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Source: http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=229797
IDF Doesn't View Gaza Rocket Attacks as Real Escalation
(Jerusalem Post) Yaakov Katz - The IDF believes the 20 rockets fired from Gaza that landed in Israel since last week were launched by radical Islamic groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and global jihad, made up of former Hamas operatives. "We are not viewing this as a real escalation," one defense official said on Sunday after three more rockets hit Israel on Saturday night. Israel believes that if Hamas wanted to, it could stop the other factions from firing. Since the Egyptian revolution in February, the IDF believes Hamas has smuggled in three times the amount of explosives it brought into Gaza in all of 2010. This is in addition to unprecedented amounts of anti-aircraft missiles and guided anti-tank missiles. Israel understands Egypt's relationship with Hamas has changed and that the Egyptian military is turning a blind eye to the increase in smuggling, and at the same time has also lost control over Sinai and the Bedouin tribes there.