Gaza City : Gaza's Hamas rulers deployed forces near the Israeli border on Thursday to try to prevent smaller fighter groups from firing rockets, a sign that the movement fears Israeli retaliation for the escalating barrages from the Palestinian territory.
Hamas leaders called together representatives of fighter groups in the seaside strip and told them to hold their fire, according to a meeting participant, before Hamas sent its forces to the border area.
The Israeli military says at least 25 rockets and mortar shells have exploded in Israel's south this month. Several Israelis have been wounded, one seriously. Israel has been hitting back for each salvo with airstrikes aimed at weapons storage facilities and factories, as well as smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.
The group appears concerned about triggering another large-scale Israeli military campaign similar to a three-week operation two years ago.
Ceasefire
An unwritten ceasefire has been in effect since then, but the frequency of rocket attacks has been creeping upward in recent weeks.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for all violence originating in Gaza, though Hamas blames smaller resistance groups for the recent rocket fire.
Those groups, like Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance Committees, have varying degrees of allegiance to Hamas.
