Overview

1. After four days of massive Gaza Strip rocket and mortar shell fire targeting Israel´s south, a lull arrangement was achieved through Egyptian mediation. It was reported that the arrangement was accepted by all the Palestinian terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip (Reuters, March 13, 2012). The arrangement went into effect at 0100 hours on March 13. Since the announcement about the arrangement was made, sporadic rocket fire and mortar shell fire has targeted Israel´s south.

2. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the terrorist organization dominant in the current escalation, said in an announcement that it accepted the agreement. However, its senior figures and media stipulated that their acceptance was conditional on Israel´s stopping its "assassinations" (i.e., targeted killings), in our assessment such terminology deliberately lays the groundwork and serves as an excuse for future violations of the agreement.

3. Reports accompanying the lull arrangement clearly showed that the PIJ, the organization with the greatest number of casualties in the escalation, was (as usual) formulating a "victory narrative." The reports focused on the arrangement’s "achievement" (ending the so- called "assassinations") and overt and implied threats referring to the organization´s "other cards," which it had not yet used (apparently longer-range rockets)

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