IDF on high alert in the South after latest round of Hamas clashes

IDF on high alert in the South after latest round of Hamas clashes A month and a half after Operation Guardian of the Walls, the border between Israel and Gaza is quiet but tense. The stores and roads are open once again, and bomb shelters in the South are no longer where residents spend the majority of the day. Schools and day camps are also once again taking children to southern Israel for excursions. The Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings have also reopened, with fuel and humanitarian aid passing through into the Hamas-run blockaded coastal enclave. But the IDF and Hamas are already preparing for the next round of fighting, something many believe is not far off. “The atmosphere is quiet but tense,” Lt.-Col. Dori Saar, commander of the 53rd Armored Battalion, told The Jerusalem Post from atop the observation post at the IDF’s maritime barrier with Gaza. In the distance was Gaza City, and several hundred meters away dozens of Gazans were in the sea, finding respite from the summer sun. “We see that Hamas is not trying to challenge us at the moment, but we are always watching them. They are trying to keep the peace right now but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t working against us. Right now they are deterred. They didn’t expect what the IDF did during the operation,” Saar said. Despite the relative quiet the South has seen since the end of the operation, dozens of incendiary and explosive balloons have been launched toward southern Israel. In return, the army has struck Hamas targets. Hamas has repeatedly threatened that it would restart hostilities over any controversial incidents in Jerusalem, while Israel has vowed that it would treat incendiary balloons like rocket attacks. But the strikes were a relatively restrained response. The military is not looking to enter into another round of fighting, nor are the terrorist groups looking for a confrontation with the IDF.