By Anna Ahronheim, Jpost—
It could have gone either way. Calm can return, or Israel would have found itself at war.
Though the past week has seen hundreds of Palestinians and Israeli police officers and civilians injured, the defense establishment still thought that the situation could have returned to normal.
But that was wishful thinking.
Over 300 Palestinians and several Israelis were injured in clashes with police officers on Monday alone, in violence that some say the city has not seen in years. Israel has been condemned for how it is dealing with the crisis in Jerusalem, but, the situation could have been much worse.
As of this article’s writing, while blood has been spilled at the Temple Mount and grenades have been thrown inside al-Aqsa Mosque, no one has yet lost their life.
Nevertheless, on Monday evening, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad decided they could no longer be quiet. They fired dozens of rockets towards Israel, seven of them towards Jerusalem, over 30 towards Gaza border communities.
According to Palestinian reports, Israel struck back quickly, and that a strike on Beit Hanun, in northern Gaza, killed three children.
Palestinian militants have already tried to carry out attacks, such as at the Salem Border Police base on Friday, but none have been successful. Continue Reading…
