After two long days of fierce clashes between Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza, the flames began to subside July 15. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad stopped firing their rockets and mortar shells, and Israel halted its aerial attacks. Both sides appeared to have had enough, but Israel nevertheless deployed more Iron Dome missile defense batteries that afternoon, including in the Greater Tel Aviv region. It wanted to send a message to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza: Israel is not afraid of a more comprehensive conflict, and the situation could deteriorate into all-out war in a matter of hours.
According to Israeli security sources, the message was intended to make it perfectly clear to Hamas that its assessment of Israel’s intentions was mistaken. “Until now,” a senior Israeli Cabinet minister told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity, “Hamas believed that we were too busy on the northern front to risk opening another front along the Gaza border. Well, they were wrong. We do not want a conflict in the south, but we cannot allow the current situation to continue either. If the terrorism from the incendiary kites doesn’t stop, Hamas will find itself at war with Israel, and this time, there is no assurance that their regime in Gaza will continue to exist when the fighting is over.”
