Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (December 14-20, 2022)

Shots fired at a bus near Sanur

• On the evening of December 18, 2022, shots were fired at an Israeli bus returning from a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony in Sanur (an evacuated settlement in northern Samaria). The ceremony was held in coordination with and authorized by the IDF. No casualties were reported; the bus was damaged. An Israeli security force examination indicated that seven bullets were fired (Rescue Without Borders in Judea and Samaria, December 18, 2022).

Shots fired near Havat Gilad

• On December 16, 2022, an Israel vehicle was attacked in a drive-by shooting near Havat Gilad (southwest of Nablus). No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged. IDF forces searched the area for the shooters (Israeli media, IDF, December 16, 2022). The driver said that during the attack the vehicle made a U-turn and drove right at him, almost causing a head-on collision. Shots were fired and the vehicle drove away (Ynet, December 16, 2022). The Lion’s Den terrorist network claimed responsibility for attacking a “settlers’ vehicle,” after which the operatives “returned safely to base” (Lion’s Den Telegram channel, December 17, 2022).

  
Right: The vehicle after the drive-by shooting. Left: Bullet holes in the driver’s head rest (Rescue Without Borders in Judea and Samaria, December 16, 2022).

• On December 18, 2022, Israeli security forces operating in the old Askar refugee camp in Nablus detained Nasser al-Naqib, 47 years old, a Fatah-Tanzim operative who in the past was incarcerated in Israel. He was suspected of carrying out the drive-by shooting near Havat Gilad. He was also involved in arms dealing. His son was also detained on suspicion of involvement in the shooting (Israeli media, December 18, 2022).
• The Palestinians reported that Israeli security forces surrounded the old Askar refugee camp and demanded one of the wanted Palestinians surrender. A riot developed and one Palestinian was wounded by Israeli fire and seven by smoke inhalation. Somewhat later Nasser al-Naqib and his son surrendered to the Israeli forces. As the forces left the area armed Palestinians shot a massive number of rounds of gunfire at them (al-Quds, Ma’an, December 18, 2022).

Significant Terrorist Attacks in Judea and Samaria since November 2020^[1]

• This past week the Israeli security forces continued intensive counterterrorism activities in Judea and Samaria, detaining Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist activities and confiscating large quantities of weapons. On the night of December 16, 2022, the security forces detained two wanted Palestinians in Bayt Ur al-Tahta (west of Ramallah). Terrorist funds and weapons were confiscated, among them an M-16 assault rifle. Operating in the villages of Khirbet Karmel and Bayt Awa (south of Hebron) a Palestinian wanted tor terrorist activities was detained and an improvised Carlo machinegun and 13 stolen vehicles were confiscated (IDF spokesman’s Twitter account, December 16, 2022)

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist operative killed by locally-manufactured IED

• The Palestinian media reported the death of PIJ operative Tamer Nashrati, 23 years old, who was mortally wounded several days ago when a locally-manufactured IED exploded while Israeli security forces were operating in the Jenin refugee camp. According to the report, he was an operative in the Jenin Battalion’s IED unit and regularly participated in riots against Israeli forces (al-Quds, December 19, 2022).

Hamas and Fatah foment unrest on the Temple Mount in preparation for Hanukkah

• In view of Hanukkah and concerns that Israelis planned to light a menorah on the Temple Mount, the Palestinian terrorist organizations called on the residents of Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem as well as Israeli Arabs to go to al-Aqsa mosque to “defend” it during the eight days of the holiday. Hamas called on the Palestinians and Israeli Arabs to go to the defense of al-Aqsa mosque and ignite every friction point with Israel to prevent it from changing the status quo at the mosque during Hanukkah. Hamas claimed they regarded the “planned massive invasion of al-Aqsa mosque [by Israelis] under the aegis of the extremist right-wing occupation government” during the eight days of the holidays as dangerous escalation, an attack on the Palestinian people’s sentiments and a threat to worsen the situation. Hamas also called on the Arab-Islamic states to take political and diplomatic steps to defend al-Aqsa mosque (Hamas Telegram channel, December 17, 2022).
• Hamas spokesman Manzar al-Hakim called and everyone who was able to go to al-Aqsa mosque and clash with the “herds of settlers” planning to enter the mosque and light a menorah for Hanukkah (Sawa Twitter account, December 17, 2022). Hussein al-Sheikh and Rawhi Mushtaha warned against calls from Jewish groups and called for the “popular resistance” [popular terrorism] to be brought into action to thwart the plans (Wafa, December 17, 2022).

