News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (August 10-16, 2016)

Terrorist Attacks and Attempted Attacks

• August 14, 2016 – A Palestinian girl tried to carry out a stabbing attack at a roadblock near the community of Shaked (northern Samaria). Her parents drove to the roadblock and she got out of the car at the examination station and took out a knife. She was detained after a struggle with the soldiers. The Palestinian media reported she was Amal Jamal Mahmoud Qabha, 15 years old, from the village of Tura west of Jenin (Dunia al-Watan and Al-Ayam, August 14, 2016)
• August 11, 2016 – A Palestinian terrorist used a screwdriver to carry out a stabbing attack in the A-Tor neighborhood of east Jerusalem. He attacked a young Jewish man who was coming from the cemetery on the Mt. of Olives, stabbing him in the neck and back. The terrorist escaped.
• August 9, 2016 – A Palestinian woman from Hebron tried to stab soldiers at a roadblock in Hebron. She was detained by the Israeli security forces. There were no casualties.

Riots on the Temple Mount on Tisha b'Av^[1]

• This past week there were riots on the Temple Mount after Jews entered the compound during the Tisha b'Av fast (August 14, 2016). Muslims hurled insults at the Jews and Israeli police dispersed the rioters. Seven Jews were detained for having violated the rules regarding Jewish visits to the Temple Mount. The Palestinian media reported Palestinians had been injured.
• The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas exploited the events to put Al-Aqsa mosque in the headlines and incite more violence.

• The PA's foreign ministrystrongly condemned Israel's conduct regarding the holy sites in Jerusalem, claiming the Palestinians would try to convene an emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss "Israeli escalation" on the Temple Mount (Quds.net, August 14, 2016).
• Yusef al-Mahmoud, spokesman for the Palestinian national consensus government, warned of the consequences of the "settlers' aggression" towards Al-Aqsa mosque and demanded the international community intervene as soon as possible to "restrain the aggression in Jerusalem and at the sites holy to Islam and Christianity" (Safa, August 14, 2016).
• Adnan al-Husseini, governor of the Jerusalem district and minister of Jerusalem affairs, called on the residents of east Jerusalem to defend Al-Aqsa mosque from the daily "Israeli invasions." He claimed Israel did whatever it pleased regarding Al-Aqsa mosque (Sawt Filastin, August 15, 2016).
• Ismail Radwan, a senior Hamas figure, claimed there was a "severe escalation" in the Israeli settlers' continued attacks on Al-Aqsa mosque. The escalation he said, demanded the "resistance" [i.e., terrorist organizations] use all the means at its disposal (Qudspress.com, August 14, 2016).

Hezbollah Recruits Palestinians for Terrorist Missions

• The Israeli security forces recently exposed a number of squads of Palestinians from Judea and Samaria who had been recruited by Hezbollah handlers in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Their recruitment was carried out viaanti-Israel Facebook pages. After the recruitment email accounts were opened for them where they received a program to encode their messages. They were instructed to carry out shooting and suicide bombing attacksand were also asked to help recruit additional operatives. Hezbollah handlers contacted Israeli Arabs in a similar fashionbut their attempts were revealed before they were carried out. It was not the first time Hezbollah recruited operatives in Judea, Samaria and Israel for terrorist attacks against Israel.
• The following is information about the four squads recruited by Hezbollah (Media unit of the Israel Security Agency, August 16, 2016):

• A squad from the Qalqilya region:The squad was headed by Mustafa Kamal Hindi, 18 years old, recruited in 2015 and given the alias of "Bilal." His handler contacted him through Facebook and afterwards through a coded email account he was instructed to open. He was told to recruit other operatives and attack Israeli targets, including an attack on an IDF patrol. He recruited a number operatives and his squad collected information about IDF patrols in the Qalqilya region. The operatives practiced shooting hunting rifles and making IEDs. They were detained before they could carry out the terrorist attacks.
• A squad in Judea and Samaria handled from the Gaza Strip:The squad was headed by Faiz Abu Jadian, a Hezbollah operative from the Gaza Strip. He recruited operatives from Judea and Samaria via Facebook. They were in contact with Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. They received money from Hezbollah and were instructed to recruit additional operatives. Their task was to carry out shooting attacks and a suicide bombing attack on an Israeli bus.
• A squad from the Jenin region:The squad was headed by Ma'amun Issam Abd al-Rahman el-Nashrati, from the Jenin refugee camp. Hezbollah recruited him via Facebookand instructed him to acquire a rifle and use it to attack IDF forces.
• A squad from the Tamoun region (northeast of Nablus):The squad was headed by Mustafa Ali Mahmoud Basharat, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) operative who was formerly imprisoned in Israel.

