Objective: Syria

Signs are pointing in the direction of a Syrian-Israeli conflict.

Yesterday, Hamas fired a crude Kassam rocket into an Israeli neighborhood and something strange happened: The rocket actually injured dozens of Israeli soldiers, some of whom are in serious conditions.

But then something even stranger happened: Israel didn’t retaliate to what a Hamas leader called “A Divine strike”. This is unusual not only because Israel’s military institution is humiliated and itching for a fight, but because the situation in Gaza is politically Ideal for a large scale attack. After all, the strip is run by Hamas so the usual complication of “undermining Mr. Abbas” doesn’t exist, and Gaza is geographically manageable.

So why did Israel choose constraint? According to Alhayat, a pan Arab newspaper, It’s because the Israeli military establishment is mobilized to encounter another threat at the North, and expecting “A Certain Something” to happen with Syria soon.

That comes at the heals of other Syria-related incidences, from the brutal Saudi snub to their Foreign Minister to the mysterious Israeli air strike deep inside Syrian territory that jammed communications across Lebanon, all of which indicate that the “certain something” might be sooner than we think..