Terrorist operative expelled from east Jerusalem

• The Israeli ministry of the interior deported Salah al-Hamouri, a lawyer from Kafr ‘Aqab, to France, after his status as a resident was revoked two weeks ago. According to the ministry announcement, al-Hamouri was a French citizen who worked as an activist of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) for many years. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for terrorist activities but released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal before completing his incarceration. After being released he returned to PFLP activities, joined the organization’s upper echelons and continued to operate against Israel.
• Al-Hamouri was employed by the al-Dameer Association for Human Rights to represent Palestinians in military courts,. Al-Dameer is one of the organizations outlawed by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, designated a terrorist organization in August 2022 (Ynet, December 18, 2022).
• The Palestinians were harshly critical (Agence France-Presse, December 18, 2022). The PA’s Jerusalem affairs ministry claimed that deporting Salah al-Hamouri, “a son of Jerusalem” and human rights activist, was a “war crime” and demanded his return to Jerusalem, along with his wife and children. According to the ministry, deporting al-Hamouri after revoking his “Jerusalem identity” could set a precedent and was a reminder for the international community of the Palestinians’ need for international protection from Israel (“the occupation”) (Wafa, December 18, 2022).
• The PFLP claimed his deportation was part of Israel’s [alleged] “plot to ethnically cleanse” Jerusalem and empty it of its “original residents” (PFLP website, December 18, 2022). Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem condemned the deportation, claiming it was a continuation of Israel’s policy of “ethnic cleansing and uprooting villages” to expel Palestinians from their land. He called on the international community and human rights’ institutions to take effective steps and pressure Israel to change its mind (headquarters, December 18, 2022). Zaher Jabarin, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, called the deportation “a crime against humanity” (Hamas website, December 18, 2022).

  
Right: Salah al-Hamouri in the al-Dameer offices (al-Quds, December 18, 2022). Left: A festive reception held for al-Hamouri upon his arrival in France (Ra’i Press, December 19, 2022).

Security prisoner dies

•  On December 20, 2022, the Israeli Prison Service reported the death of terminally ill Nasser Abu Hamid, who had been hospitalized and treated in an Israeli hospital (Israeli media, December 20, 2022). Abu Hamid was one of the founders of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (AAMB), Fatah’s military-terrorist wing, in Judea and Samaria. During the second intifada he was Marwan Barghouti’s right-hand man and participated in planning and carrying out terrorist attacks. He was detained in 2002 and sentenced to seven terms of life imprisonment plus 50 years for the murders of seven Israelis. He began to feel ill in August 2021 and was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was operated on and received chemotherapy but his condition deteriorated, and in September 2022 the Palestinians launched a campaign for his release. Four of his brothers were sentenced to life imprisonment for involvement in terrorist activities and are currently incarcerated. His mother, Umm Nasser Hamid, is called “an esteemed role model” by senior Palestinian figures (Ynet, December 20 2022).

• After Abu Hamid’s death Israel was widely accused by the Palestinians of medical negligence. A general strike was declared in the Ramallah district as well as other PA locations. The Fatah movement called for protest marches and for Palestinians to go to the friction points [to clash with IDF forces]. The PA commission for prisoners’ affairs is trying to get his body released and according to reports, Hussein al-Sheikh, general secretary of the PLO’s Executive Committee, is personally monitoring the situation (Facebook page of the PA commission for prisoners and released prisoners’ affairs, December 20, 2022).
• Some of the reactions were the following:
  • Mahmoud Abbas issued a mourning notice for his death “as a result of Israel’s policy of deliberate medical negligence” and accused Israel of responsibility for his death. He sent condolences to the family which was, he said, a model of sacrifice and firm stance (Wafa, December 20, 2022).
  • The PA commission for prisoners and released prisoners’ affairs reported the death of Nasser Abu Hamid “as a result of the policy of deliberate medical murder of sick prisoners in the prison hospitals.” The commission also reported that in response the prisoners in all the prisons in Israel had declared three days of mourning and a hunger strike (Facebook page of the PA commission for prisoners and released prisoners’ affairs, December 20, 2022).
  • The Fatah movement in Ramallah-al-Bireh issued a mourning notice accusing Israel of full responsibility for his death, which it called “a deliberate assassination” (Facebook page of Fatah’s media information and culture bureau, December 20, 2022).
  • Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said his death was “a great crime against the Palestinian prisoners” and that the policy of medical negligence exposed the extent of the “terrorism and Nazism” towards prisoners in the Israeli jails. He claimed the crime had to be answered by escalating the “national struggle” [terrorist attacks] (Hamas website, December 20, 2022).

Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israel

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

Monthly Distribution of Rocket and Mortar Shell Fire since January 2020

Annual Distribution of Rocket Hits

Hamas rocket launching pits exposed near schools in the Gaza Strip

• For the anniversary of Hamas’ founding on December 14, 2022, the IDF spokesman’s Twitter account in Arabic revealed documentation of rocket launching pits near educational institutions in the Gaza Strip. It reported that Hamas exploited the civilian infrastructure for its terrorist activities and noted three schools in the Gaza Strip close to which Hamas dug rocket launching pits, revealing that Hamas had made their presence known to the schools’ teachers and administration. One school was in the Shejaiya neighborhood in the eastern part of Gaza City and the other two were in the Zeitoun neighborhood in the southern part (IDF spokesman’s Twitter account in Arabic, December 14, 2022).

     
Rocket launching pits near the schools in the Zeitung neighborhood of Gaza City
(IDF spokesman, December 14, 2022).

• In response, the ministry of education in Gaza called the exposure “a pathetic attempt by Israel to avoid responsibility for the crimes it [allegedly] commits against educational facilities and a forewarning of additional crimes.” The ministry called on the UN to intervene and put an end to “aggression against educational facilities.” It also claimed that Israel’s history was full of attacks “on schools” and slaughter, and did not adhere to international conventions which provide protection for educational facilities [sic] (ministry of health in Gaza Facebook page, December 16, 2022).

Hamas rally marking the 35^th anniversary of its founding

• Hamas marked the 35^th anniversary of its founding with a mass rally in al-Khatib Square in Gaza City, attended by thousands of Palestinians and representatives of the Palestinian organizations. The key address was given by Yahya al-Sinwar, head of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip. He claimed the “resistance” [anti-Israel terrorism] and the “Jerusalem axis” were in open combat against Israel, which was “determined to turn the conflict into a religious war” [sic]. Regarding captive and prisoner exchange deals, he revealed that Hamas had conducted several rounds of indirect, secret negotiations with Israel and claimed they had given Israel a limited amount of time to complete the deal. If Israel continued delaying, he said, Hamas would permanently close the file on the Israel soldiers it held and employ other means to release the prisoners. He also stated that “resistance” was the only way to achieve its objectives of “freedom and return” [the destruction of the State of Israel].
• Al-Sinwar added that in the assessment of Hamas, Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades’ intelligence and the security forces, they would face great national challenges in the coming year: Israel’s “right-wing, fascist” government would break all the rules and cross all the red lines. That would have consequences for Palestinians wherever they were, which made it necessary to provide them with the opportunity to ignite the “resistance” in Judea and Samaria, which was the heart of the “resistance’s” [terrorist organizations’] national project. It committed them to increasing their strength and recruiting Palestinian resources in preparation for the coming clashes.
• He added that the events in the Jenin refugee camp, the Balata Battalion and the Lion’s Den, the activities of the “resistance” [terrorist operatives] and the escalation of the “resistance” [terrorist attacks] in all its forms were the only way to achieve the Palestinians’ objectives. He appealed to Israeli Arabs, asking them to close ranks [with the terrorist organizations] and prepare to “resist Zionist fascism” (Hamas website, December 14, 2022).

   
Right: Aerial view of the rally (Twitter account of Ra’ed Abu Jarar, December 14, 2022). Left: Yahya al-Sinwar, front and center stage at the rally next to the children of Muhammad Deif (Safa, December 14, 2022).

• A video speech of Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, was played at the rally. He said Gaza continued to keep its promises, its finger was on the trigger and it was waiting for the great assault on Israel. A recorded speech by Muhammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, was also played. He warned Israel its end was near and called for comprehensive Palestinian unity to liberate Palestine (Safa, December 14, 2022).

