Hamas has not disappeared

The recent events in Gaza Strip and the West Bank indicate that despite its dire strategic situation, Hamas is still here, as alive and kicking as always. In Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces uncovered a terror tunnel dug ahead of the execution of a future terror attack and in the West Bank, a senior operative in Hamas' military wing was killed in an operation that is now threatening to ignite the refugee camps in Samaria.

The operation in the refugee camp in Jenin was the culmination of a Shin Bet security agency surveillance operation of Hamza Abu al-Hija, who was wanted by the Israeli security forces for his involvement in a series on shooting attacks.

Al-Hija has a "respectable pedigree": His father, Jamal, was also a senior member of Hamas' military wing and is currently serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison for his part in a long list of deadly terror attacks. Al-Hija had put up quite a fight before he was killed and his death sparked mass riots in the refugee camp, which included the use of explosives and a firefight that left two other Palestinians dead.

For Israel, this operation has proven that there is no substitute to applying continuous pressure on terror operatives: The Palestinian Authority no longer has any control over the refugee camps and the only way Israel can thwart terror attacks is by operating across 100% of the territory, 100% of the time.

The terror tunnel running between the Gaza Strip and an Israeli community adjacent to the southern border was discovered last week, but concerns that it may be heavily booby-trapped have so far prevented the military from entering it.

An initial survey of the tunnel has, however, found that it runs especially long and deep and has multiple underground passageways. Defense officials said that digging such a tunnel must have taken months and that Hamas was probably seeking to use it to execute a strategic terror attack.

Much like in the West Bank, the lesson in Gaza Strip is that here too, contact with terrorists is imperative and that without routine security operations along the border, aimed at uncovering explosives and terror tunnels, Israel may develop dangerous intelligence and operational deficiencies.

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