behind the attack two weeks ago, as I wrote here, Israel was quick to accept the absurd Hamas claim of a malfunction in order to avoid a war with Gaza prior to the April 9 elections. I also wrote that the missiles appeared to be an act of defiance by the military wing over what it views as the political leadership’s misguided policy, which supposedly ignores the Jihad against Israel and is selling out the “resistance” (Muqawama) in order to preserve its hold on power. Senior officials of the armed wing believe that any discussions with Israel are pointless as long as it maintains its siege of the Gaza Strip.

As aforementioned, Israel was taken by surprise once again on Monday when a heavy, long-range missile from Gaza struck a house in the community of Mishmeret northeast of Tel Aviv. Seven people, most members of one family, sustained light to moderate injuries.

But Israel was not the only one surprised by the early morning attack. The political leadership of Hamas, which is seeking to advance a long-term cease-fire deal with Israel, was also caught unaware — just as it was two weeks ago by the firing on Tel Aviv. At the time, an Egyptian delegation was meeting in Gaza with Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar to discuss prospects of a deal with Israel following the elections. They were also talking about a temporary easing of Israel’s blockade to allow residents to let off steam in light of their growing anger over the economic crisis in the Strip, which erupted into violent protests against Hamas in recent days.