Hamas activity in Judea and Samaria to mark the anniversary of its founding

•  In addition to the rally in Gaza City, Hamas activists held a number of events in Judea and Samaria despite the limitations put in place by the PA’s security forces. Most of the events were held in the universities.

   
Right: Hamas rally in Hebron University (Twitter account of the Islamic Bloc in the West Bank, December 15, 2022). Left: Hamas march in Birzeit University (Facebook page of the Islamic Bloc in Bir Zeit, December 15, 2022).

• An exception was the armed march held in Bayt Ummar, north of Hebron, where dozens of masked, uniformed Palestinians marched with symbols identifying them as Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades operatives (Shehab, December 16, 2022).

  
The march in Bayt Ummar (Shehab, December 16, 2022).

Hamas and the PIJ to cooperate regarding the “resistance”

• On December 18, 2022, a delegation headed by PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah met in Beirut with a delegation headed by Saleh al-‘Arouri, deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau. They stressed the need for cooperation to strengthen the “resistance” and its activities against Israel, especially in Judea and Samaria (PIJ website, December 18, 2022).
• On December 17, 2022, the Hamas and PIJ leaderships met in Gaza, invited by the PIJ for the anniversary of Hamas’ founding. They agreed that the next step would necessitate closing ranks and strengthening ties to deal with the challenges and Israel’s plots against them. They noted the importance of their efforts and the measures they would take to strengthen and develop the “resistance front,” adding it was their top priority (PIJ website, December 17, 2022).

Lack of housing in the Gaza Strip

• Naji Sirhan, deputy minister of labor and public works in the Gaza Strip, said in an interview that the Gaza Strip was suffering from a shortage of approximately 120,000 housing units whose construction was estimated at half a billion dollars. He said that to meet the needs of the growing Gazan population, every year 14,000 new units had to be built and so far only about a third of the number had been constructed. He also claimed that the rounds of war since 2007 had completely destroyed about 18,000 units and partially destroyed 250,000. Regarding the reconstruction of the high-rise apartment houses destroyed in Israeli attacks, so far no international funding had been acquired (al-Andalou News, December 17, 2022).

Reaction to the resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly

• This past week the UN General Assembly approved two resolutions favoring the Palestinian cause:
  • On December 14, 2022, a resolution was approved by a vote of 159 in favor, eight against and ten abstentions, affirming the resolution of the UN’s Economic and Financial Committee of November 10, 2022, which demands that “Israel halt all actions… that harm the environment, including the dumping of all kinds of waste materials and ceasing its destruction of vital infrastructure” in the occupied areas including east Jerusalem, and the “occupied Syrian Golan” (UN website, December 14, 2022).
  • On December 15, 2022, a resolution was approved by a vote of 167 in favor, six against and nine abstentions, affirming the resolution of the Third Committee (the committee for human rights and humanitarian, social and cultural matters) of November 17, 2022, regarding the right of the Palestinians to self determination. It “stressed the urgency of ending “Israeli occupation” of the…Palestinian territory…as well as a just, lasting peace settlement between the Palestinian and Israeli side [and] the need to respect the territorial integrity of the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. Further, the Assembly urged all States and the United Nations to continue to support and assist the Palestinian people in the early realization of their right to self-determination” (UN website, December 15, 2022). There was nothing exceptional about the resolution; a similar resolution is approved by a large majority every year. The Palestinians were satisfied by the resolution, regarding it as an achievement and confirmation of Palestinian rights.
• Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki praised the two resolutions. Regarding the one relating to natural resources, he said the vote confirmed the Palestinians right to and sovereignty over their resources, including natural gas, and showed they were the only ones who owned the land. He claimed the resolution called on Israel, as the occupying power, to stop exploiting Palestinian natural resources, including in east Jerusalem; stop the settlers’ activities which harmed the environment; stop destroying the infrastructure and stop appropriating wells and agricultural lands (PA foreign ministry website, December 15, 2022).
• Regarding the resolution relating the Palestinians’ right to self determination, he said the “overwhelming vote” in favor was a reaction to attempts to subvert the Palestinians’ right to self determination and a public “struggle” against Israel’s [alleged] “violations and crimes.” He called on the UN member states to take responsibility for protecting the Palestinians’ rights, take practical steps against Israel and work with the Palestinians for a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice regarding the character of the occupying presence and its influence on the Palestinians’ right to self determination (Wafa, December 16, 2022).
• Hussein al-Sheikh said the resolution regarding the right to self determination was an addition to the hundreds of resolutions affirming Palestinian rights, and confirming the illegality of the “occupation” and its aggressive and racist measures (Hussein al-Sheikh’s Twitter account, December 15, 2022).
• Hamas also welcomed the resolutions. Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanua called on the UN and all its member states to translate the natural resources resolution into action by exerting pressure on Israel (Hamas website, December 15, 2022). Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, welcomed the right to self determination resolution, saying they regarded it as a victory and proof of the “justice of their cause” (Hamas website, December 16, 2022).

