Hamas terrorists Monday afternoon again fired a rocket that fell short of Israel and exploded in the Mediterranean Sea.
At least three similar incidents occurred last week, and military officials publicly have dismissed the rocket launches as nothing more than military exercises.
That explanation ignores the question, “Why is Hamas launching rockets during a cease-fire and when ‘indirect’ talks are taking place between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Egypt?
There are several possibilities.
More wishful thinking than anything else, Hamas is trying to fire on its own population and then blame Israel.
Tying for the least likely probability is that Hamas simply is losing its touch and is out of practice since the end, so far, of the war. Perhaps its terrorists have forgotten that Israel is north, and not west, of Gaza.
That theory presumes that Hamas is trying to attack Israel, which might be true only in the future, after a cease-fire is solidly established, but it is unlikely that Hamas would aim for Israel now and risk instant retaliation what would cause further deterioration in its foreign and domestic relations that still have not gone the way of missiles intercepted by the Iron Dome..
The estimation that Hamas is carrying out military exercises makes sense if Hamas is trying out a new kind of rocket or if terrorists are bored making rockets and need to stay busy to justify their salaries.
Or perhaps, just perhaps, Hamas is serving notice on Israel that it cannot forget about any efforts to dis-arm the terrorist organization.