The Palestinian militant group Hamas which governs the Gaza Strip has reportedly initiated a crackdown on Salafist fighters within its ranks who are responsible for instances of unauthorized rocket fire into Israel, which has been sporadic in the last two weeks since President Trump's contentious recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital on December 6th.
Authored by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,
This week a number of stories have come out highlighting the general perspective of Palestinian Christians in the context of President Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Some of these headlines include, "Nazareth cancels some Christmas festivities over Trump recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital" or "Mike Pence to face bitter reception from Palestinian Christians as he visits the Middle East" or further, "Palestinian Christians: Jerusalem is for the three religions".
On Wednesday at least three more rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip in a continuation of sporadic violence that has left the region on edge after President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel a week ago. Today's attack brings the number of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel since Trump's announcement to eight (a few more have been launched but landed in Palestinian territory), which marks the largest number fired since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
With US forces in the middle-east in chaos and disarray, with Saudi Arabia unsure if it wants to side with Israel or other Arab nations, and with its ally Russia increasingly more influential in the region, Iran is not only increasingly flexing its muscles, but is hardly ashamed to show it off.