News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (January 22 – 28, 2020)

Balloon launching^[1]

• This past week the launching IED balloon clusters from the Gaza Strip continued. Some of the balloon-launching units claimed they were launching balloons to avenge the killing of three Palestinians who infiltrated into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip and were killed by IDF forces (see below). One of the balloon clusters which landed in Israeli territory carried an RPG warhead. Another had a soccer ball full of explosives attached to it (apparently with the objective of attracting children to take the ball).
• Khaled al-Batash, a senior figure in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and a member of the Supreme National Authority of the Great Return March, declared the Authority (whose activities are directed by Hamas) had decided on the renewal of balloon launches. He said balloons were being launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel because the economic situation in the Gaza Strip was the result of “Israel’s siege” of Gaza (al-Andalou News, January 24, 2020).
• The following were the prominent balloon launches this past week:
• January 28, 2020: A balloon cluster landed in the western Negev with a package full of explosives attached to it.

January 25, 2020: A balloon cluster with an RPG warhead attached to it landed in an open area near Kibbutz Sde Boker. A police demolitions expert was called to the site and neutralized the warhead. Another cluster was located near Kibbutz Tse’elim (Ma’ariv, January 25, 2018).

•  January 23, 2020: An IDF force identified a to a soccer ball full of explosives attached to a balloon cluster which landed in the western Negev. An engineering force was called to the site and neutralized the explosives (western Negev regional council, January 23, 2020). A balloon cluster was also found in the southern Israeli city of Qiryat Gat with a suspicious object attached to it (Israel Police Force spokesman’s unit, January 23, 2020).

• January 21, 2020: The Israel Police Force located a balloon cluster with a suspicious object that looked like a UAV attached to it about 7.5 miles from the large southern city of Beersheba. Another balloon cluster with what were apparently explosives attached to it was found in the western Negev (Israel Police Force spokesman’s unit, January 21, 2020).

Israel’s response

•  After about two and a half weeks during which Israel did not respond to the balloon launches, and after during the past week dozens of IED balloons landed in Israel territory, on January 25, 2020, Israeli Air Force aircraft attacked Hamas targets in the southern Gaza Strip. Among the targets were a site for the manufacture of weapons and a military compound (IDF spokesman, January 25, 2020). The Palestinian media reported that among the targets attacked were a “resistance” post in Khan Yunis, a post in southern Khan Yunis and a target in Deir al-Balah. No casualties were reported (Shehab, Palinfo, January 25,2020).

    
Results of an IDF attack on one of the targets in Khan Yunis
(Facebook page of Gazan journalist Hassan Aslih, January 26, 2020).

• Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Israel would be responsible for the results of the continuing escalation in the Gaza Strip. He claimed that attacking [military] posts in the Gaza Strip did not deter the Palestinian people or its “resistance,” and would not prevent it from using all its means to defend its rights and lands (Sawa, January 26, 2020).
• A balloon-launching network calling itself the “Wa’ed al-Tahrir” claimed that the Israeli Air Force did not deter its operations and did not prevent the fear the balloon launches sowed among Israelis. He claimed the units were currently operating to destroy the settlements near the Gaza Strip by launching balloons (Paltoday, January 26, 2020).

   
Pictures from a video documenting the launching of IED balloons from the central Gaza Strip by a network calling itself the “Wa’ed al-Tahrir.” The launch was on January 25, 2020, and targeted an IDF engineering unit (Facebook page of journalist Ahmed Bassam Abo Yazan, January 25, 2020).

Reports about the possibility of renewing the return marches

• On Friday, January 24, 2020 no return march was held. No unusual events were reported at the five traditional locations or near the security fence. However, Talal Abu Zarifa, a member of the political bureau of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and of the Supreme National Authority, said the Authority was examining possible responses to [alleged] “ongoing Israeli violations against the Palestinian people.” He said one possible response was the renewal of the return marches with new and different methods before the date set by the Supreme National Authority (March 30, 2020). He said Supreme National Authority members were holding meetings to monitor “Israel’s [alleged] aggression,” manifested recently by the deaths of three Palestinians near the Gaza Strip border (Sawa, January 24, 2020).
• On the other hand, Maher Mazhar, a Supreme National Authority member, denied the reports of the renewal of the marches. He said the marches would be held on the date designated by the Authority, which was March 30, 2020, Land Day. He stressed that no Supreme National Authority deliberations had been held about organizing activities or marches along the Gaza Strip border on a different date (al-Quds al-Arabi, January 26, 2020).
• Maher Mazhar added that on March 1, 2020, they would begin preparations for the March 30, 2020, “million-man march.” He said that efforts were being made to hold return marches in the West Bank, although it would be complex and there were many difficulties and obstacles. He also reported that an official body in the Supreme National Authority had been appointed to be responsible for the issue of killed and wounded marchers. Its main mission would be to find solutions to provide lives of respect and honor for the families of the killed and wounded (Dunia al-Watan, January 26, 2020).

Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israel

• On January 26, 2020, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory. It fell in an open area; no casualties or damage were reported. It is unknown which organization was behind the rocket fire. In response the IDF attacked a Hamas military post in the southern Gaza Strip (IDF spokesman, January 26, 2020).

Monthly Distribution of Rocket and Mortar Shell Fire

Annual Distribution of Rocket Hits

Infiltration into Israeli territory

• On January 21, 2020, IDF forces identified three suspicious Palestinians who crossed the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip and entered a wooded area near the border. IDF soldiers encircled the area and began searching for the Palestinians. During the search a hand grenade or an IED was thrown at the soldiers. The soldiers shot and killed the three Palestinians (IDF spokesman, January 21, 2020).

• According to human rights centers in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians were Muhammad Hani Masad Salem Abu Mandil, 17, and Salem Zuweid Hawayshel al-Na’ami, 18, both from the al-Maghazi refugee camp; and Muhammad Khaled Mahmoud Sayid, 18, from eastern Deir al-Balah (website of the al-Mezan center for human rights, January 22, 2020; website of the Hamaya center for human rights, January 22 2020). According to reports the three were 12^th grade students at the Shuhadaa [“martyrs”] al-Maghazi high school (Facebook page of journalist Walid Muslah, January 223, 2020).

• In response to the killing of the three Palestinians, Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanua said that the Israeli version, that the three were a threat, was a lie and that the event was “cold blooded murder and a new Israeli crime.” He said that Israel would bear the consequences (alresala.net, January 22, 2020). Students at the high school in the al-Maghazi refugee camp held a demonstration to exert pressure on Israel to return the bodies. During the demonstration they burned tires (al-Quds, January 23, 2020).

Exposure of a Hamas network that handled agents inside Israel

• The Israeli security forces exposed a network of operatives of Hamas’ military wing in the Gaza Strip that activated Israeli Arab citizens as agents inside Israel. Hamas military wing operatives recruited Israeli citizens who had relatives living in the Gaza Strip and who had permits to enter the Gaza Strip from Israel. They were recruited mainly to collect intelligence in preparation for terrorist attacks (Israel Security Agency website, January 27, 2020).
• On January 2, 2020, two Israeli citizens were detained. According to their interrogation, they were recruited by Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip. They were asked, upon their return to Israel, to purchase cell phones for contacting Hamas operatives. The two were:
• Rami al-‘Amoudi, 30, whose mother was Jewish and whose father lived in the Gaza Strip. He grew up in Khan Yunis and recently got an Israeli ID card. Since November 2019 he has lived with his mother in Tel Aviv.
• Rajib Daqa, 34, a resident of the Gaza Strip, whose mother is an Israeli citizen living in Lod. He lived in the Gaza Strip and in 2017 got an Israeli ID card and moved to Israel. His wife and five children remained in the Gaza Strip and he visited them once every few months. According to his interrogation, he was recruited by an operative of Hamas’ military wing who lived in Beit Lahia (northern Gaza Strip). Directed by Hamas, he photographed IDF bases, Israel Police Force facilities and the locations of Iron Dome aerial defense systems. He collected information about members of the Israeli security forces and where rockets had fallen during the most recent round of escalation (November 2019).

    
Rajib Daqa (left) and Rami al-‘Amoudi (right), who were recruited by Fatah operatives in the Gaza Strip (Israel Security Agency spokesman’s unit, January 27, 2020).

