It has been a while since one had to track news of assorted real and false flag attacks involving Iran, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Gaza and various other middle-Eastern countries. That time is again here following news that an Israel tank fired into Syrian territory, supposedly in retaliation for a Syrian mortar hit in the Israeli-occupied Golan heights region (unclear if said mortar was launched by the domestic Al Qaeda-supported rebels, although we are confident the Assad army will surely get the blame as the story is further massaged).

Per Reuters: "Shots were fired at an IDF (Israel Defence Forces) patrol on the border. No injuries or damage was caused. In response, IDF forces returned precise fire at the source and reported a direct hit," the spokeswoman said. Earlier on Tuesday a mortar shell fired during fighting between Syrian forces and rebels landed in the Israeli-controlled territory of the Golan Heights, military sources said. It was unclear whether the gunfire or the shell were deliberately aimed at Israeli forces and the spokeswoman said it was not known whether they were fired by Assad's forces or the rebels."

The Israel military was certainly busy today, with the Syrian retaliation just one of its military offensives today, the other being the first airstrike launched against Gaza by Israel since the bloody conflict in November which nearly resulted in an all out war, even if this particular offensive was not reported by its defense forces.

From Reuters:

Israel launched an airstrike on the Palestinian Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the first such attack since a truce ended an eight-day cross-border war in November, Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the territory, said. "Occupation planes bombarded an open area in northern Gaza, there were no wounded," a statement from the Hamas Interior Ministry said. An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment and said she was checking the report.

It is unclear what the implications of this restart to the middle eastern conflict are as of yet, although it is safe to say that Getco's algos will promptly internalize the data, make it appear to be better than expected, and send the ES much higher, while selling Brent and gold.