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Gaza (Palestinian Territories) – If calm returns to the Gaza Strip after another spike in violence, Palestinian and Israeli civilians fear that a new conflict between the Jewish state and Hamas will emerge in power in the enclave.
After one of his soldiers was killed Friday by Palestinian gunfire during demonstrations near the border between the enclave and Israeli territory, Israel unleashed intense bombings that claimed the lives of four Palestinians, including three members of the armed wing of the Islamist movement.
Following mediations by the United Nations and Egypt, a truce was generally respected on Saturday. But people remain on the alert.
" The war is about to come in. I know that the (Israeli) occupier is conducting raids to prepare his public opinion (for a conflict) ", says AFP Somaya Rabaya, 21, who lives in Deir al-Balah, in the center of the small Palestinian territory.
A few kilometers away, in the kibbutz (Israeli collectivist village) of Kfar Aza, rocket or mortar shell fire from the enclave is part of everyday life, like the shelter race.
" It's scary, but it's life near the Gaza Strip ," says 44-year-old Ofir Libstein.
Around the village, land was set on fire by kites and incendiary balloons launched from the Palestinian enclave.
" One can only feel bad to see all this vegetation flaming, one wonders what kind of people can do that ," said this father of four boys.
Since the Gazans began a protest march near the border on March 30, young people are attaching incendiary devices to kites and balloons, which they then launch to Israel with the aim of damages.
According to the Israeli authorities, more than 2,500 hectares went up in smoke due to these flying torches.
Israeli leaders threatened Hamas with retaliation and a large-scale operation if the fires did not stop.
The army is also increasingly targeting groups of Palestinians who launch these machines near the border.
– " We're tired " –
17-year-old Wissam prepares kites with other young Palestinians they intend to ignite with diesel. They hide behind a sand embankment for fear of an Israeli attack.
" This (Saturday) morning, they bombed a Hamas observation post near here and I was afraid they were targeting us with a missile ," he said. he.
According to a Hamas official who wished to remain anonymous, the cease-fire provides for the cessation of Israeli air raids and Palestinian rocket fire to Israel but not incendiary kites.
Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in nearly four months of border protests. An Israeli soldier was killed.
This is the first Israeli soldier killed near Gaza since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.
This particularly destructive conflict was the third in six years between Israel and the armed movements of the enclave.
" We do not want a new war ," Khaled Barkakh, a resident of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, said today.
" We are tired and we want to live as human beings ," adds the 22-year-old, referring to the strict blockade Israel has imposed on the enclave for more than a decade .
Israel justifies it as a measure of isolation of Hamas, which it regards as a group " terrorist ".
But this blockade is denounced by some as a collective punishment that promotes the radicalization of the two million inhabitants of this territory smaller than the Principality of Andorra.
But even if the two populations are worried about the risk of a new war, they will block with their military leaders in case of conflict, says AFP Nathan Thrall, think tank International Crisis Group.
" Had a war started (Friday) night, Gazans would have supported Hamas retaliation and many Israelis would have supported operations to stop incendiary kites ," he said. .
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