Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

Dear Reader: I appreciate that this may seem bizarre to you but here’s the
deal: Under "quiet for quiet" Hamas can do literally anything they want on
their side of the Gaza-Israel border as long as they don't hit inside
Israel.

That "anything" includes:
#1. Building as many rockets, missiles, or anything else that they want to.
#2. Testing this equipment - including full scale test launches as long as
they don't cross into Israel.
#3. Firing missiles in the direction of Israel that land inside Gaza in
order to gather information on the operation of the Iron Dome system.
#4. Setting up and operating aerial reconnaissance balloons equipped with
night vision to provide a 24 hour live view of the Israeli side of the
border.
#5. Digging a network of tunnels reaching up to but not crossing into
Israel (at least not detected to cross into Israel)
===============
IDF scrambles jets to Gaza border after Hamas flies drone
The drone, which Hamas claims to have built, never crossed into Israeli
territory.
The Jerusalem Post Published today (updated) 14/12/2014 15:15
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/IDF-scrambles-jets-to-Gaza-border-after-Hamas-flies-drone-384599

The IDF scrambled jets to the Gaza border on Sunday after Hamas flew a drone
into the air during a military rally to mark 27 years since the founding of
the Islamist organization.

The drone, which Hamas claims was built in Gaza, and upon which was written
"Kassam Brigades," the name of the group's military wing, did not cross the
border into Israel.

According to a military source, the jets were prepared to deal with the
threat, but returned to base after the air force saw there was no threat to
Israeli air space.

During the Hamas military rally, convoys paraded signs of the organization's
military prowess through the streets of the coastal territory, including
long-range missiles mounted on trucks and Kassam Brigade fighters and naval
commandos brandishing weapons.

At the parade, a senior Hamas leader reaffirmed the Islamist movement's
founding charter's pledge to destroy Israel.

"This illusion called Israel will be removed. It will be removed at the
hands of the Kassam Brigades," said Khalil al-Hayya, a top Hamas leader,
referring to the movement's armed wing.

In recent years, some Hamas leaders have said they would accept a
Palestinian state on land Israel occupied in a 1967 war in return for a
long-term truce but would continue to refuse to recognize its enemy's right
to exist.

Abu Ubaida, the brigades' spokesman, said another confrontation with Israel
might be inevitable unless tens of thousands of homes damaged or destroyed
in the Gaza Strip in last summer's conflict are rebuilt soon.

"We will accept no less than the rebuilding of everything that was destroyed
by the savage Zionist aggression," said the masked spokesman, whose group is
shunned by the West as a terrorist organization.

Palestinians have voiced disappointment over the slow pace of reconstruction
and a limited flow of building material into Gaza since international donors
pledged more than $5 billion in October.

Both Israel and Egypt - which is battling Islamist militants in neighboring
Sinai - are concerned Hamas could use such material for weaponry.

Israel has said Hamas has been test-firing rockets into the Mediterranean in
recent weeks and Gaza residents have reported hearing explosions. Hamas has
neither confirmed nor denied such tests.

During the war, Hamas long-range rockets disrupted daily life in Israel's
major cities. Most were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Addressing a crowd of several thousand in the rain, Abu Abaida praised Iran
for supplying Hamas with money and weapons. Relations with Tehran have been
strained by Hamas's hostility toward Iran's closest regional ally, Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad.

Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 from Fatah forces loyal to
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Both groups signed a unity deal in
April but are divided over how to administer the Gaza Strip.
________________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il