Palestinian public opinion poll indicate a rise in support for the “armed struggle” [terrorist attacks]

• Khalil Shqaqi’s Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) issued the results of its fourth quarter public opinion poll, conducted between December 7 and 10, 2022.^[2] The poll included 1,200 respondents from Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, and its most prominent finding was that 55% of the general population support a return to clashes and an armed intifada against Israel (up from 45% three months ago). In addition, 72% support the formation of armed groups like the Lion’s Den, which do not take orders from the PA and are not part of its security services; 79% stand against the surrender of the members of the armed groups or their arms to the PA and 59% expect armed groups to spread to other areas in the West Bank.
• The findings, Shqaqi says, “come in a context of three major political and security-related developments…that might have shaped Palestinian public attitudes. One is the “escalating military clashes between Palestinian armed groups and the Israeli army in the northern part of the West Bank.” Another is the “results of the Israeli elections and the start of negotiations to form a right-wing coalition government,” which may have “also contributed to the rise in the belief that armed struggle, not negotiations, is the most effective means of ending the Israeli occupation.” And finally, “the pro-Palestine scenes at the World Cup in Qatar have contributed to a restoration of the confidence of the Palestinians in the justice of their cause and their right to resist the occupation by all ‘legitimate means.’^[3]” He added that the “findings show strong association between the restoration of trust and attitudes regarding the two-state solution and the return to an armed intifada.”
• Specifically:
  • A limited change was noted in the balance of power in favor of Hamas, after Mahmoud Abbas’ popularity dropped by several points. If elections were held for the position of PA chairman, Mahmoud Abbas would receive 36% of the votes, Isma’il Haniyeh 54%,
  • A majority of 61% expects the policies of the upcoming Israeli government currently being formed from the right wing and the extreme right, to be more extreme and aggressive. A majority of 58% expects the upcoming Israeli government under Netanyahu to change the status quo in East Jerusalem by allowing Jews to pray at the site; 64% expects the upcoming Israeli government under Netanyahu to expel Palestinian families from al Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
  • Regarding the two-state solution, 69% think it is no longer feasible due to settlement expansion.

The PA leadership continues its campaign to delegitimize the new Israeli government

• PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh held a meeting in preparation for the opening of a Palestinian-European dialogue with 23 EU ambassadors and representatives. He called on the EU to take “unprecedented measures” against the policies of the new Israeli government which, he claimed, threatened the Palestinians’ presence [sic], their country and their institutions. He commented on the international community’s “helplessness,” which he said encouraged Israel to continue its activities against the Palestinians (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, December 15, 2022).

PA activity in international legal institutions

• Muhammad Shtayyeh met with Virginia Gamba, the UN secretary general’s envoy for children and combat areas. He proposed to supply her with all the information necessary to investigate Israel’s “attacks on Palestinian children.” He claimed Palestinian children’s lives were strange and unusual because of the “occupation,” which prevents them from attaining their rights and limits their movement. He noted the need to provide them with protection against Israel’s activities and “settler terrorism.” He also called for Israel to be condemned for its [alleged] “crimes” against Palestinian children and to add Israel to the UN’s black list (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, December 15, 2022).
• A few days previously Muhammad Shtayyeh met with business men and women from the United States to discuss the possibility of putting Israel on the black list. He claimed Israel made them live under a system of “apartheid.” However, he said that despite the “occupation,” the potential for investing in the PA territories was especially high in areas such as hi-tech and agriculture, and that the PA government was promoting the passage of laws that would encourage investments (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, December 12, 2022).
• Muhammad al-Shalaldeh, the PA minister of justice, told an al-Jazeera interviewer that the PA continued to promote the issue of prosecuting Israel in international courts for its activities against the Palestinians. He also called on Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, to open an investigation without delay into Israel’s “crimes” against the Palestinians, as his predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, had decided. He stressed the Palestinians’ full right to “popular resistance” [popular terrorism] against Israel (Facebook page of the PA ministry of justice, December 13, 2022).