House of Terrorist Demolished

• Following instructions from the political leadership, on the night of August 14 the Israeli security forces demolished one floor of the house in the town of Bani Na'im (near Hebron) where Palestinian terrorist Muhammad Nasr Tarayrahlived. On June 30, 2016, Muhammad Tarayrah stabbed and killed 13 year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel in her sleep in Kiryat Arba. Palestinians tried to prevent the demolition by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the Israeli forces. Afterwards calls were heard for a "popular operation" to collect money from the residents of Bani Na'im and town institutions to rebuild the house (Twitter account of Palinfo, August 15, 2016).

Detention of Palestinian Terrorist Who Carried out a Stabbing Attack

• The Israeli security forces detained Muhammad Yunes Ali Abu Hanaq, 21 years old, from the village of al-Ubaydiya in the Bethlehem area. On December 23, 2013, he stabbed and seriously wounded an Israeli policeman. On the day of the attack he bought a knife and took a taxi from Ramallah to Bethlehem to choose a target at random. When he saw a policeman he told the taxi driver to stop. He approached the policeman, stabbed him and escaped (Media unit of the Israel Security Agency, August 15, 2016).

Rocket Fire Attacking Israel

• This past week no rocket hits were identified in Israeli territory.

Shipment of Commando Knives Intercepted

• The Israeli security authorities at the Kerem Shalom crossing prevented commando knives from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip. The knives were hidden in two crates of plumbing equipment. The transfer to Hamas of graphite originally consigned to the Palestinian electric company in the Gaza Strip was also prevented. Graphite is a component of rocket fuel.

Hamas' Response to the Exposure of the Transfer of Funds from International Aid Agencies

• Israel's detention of international aid agency employees who rerouted resources meant for civilian Gazans' welfare to Hamas and its military-terrorist wing was met with rage by senior Hamas figures, who vigorously denied Israel's accusations:

• Hamas issued a formal announcement claiming the statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu that funds belonging to a number of international institutions had reached Hamas were a lie and unrelated to reality. According to the announcement, the objective of Netanyahu's statements was to mislead international public opinion and turn it against Hamas, and exert pressure on the international aid agencies operating in the Gaza Strip (Hamas website, August 14, 2016).
• Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri claimed Netanyahu's statements were baseless. He claimed it was an Israeli attempt to reinforce the siege of the Gaza Strip by monitoring the international aid agencies operating in the Gaza Strip and increasing pressure on them. He warned Israel not to continue (Hamas website, August 9, 2016). On another occasion Sami Abu Zuhri claimed that the UN had refuted Israel's accusations, more proof that Netanyahu was lying. He said the international agencies had not been fooled by Netanyahu's lies (Hamas website, August 15, 2016).

Facebook Blocks Page of Senior Hamas Figure

• Facebook blocked the official page of senior Hamas figure Salah al-Bardawil. In response al-Bardawil claimed he had not used his Facebook page for two months, adding that blocking his page was clearly a response to Israel's great influence on Facebook (Qudspress.com, August 13, 2016). Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanua condemned the pressure Israeli exerted on the social networks to close the pages of Hamas operatives. He claimed the positive response of the social networks meant they were collaborating with Israel (Alresala.net, August 15, 2016).

Hamas Military-Terrorist Training

 Pictures from the nukhba training video (Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades website, August 15, 2016).

• Hamas' military wing issued a short video documenting the training of the nukhba unit, the elite unit of the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades. The video shows terrorist operatives crawling, storming an Israeli post, shooting, camouflage and urban fighting (Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades website, August 15, 2016).

• On August 14, 2016, the third course for company commanders was begun by Hamas' security forces in the Gaza Strip. The course is being held in Hamas military installations in Rafah and Khan Yunis. It includes military topics such as topography, map reading, activities and liberating prisoners from Israeli jails (Hamas ministry of the interior in the Gaza Strip, August 14, 2016). The course is an additional indication of the military nature of Hamas' security forces in the Gaza Strip and of Hamas' intention to use them as a military force in emergencies.

Hamas Operative Electrocuted while Digging a Tunnel

• Hamas military-terrorist wing issued a death notice for Muhammad Khamis Eid Shalouf, 26 years old, from Rafah. According to the announcement he was electrocuted while an Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades tunnel was being dug near Rafah.

