Two dramatic developments – the blast of an explosive in a Jerusalem bus and the announcement of the discovery of a tunnel along the Gaza border – were reminiscent of events past, from other periods, such as the Second Intifada and the rounds of fighting against Hamas in Gaza.

But both these incidents do not necessarily point to a significant escalation or a change in the trajectory of violence. Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank, which from time to time slides across the Green Line, has declined in recent months but there was no place for presuming it had stopped entirely.

The exposure of the tunnel from the Strip was an expected development, given the news of Hamas resuming its digging of attack tunnels into Israeli territory and that the IDF was investing a great deal of effort to uncover them.

At this stage, it appears that the loss of the tunnel has not inspired the organization to retaliate, despite its fears that the technological solution Israel has developed will lead it to discover yet more tunnels.

Read the full article at Haaretz.