Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel’s military has been concealing renewed mortar and rocket fire by Hamas and its militia allies in the Gaza Strip.

An Israel Army officer asserted that the military brass refused to acknowledge Hamas and other Palestinian fire into Israel since the ceasefire in August 2014. The officer, Maj. Ran Levy, said the military denied that air raid sirens heard over the last month stemmed from renewed mortar and rocket launches from the Gaza Strip.

“It [the military] may be receiving instructions from the prime minister and the defense minister, so that Israel is not required to respond, since we are in a ceasefire now,” Levy, a reserve officer and lobbyist for residents near the Gaza Strip, said.

The military has reported only one rocket launch from the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire on Aug. 28. At the same time, the military has eased restrictions on the Gaza Strip, including allowing the daughter of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to receive medical treatment in Tel Aviv.

But Levy said the military was covering up Palestinian fire against Israeli communities. He rejected the military’s assertion that recent air raid sirens marked false alarms.

“I am an officer in the Home Front Command and I say, as a resident of Ashkelon, that there is no such thing as a false alarm and there never was,” Levy said. “Once the system identifies a launch, it calculates within a short time the area in which the rocket is expected to fall. So, there is no such thing as a false alarm.”

In a briefing on Oct. 9, Levy did not cite any Palestinian fire that struck an Israeli home or facility since the ceasefire. He raised the prospect that the military and government would continue to conceal fire from the Gaza Strip until there are casualties.

“I regret to say that they [Hamas] are continuing to equip themselves with raw materials, cement and iron, and carry out tests, and they tell us these are false alarms so that we do not respond,” Levy said. “What are they waiting for? For a rocket or mortar shell to strike a school or kindergarten? And when that happens. God forbid, the government will have to resign, because it will not be able to lie to the citizens.”

  allows daughter of Hamas leader to be treated in Tel Aviv, Ismail Haniyeh, Israel mum on renewed rocket fire, WorldTribune.com