Ahead of the Muslim holy month Ramadan, Israel has stepped up security nationwide, with emphasis on Jerusalem.
Every evening during Ramadan, thousands of Muslims gather for prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem.
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Eid al-Adha prayers, next to the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City
(Photo: AP)
Al-Aqsa -- known by Jews as the Temple Mount -- is located in the heavily Palestinian populated area of Jerusalem's Old City.
The third-holiest site in Islam, it is a flashpoint in the long-running Middle East conflict that is often the scene of clashes.
Last year, nightly demonstrations in Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa compound escalated into 11 days of war between Israel and Hamas.
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Israeli security forces look on as Muslim worshipers gather to attend the prayers of Eid al-Fitr outside the closed Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem's old city
(Photo: AFP)
Violent demonstrations have already left dozens injured this Ramadan.
On Tuesday, while visiting the West Bank, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel had "already prevented more than 15 serious attacks... carried out 207 arrests, and interrogated 400 suspects in contact with IS", referring to the Jihadist group.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas in a phone call that "Ramadan must be a month of peace and quiet and not a period marked by terror."
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Defense Minister Benny Gantz
(Photo: AP, Alex Kolomoisky )
Hamas also has a lot at stake in attempting to incite chaos in Israel.
The number of rocket attacks from Gaza has dropped dramatically since the end of last year's war.
Israel announced last week an increase in work permits, from 12,000 to 20,000, in the hope of breathing life into Gaza's economy and deterring its rulers from another confrontation. It also extended the enclave's permitted fishing zone.
"Our ability to implement these measures is now threatened by terrorism, and we will only implement them if the security situation stabilizes again," Gantz said.
Hamas has much to lose in the event of escalation, one Israeli security source told AFP.
"Hamas faces quite a dilemma because workers are coming to Israel, the fishing zone has been expanded, and they have suffered a heavy loss last year that the Gazan population is weary of suffering again. This might act as a deterrence.
"I don't see Hamas' appetite for a confrontation right now, but the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group are an unexpected factor," the source said, referring to another Gaza-based militant group.
"I am have more confidence in Hamas' attempt to avoid escalation than the PIJ's," the source added.
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Palestinian top leader of the Hamas movement, Sheikh Ismail Haniyeh (C-R), and the top leader of the Islamic Jihad, Zaid Nakhaleh (C-L), and their accompanying delegation, with other Palestinian leaders attend the opening session of the meeting of the general secretaries of the Palestinian national action factions
(Photo: EPA)
In the wake of attacks near Tel Aviv, Israeli forces carried out operations in and around Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank from which the assailant hailed.
At least three members of the Islamic Jihad were killed in the raids.
The group is defined a terror organization by the United States and European Union, and has thousands of supporters across both Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli security officials consider it close to Iran.
If Israel carries out new operations, "it could lead to a military escalation, especially with Islamic Jihad", said Mukhaimer Abu Saada, professor of political science at Gaza's Al-Azhar University.
"But I believe that it would be a slight escalation, because Hamas does not want a new confrontation," he added.
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Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists attend the funeral of a fellow fighter in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip
(Photo: AFP)
Meanwhile, Israel has been waltzing a diplomatic dance with Jordan as an additional effort to keep chaos at bay.
In the past week, Israel's president and defense minister have both visited Jordan for talks with King Abdullah II, who has also spoken on the phone with Prime Minister Bennett.
In the run-up to Ramadan, Abdullah visited Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, for the first time in five years, for talks with Abbas.
Jordan occupied east Jerusalem before it was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, and is still charged with managing the Muslim holy sites of the Old City such as the Al-Aqsa compound.
Yet access to these sites is controlled by Israel. The recent diplomatic exchanges are an effort to ensure the freedom to worship while preventing the situation from boiling over like last year.