Events on the ground

• In Judea and Samaria Palestinians continued throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli security forces and civilian targets The more prominent events were the following:
  • January 27, 2020 – Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Tekoa (northeast of Hebron). No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged. Later in the day stones were thrown at a bus in the same area. The bus driver incurred minor injuries from flying glass (Rescue Without Borders in Judea and Samaria, January 27, 2020).
  • January 27, 2020 – Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle on route 443 (the Jerusalem-Modi’in road). Two stone throwers were apprehended (Rescue Without Borders in Judea and Samaria, January 27, 2020).
  • January 26, 2020 – Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Jerusalem. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged (Rescue Without Borders in Judea and Samaria, January 26, 2020).
  • January 24, 2020 – Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle north of Jerusalem. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged (443 Central, January 24, 2020).
  • January 24, 2020 – Stones were thrown at an Israel vehicle near Efrat (Gush Etzion). No casualties were reported (Rescue Without Borders, January 24, 2020).
  • January 23, 2020 – Border Police fighters stationed at a checkpoint at the entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs detained a suspicious 28-year-old Palestinian and found a boxcutter in his possession. He was taken for interrogation (Israel Police Force spokesman’s unit, January 23, 2020).

Significant terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria since January 2019^[2]

Money from Qatar

• On January 21, 2020, Khaled al-Hardan, deputy chairman of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, entered the Gaza Strip through the Erez Crossing, bringing relief funds. A medical delegation also arrived, whose members will perform operations [in hospitals in the Gaza Strip] (Filastin al-Yawm, January 21, 2020). On January 26, 2020, branches of the post office bank in the Gaza Strip began distributing the Qatari money, $100 to each needy family (alresala.net, January 26, 2020). On January 27, 2020, al-Hardan left the Gaza Strip (Dunia al-Watan, January 27, 2020).

Delivery of cooking gas from Egypt

•  On January 23, 2020, after two weeks during which no cooking gas was delivered to the Gaza Strip because of an argument over its price, Egypt renewed the delivery of cooking gas in tankers through the Rafah Crossing (Safa, January 23, 2020). The treasury ministry in the Gaza Strip reported that every tanker carried twenty tons of gas. It also reported that the price of [filling] every gas balloon would be 54 or 55 shekels (about $15.5 to $16) (Palinfo, January 22, 2020).

   
Right: Gazans wait in line to fill empty gas balloons (Twitter account of Masdar News, January 23, 2020). Left: Gas delivered to the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah Crossing (Palinfo Twitter account, January 26, 2020).

Protest against the participation of world leaders in the 5th World Holocaust Forum

•  A demonstration was held in front of the UN headquarters in Gaza City to protest the participation of world leaders in the 5^th World Holocaust Forum held to mark the 75^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Its theme was “The real holocaust is the slaughter the occupation [i.e., Israel] [allegedly] carries out against the Palestinian people.” During the demonstration letters were presented for UN Secretary General Antonito Guterres protesting the participation of world leaders in an event organized by Israel.
• Senior Hamas figure Isma’il Radwan called the visit of world leaders to Israel “hypocrisy,” adding that it encouraged Israel to commit more crimes. He claimed world leaders should be ensuring that senior Israeli officials were interrogated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague about the [alleged] “war crimes” they committed. Senior PIJ figure Ahmed al-Mudallal said that the Palestinian people were expressing their objection to holding the Forum, which enabled Israel to continue its crimes. Senior PIJ figure Khaled al-Batash said the visit of world leaders distorted history, reinforced the Judaization of Jerusalem and supported the Israel’s evasion (“the Zionist entity”) of international efforts to bring it to trial. He also called the Gaza Strip the “Auschwitz of the 21^st century” (Filastin al-Yawm, January 23, 2020).

Isma’il Haniyeh visits Malaysia

•  Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, continues his visits abroad. On January 21, 2020, heading a delegation, he arrived in Malaysia, where he met with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, the minister of defense (with whom he had met the previous week in Qatar), and other officials (Hamas website, Malaysian News Agency, January 22 and 23, 2020). Malaysia’s deputy prime minister said the Malaysian government had always been committed to providing the Palestinians with aid s and to support the development of a Palestinian state (Hamas website, January 25, 2020). The Malaysian defense minister tweeted that people of all races and religions objected to the oppression of the Palestinian people by Israel. He also said that the Malaysian government and people supported the Palestinians, regardless of their political differences (Twitter account of the Malaysian defense minister, January 25, 2020).

