News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Hamas is planning to escalate attacks against Israel over the next few months, according to an Israeli military assessment reported by Middle East Newsline on Wednesday. Military sources said the General Staff has been reviewing military intelligence and Southern Command assessments that estimate an escalation of hostilities from Gaza that could result in missile and rocket salvos that could trigger another war.

To Israel’s north, Lebanon has determined that thousands of foreigners aligned with Al Qaida might have entered the country. As many as 7,000 Islamists who entered Lebanon in mid-2009 are being monitored by the General Security Directorate. Officials quoted by Middle East Newsline said that most of the foreigners stemmed from Gulf Cooperation Council states and might have ties to Sunni militias around the northern city of Tripoli.