 Muhammad Khamis Eid Shalouf, killed in a tunnel near Rafah (Twitter account of the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, August 13, 2016).

Video Commemorating Jihadist Operative Killed in Iraq

• The Ibn Taymiyyah Center, the media wing of the Salafi-jihadist movement in the Gaza Strip, issued a video commemorating Khalil Atta al-Najar, killed while fighting in the ranks of ISIS in Salah al-Din Province in Iraq on August 16, 2016. Al-Najar was an operative in Hamas' elite nukhba unit in the Gaza Strip. He left Hamas and joined the Salafi-jihadists in the Gaza Strip. He was detained by Hamas, released, joined the Majlis Shura al-Mujahideen (a network in the Gaza Strip affiliated with ISIS). He left for Iraq to fight in the ranks of ISIS. He left a living will video calling on Muslims to join the Islamic State (Haq, August 13, 2016).

 Left: Khalil Atta al-Najar's living will. Right: Al-Najar as he appeared in the Ibn Taymiyyah Center video (Haq, August 13, 2016).

PA Anti-Israel Activity in the International Arena

• Saleh Rafat, a member of the PLO's Executive Committee, said that at the end of August the PA was planning to initiate a UN Security Council resolution condemning the settlements and have a vote held during September. He claimed if the United States vetoed the initiative the PA would appeal to the UN General Assembly.
• Riyadh al-Maliki, foreign minister in the Palestinian national consensus government, claimed Arab and international pressure was being exerted on the Palestinians not to appeal to the Security Council about the settlements at this stage. He claimed France did not want the issue to go to the Security Council before the next session of the General Assembly because it wanted to hold a meeting of ministers beforehand to formulate ideas which would be raised in the Security Council and included in the Palestinian resolution (Quds.net, August 9, 2016).
• In the meantime, Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the PLO's Executive Committee, claimed the case file of the "crimes of the settlements" had been given to the International Criminal Court (ICC). He said he hoped the ICC would decide to open an immediate investigation (Wafa, August 15, 2016).

PFLP Administration Detainee on Hunger Strike

• Bilal al-Kayed, a PFLP terrorist operative who is an administrative detainee, has been on a hunger strike for more than 50 days. Dozens of PFLP operatives in Israeli jails, among them the organization's secretary general, joined the hunger strike in solidarity.
• Bilal al-Kayed was born in Syria in 1981. In 1995 his family returned to the village of Asira' al-Shamaliah (north of Nablus) and resettled there. Al-Kayed served in the Palestinian police force. In 2001 he was one of Mahmoud Abu Hunoud's bodyguards (Abu Hunoud was a senior Hamas operative who headed its military-terrorist wing in Judea and Samaria, and was killed by Israel in 2001.) Al-Kayed then joined the ranks of the PFLP's military-terrorist wing.
• On December 14, 2001, he was detained by the IDF for involvement in terrorist attacks and sentenced to 14.5 years in an Israeli jail. On the day of his release a six-month administration detention order was issued. According to IDF sources the order was issued following updated, classified information revealing that al-Kayed was a senior PFLP operative and involved in its organizational and military operations endangering the security of Israel. He rejected Israel's proposal of deportation to Jordan for four years and began a hunger strike (Haaretz, June 15, 2016; Ma'an, August 11, 2016).
• Demonstrations and rallies were held in support of Bilal al-Kayed in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. In Ramallah a rally was held in al-Manara Square. Demonstrators tried to march to the village of Beit El but were prevented by the PA security forces. During the rally calls were heard to escalate the confrontations with the [Israeli] "occupation." In Jerusalem a support rally was held in front of the offices of the Red Cross with the participation of the Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the mufti of Jerusalem (Wafa, August 12, 2016). In Nablus taxi drivers drove in a convoy in the center of the city in support of al-Kayed (Palinfo, August 13, 2016). Dozens of Gazans gathered along the border with Israel holding pictures of al-Kayed. In Gaza City the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) erected a solidarity/protest tent to demonstrate for his release (Paltoday, August 11, 2016).

Children's Game Simulating an Israeli Jail

The closing ceremony of a Fatah summer camp in the al-Fuwwar refugee camp (south of Hebron). The children play a game called "Israeli jail." Children playing the parts of Palestinian prisoners kneel before children playing the parts of armed Israeli guards. The camp was named for Muhammad al-Shubaki, who stabbed an IDF soldier at the entrance to the al-Fuwwar refugee camp on November 25, 2015. Al-Shubaki's father attended the ceremony and made a speech (Dunia al-Watan, August 12, 2016).