The Palestinians rush to oppose the “deal of the century” (before its publication)

• On January 23, 2020, the American president said he would reveal details of the “deal of the century” (“Peace to Prosperity”) before meeting with the Israeli prime minister on January 28, 2020. He added that the Palestinians might initially respond negatively, but that the deal was very positive for them. After setting a date for publicizing the “deal of the century” and the visits of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz (a candidate of the position of Israeli prime minister in the upcoming elections) to the United States to meet with the president, senior Palestinian figures rushed to express their strong opposition to the plan. They claimed the “deal of the century” violated international law and harms the rights of the Palestinian people. They said they would not accept any deal that did not recognize the right of the Palestinian people to full sovereignty and east Jerusalem as the capital (of a Palestinian state).
• Sources in the PA reported that Mahmoud Abbas refused to speak to Trump on the phone about the “deal” (al-Andalou News, Dunia al-Watan, January 27, 2020). He informed the members of Fatah’s Central Committee that after refusing to talk to Trump he was threatened by the United States, and told he would pay a high price for his refusal (al-Jazeera, January 27, 2020). Palestinian sources, among them Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, stressed the need for a common path of action (Hamas website, January 26, 2020). Mahmoud Abbas told Fatah’s Central Committee that it would be necessary to accept the consequences of rejecting the “deal of the century,” and that the “popular resistance” [i.e., popular terrorism] had to be escalated everywhere (al-Mayadeen, January 27, 2020).
• Alongside the strong declarations from senior PA figures and from the other organizations to condemn the “deal,” plans are being made for a series of protests. “Senior Palestinian sources” reported that the PA had informed Egypt of its intention to allow Palestinians to express their opposition to the “deal of the century.” According to the sources, the PA security services were instructed not to prevent demonstrators from reaching friction points with Israelis (al-Mayadeen, January 27, 2020). There were also senior Palestinian figures, especially in Hamas and the PIJ, who exploited Trump’s plan to call for terrorist attacks against Israel (Dunia al-Watan, January 25, 2020).
• The National and Islamic Forces announced a series of protest activities will be held in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. The main activity will be in the northern Jordan Valley on Wednesday, January 29, 2020. The stated objective is to protect the Jordan Valley from attempts to annex it. In the meantime “marches of rage” will be held in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. Friday, January 31, 2020, has been declared a mass “day of rage” during which crowds will gather at al-Aqsa mosque, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and in all the churches and mosques (Wafa, January 27, 2018). According to a situation assessment, the IDF decided to reinforce the Jordan Valley battalion (IDF spokesman, January 28, 2020.
• In the Gaza Strip the monitoring committee of the National and Islamic Forces held an emergency meeting in Fatah’s offices. After the meeting a press conference was held where the public was called on to go out into the streets on Tuesday and Wednesday in a “popular united day of rage” and to participate in the march held on January 28, 2020, whose theme will be “the deal of the century will not pass” (Filastin al-Yawm, January 27, 2020).

   
Right: Meeting of the monitoring committee of the National and Islamic Forces in the Gaza Strip (Facebook page of Gazan journalist Muthana al-Najjar, January 27, 2020). Left: Meeting of the Supreme National Authority of the Great Return March (Facebook page of Gazan journalist Hassan Aslih, January 27, 2020).

   
Right: Fatah’s call to Palestinian public to participate in the protest demonstration in the center of Ramallah and in the subsequent march to Beit El (official Fatah Facebook page, January 28, 2020). Left: Notice encouraging violence and calling to thwart the “deal of the century” (QudsN Facebook page, January 27, 2020).

A panel of judges denies the request of the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor

• A pre-trial panel of judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague denied the request of Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to examine the question of the Court’s authority to deal with the Palestinian file and the possibility that war crimes were carried out in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. The request was denied for technical reasons: the length of the prosecutor’s request contained too many pages, more than permitted. The panel stressed that the decision was procedural and that the prosecutor could resubmit her request according to the rules of the Court regarding the number of pages permitted (110), including Israel’s response, which was added as an appendix (ICC website, January 21, 2020).
• The PA’s foreign ministry said the decision of the pre-trial panel to deny the request was procedural and related only to the excessive number of pages. The ministry said that it would continue to provide the ICC with all the necessary information and documents regarding the situation in Palestine to ensure that “Israel’s [alleged] war crimes” would be tried (Dunia al-Watan, January 22, 2020). The panel’s denial may delay their final decision by several months.

Prayers on the Temple Mount on Friday, January 24, 2020

• On January 24, 2020, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, who delivers sermons in al-Aqsa mosque and is chairman of the Supreme Islamic Authority, entered the Temple Mount to pray in violation of a restraining order forbidding him to approach the site. At the end of the prayer Sabri exited the Temple Mount compound carried on the shoulders of Muslim worshippers (Filastin al-A’an Twitter account, January 24, 2018). The following day he was presented by the Israel Police Force with a restraining order forbidding him to enter the Temple Mount compound for four months (Filastin al-A’an Twitter account, January 25, 2020).