Gaza developments portend military escalation with Israel
Israel's political impasse is expected to affect the Palestinians' situation in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli intelligence believes new military confrontations will erupt as the security and humanitarian situation there continues to deteriorate.
![ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/HAMAS Palestinian Hamas militants take part in an anti-Israel military show in the southern Gaza Strip November 11, 2019. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RC2Z8D9ZR40Q](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2020/01-1/RTX78DVD.jpg/RTX78DVD.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=nhKGz7h1)
It took only two weeks for the first exchange of fire of 2020 between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The confrontation came Jan. 15, just one day after the Israel Defense Forces released its annual intelligence assessment, which — to no one's surprise — did not rule out the potential for short rounds of confrontation with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.