Border Police St.-Sgt. Bar-el Shmueli was shot point-blank in the head just days after an agreement was reached to see humanitarian funds transferred to needy Gazans.
That bullet should be a wake-up call to the political and military echelons.
The riot in which Shmueli was critically wounded saw thousands of Gazans, including children, riot along the border under the banner of protecting the Aqsa Mosque.
The demonstrations took place at various points along the perimeter fence to mark the “day of the burning of al-Aqsa Mosque.”
But listening to the statements made by Hamas leaders, it was clearly not just about an event that took place 52 years ago.
It was about Hamas and its leader Yahya Sinwar wanting more.
Following 11 days of fighting between Israel and Gaza in May, Israel withheld hundreds of millions of dollars provided by Qatar in aid to poor families in Gaza and salaries to Hamas clerks.
The terrorist group has threatened to reignite violence on the border if the money is blocked. Last Thursday, Israel reached an initial deal to distribute the Qatari funds.
The money is expected to enter the Gaza Strip next week. Some 100,000 families are supposed to receive $100 per month from September through December.
But feeding needy families isn’t enough. The agreement did not include the millions of dollars in salaries promised to Hamas employees.
Those who took part in the protests “affirmed that our battle with the occupation is open,” Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanou said.
“We have the power to defend al-Aqsa Mosque and break the siege of Gaza,” he said. “The continuation of the siege cannot be accepted, and we will not accept the occupation’s sluggishness and procrastination.”
Earlier in the week, a rocket was fired toward Sderot and neighboring communities in the South, setting off incoming sirens and sending thousands to bomb shelters.
Despite the growing tension, Israel remained silent.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the IDF would respond at the appropriate time.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi reportedly agreed with the assessment that it was best not to respond right away.
It could have been because the deal with Qatar, being negotiated by the Egyptians and the United Nations, was in its final stages.
Or it could have been because Bennett is heading to Washington and has been invited to Cairo, and he didn’t want to risk escalating the situation further?
Whatever the reason, Hamas felt it had been waiting too long. The rocket fire was a warning of what was coming.
The rally would take place, Palestinian factions in Gaza warned last Wednesday, and the IDF was said to have reinforced troops ahead of the protest out of concern that it could get violent. And it did.
Reminiscent of the 2018-2019 weekly “March of Return” border protests organized by the terrorist group in control of the Gaza Strip, the riot on Saturday evening became extremely violent.
But this time, there was a significant failure by the IDF that could have been prevented.
The firing spot where Shmueli was positioned was extremely unsafe.
Not only were troops unable to see the crowd gathering, the window where he had placed his rifle was too large, making him an easy target for Palestinian fire.
Both Hamas and Islamic Palestinian Jihad saw what happened and have found yet another weak point in Israel’s defenses.
Though the IDF retaliated by striking four Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Israel had “miscalculated the situation and ignored the message of our people and their resistance factions.”
Israel struck Gaza to “cover up its failure,” and Palestinians had “made the enemy taste some of its fire,” he said.
This is what is supposed to happen during a ceasefire with Hamas? This is supposed to be what Israel is given after it brokers a humanitarian deal?
The bullet that struck Shmueli should wake up the Bennett government. Put out the fire before it explodes again.