The four terrorists who were shot and killed Saturday morning trying to cross the Gaza border wanted to carry out a "quality attack" that could have dragged Israel and Hamas into a broad conflict neither side wants.
Hamas' claim that the terrorists were trained and gained combat experience within its ranks but were expelled for becoming too radicalized – sounds rather dubious. And yet, it's doubtful Hamas was behind the attempted attack.
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After all, Hamas has numerous means of pressuring Israel, from incendiary balloons to border riots. Hence it doesn't really need a grandiose terror attack, which more likely than not would only complicate matters for it.
This also apparently pertains to the murder of IDF soldier Dvir Sorek last week in Gush Etzion, in Judea and Samaria. The suspected terrorists are members of Hamas or are affiliated with it, but the organization's leaders in Gaza remember very well how the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers five years ago led the IDF to launch Operation Protective Edge, and therefore are wary of direct involvement in terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria capable of triggering a clash with Israel.
Sorek's murder can perhaps be attributed to a localized initiative without the knowledge of Hamas headquarters, but the attack that was foiled on the Gaza border on Saturday was a planned operation with guiding hands who decided to give the green light.
In the past, such attacks were carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas' junior partner in the Gaza Strip. Islamic Jihad's headquarters is in Damascus, Syria, but it is managed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has often ordered the group to execute attacks against Israel from the Syrian Golan Heights, Lebanon and Gaza. The purpose of these attacks is to embroil Israel in a conflagration that will deflect Jerusalem's attention away from Iran's efforts to establish a military presence in Syria.
This time, however, Islamic Jihad also hasn't claimed responsibility for Saturday's attempted attack and Israel hasn't rushed to point an accusatory finger at the group. Under these circumstances, the primary suspects are radical Salafist groups operating in Gaza, often with help from the Islamic State group in the Sinai Peninsula.
Hamas fights these recalcitrant jihadist groups every time it identifies a threat to its rule, but in other cases – when they aim their aggressions at Israel or help ISIS battle the Egyptian army in Sinai – Hamas opts to turn a blind eye and ignore them.
Hence Israel's message to Hamas following Saturday's failed attack, that while it doesn't blame it directly, as the sovereign entity in Gaza it bears sole responsibility for preserving quiet along the border.
