The ceasefire that came into effect last summer between Israel and Hamas officially expires on Dec. 19. It may have already run its course. On Sunday, three rockets were fired into the Negev. The Israeli Air Force struck at a mortar launching crew of Palestinians, killing four. Earlier in the weekend Palestinian terrorists sent some 17 Qassam, Katyusha and Grad rockets at Sderot and Ashkelon. Hamas claimed credit for the action.

Thankfully, no-one was killed in any of the barrages.

Hamas claimed the rocket barrage was in retaliation for Israeli actions in the area. The claim, however, is spurious – brazenly so.

The terrorist organization, which also happens to rule Gaza, has recently increased its military activities near the border with Israel.  Earlier in the month, it was caught digging a tunnel toward the Jewish state underneath the security fence, which Israeli officials determined was the precursor to an attempted kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. An IDF force entered the Gaza Strip to thwart Hamas’ plans. In the ensuing action, six Israeli soldiers were wounded, two of them seriously. Eleven Hamas terrorists were killed, and a number of operatives were wounded.

Digging tunnels under the Gaza border is now a growth industry. It is especially so along the Gazan-Egyptian border, where scrutiny is less rigorous and the border more inviting. Some reports suggested that as many as 1,000 such tunnels may already be in operation.

But the tunnels are only one component of the deadly plotting underway by Hamas against the Jewish state.

According to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in Israel, as of Nov. 7, 81 rockets (19 of which fell inside the Gaza Strip) and 36 mortar shells had been fired at Israel since the June “ceasefire.” The rocket barrage last weekend has raised the tally to more than 100.

Following the rocket attacks against the Negev communities earlier in the month, Israel closed the commercial crossings into Gaza on Nov. 6. The resulting hardship for the Palestinian citizens evoked harsh condemnation of Israel by the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), John Ging. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the EU Commissioner for External Affairs, Benita Ferra-Waldner, urged Israel to re-open the crossings, which by this writing it had done in part.

But what is Israel to do to defend its citizens short of invading the Gaza Strip?

It cannot and must not allow a situation in which Hamas feels it is safe to sporadically bomb the people of the Negev without fear of retaliation by Israel. It is inconceivable that Israeli citizens should fear for their lives, yet Gazans bear no commercial or other trading consequences for the policies of their leaders.

With Israeli elections less than three months away, Hamas leaders, masters of propaganda sleight of hand, have again reached into their bag of deadly tricks. They risk a return to the violence of some  six months ago. Or perhaps they crave it.