Hamas leaders said afraid to use phones after Israeli & US threats; IDF strikes drone smuggling weapons to Gaza

The highly tense Gaza ceasefire continued to hold on Wednesday, despite Israeli threats that the war would resume if Hamas won’t release Israeli hostages on Saturday, as well as the rare Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

The IDF in the morning announced it struck a drone and two suspects in southern Gaza, after the unmanned craft had crossed into the enclave from Israeli territory.

The Israeli military said it had recently identified “several attempts to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip using drones,” and warned it wouldn’t allow any “any terrorist activity.”

According to Army Radio, the IDF intercepted several similar smuggling attempts of weapons, drugs, and cigarettes in recent days, which included the participation of Israeli Bedouins from the Negev desert.

On the Gazan side of the fence, Asharq al-Awsat reported Tuesday that Hamas’s leadership instructed its senior officials not to use mobile phones anymore, in reaction to Israeli and U.S. threats after the terror group said it would “suspend” the hostage releases.

Hamas sources told the Saudi newspaper that the terror group’s intelligence branch ordered officials to “once again refrain from using mobile phones, which many had returned to using since the ceasefire was reached.”

The main concern among Hamas is that the IDF will return to its targeted strikes against the terror group’s leaders.

Meanwhile, the group is under heavy pressure from Egypt and Gulf states to continue releasing hostages according to the ceasefire agreement, Channel 12 News reported.

The Arab countries are trying to push Hamas to keep to the terms at least until Feb. 27, when an Arab summit is supposed to meet in Egypt to formulate a new peace plan as an alternative to Trump’s Gaza proposals.

The sources cited by Asharq al-Awsat claimed that Hamas has embarked on broad preparations for a resumption of hostilities.

They said Hamas located several Israeli intelligence devices, including advanced cameras, eavesdropping devices, and equipment used to identify voices of terrorists or Israeli hostages, that were hidden in stones and among rubble across the Gaza Strip.

The report also cited “field sources” from Gaza saying that they are preparing for the possibility that Israel used Hamas’s hostage release ceremonies to gather intelligence and create new target lists of the terror group’s vehicles and officials.

In the case that Israel will declare a return to war, Hamas reportedly estimates Israel will try to recapture the Netzarim Corridor, Salah al-Din Street, and captured buffer zones in Gaza neighborhoods close to the border.

As part of its preparations, the terror is increasing its effort to track IDF troop movements. The Israeli military in recent days announced an increase in alert status and troop numbers to prepare for every scenario.

“In accordance with the situational assessment … it was decided to increase reinforcements with additional troops, including reservists,” the military announced. “The reinforcements of troops and mobilization of reservists are being carried out in preparation for various scenarios.”