These attacks go beyond the security dimension and have become a political tool intended to restore Israel’s image of deterrence domestically as a way to escape partisan crises and the government’s declining popularity, the experts estimated.

Israeli affairs researcher Yasser Manna pointed out that the strategy was made evident last week with the assassination of Azzam Khalil al-Hayya, son of Khalil al-Hayya, head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the coastal enclave.

The Arab press noted that the latter was elected as the top figure of the Islamist group in the recent internal elections, although this has not yet been officially announced.

Manna said the most important implication of those deaths lies in Israel’s desire to send the message that negotiations do not paralyze its security capabilities and Hamas leaders and their families do not enjoy immunity, even during mediation.

The researcher told Safa news agency that this behavior places the mediating countries in a situation of “negotiations under pressure.”

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