Palestinian police officers loyal to Hamas march during a graduation ceremony in Gaza City, April 29, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa.

i24 News – Hamas in the Gaza Strip threatened to spark new clashes with Israel if Qatari money does not reach the Palestinian enclave next week, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported.

“Israel’s provocations towards Gaza and the poor citizens who are supposed to receive Qatari money tend to escalate tensions and conflict,” the sources said.

On Thursday, the head of the southern command of the Israeli army also indicated that he was planning for renewed fighting with the Gaza Strip, saying that last month’s conflict was only the “first step” of a larger operation.

During Operation Guardian of the Walls in May, more than 4,300 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel killing 13 and injuring dozens. More than 200 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the same period, mostly by Israeli airstrikes.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz paid an official visit to the United States on Thursday to discuss security threats in the region with senior US officials.

“The Iron Dome saved the lives of hundreds of Israelis and intercepted thousands of rockets that were to land on residential neighborhoods, shopping malls or even hospitals. I want to thank you and the US administration, led by President Biden, for supporting Israel’s right to self-defense and for preserving Israel’s qualitative advantage,” he said when meeting with his counterpart Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon.

South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told a press conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday that Israel would ask the United States for $1 billion in emergency funding to replenish its stock of missile interceptors for its “Iron Dome” defense system.

In a compromise between Israel and Hamas, Qatari money is sent to Gaza in order to fund reconstruction efforts and to maintain relative calm along the border.