Nizar Banat’s family sues the PA

• Nizar Banat, a political activist who was openly critical of Mahmoud Abbas and the PA was killed on June 24, 2021, by the Palestinian security services while they were “detaining” him. His family and their lawyer lodged a suit with the ICC against seven senior Palestinian figures, accusing them of killing him. The family’s lawyer said it was the first the Palestinian side was being sued by a Palestinian family. He said they would give Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor, secret information which could not currently be revealed (swissinfo website, December 15, 2022).
• Ghassan Banat, Nizar’s brother, interviewed at the entrance to the ICC building, that he had come to The Hague to present the evidence the family had collected about the investigation. Stoke White Lawyers, the legal firm representing the family, said that one of the factors motivating the family to act was the “grotesque” nine-day vacation given in June 2022 to 14 of Nizar’s suspected killers. The PA has not yet commented (Reuters’, December 15, 2022).

Call to boycott products manufactured in the settlements

• On December 13, 2022, a meeting of the Joint European-Palestinian Committee was held in Ramallah to discuss Palestinian cooperation with European countries in the fields of education, health, energy, the economy, trade, legal affairs, water, social development and finance. Muhammad Shtayyeh noted the connection and cooperation between the Palestinians and the EU, as well as the political support the PA receives. The Palestinians called on Europe to boycott products manufactured in the settlements and to prosecute European companies and other groups working with and investing in the settlements (Wafa, December 12, 2022).

Condemnations of the deaths of two Palestinians in a traffic accident

• The Israeli media reported that two brothers in their 30s, were killed when they were hit by an Israeli vehicle between the Tapuah and Rahelim Junctions in northern Samaria. According to the police, so far the event is being treated as a traffic accident and the Israeli driver did not deliberately hit the vehicle parked in the dark at the side of the road (Ynet, Israel HaYom, December 18, 2022).
• The Palestinian media accused the driver of deliberately killing them. The PA’s Wafa News Agency reported the event with the headline, “Two brothers deliberately run over south of Nablus by a settler” (Wafa, December 17, 2022).
• Muhammad Shtayyeh claimed they were deliberately killed by a settler, which was “a terrible crime.” He called on international institutions to put “the criminals on the black list” and prosecute them (Dunia al-Watan, December 17, 2022). Accompanied by Majed Faraj, head of Palestinian general intelligence, he paid a condolence call at the family’s home in the Qalandia refugee camp (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, December 19, 2022).
• Hamas issued a mourning notice for the brothers killed in “the deliberate vehicular crime committed by a settler,” calling for a response to the “terrible crime” and for the blood of the shaheeds to be avenged (Hamas website, December 17, 2022). The PIJ also issued a mourning notice, claiming that the “terrible crime” exposed Israel’s decision to “ambush Palestinian civilians as part of its methodical war against their land and holy places.” Israel, claimed the notice, would witness a response from the Palestinians and the “resistance” in the streets of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem (PIJ website, December 18, 2022).

   
Right: Mourning notice issued by the Shabiba, Fatah’s student block, for the two brothers. According to the notice, one brother was a Shabiba activist in the Ramallah branch of the Palestine Technological University – Khadourie (Telegram channel of Awda, Fatah’s office of media information and culture, December 18, 2022). Left: Armed AAMB operatives at the funeral held for the two brothers in the Qalandia refugee camp (Wafa, December 18, 2022).

 
Right: Muhammad Shtayyeh (extreme left) and Majed Faraj at the family’s mourning tent (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, December 19, 2022). Left: Wanted terrorist Fathi Hazem^[4] (second from left) pays a condolence call (@camp1989 Telegram channel, December 18, 2022).

Bodies of Palestinian terrorists transferred to the PA

• On December 16, 2022, Israel transferred to the PA the bodies of Salameh Sharaya from Bir Zeit and Khaled Inbar from Jafna in the Ramallah-al-Bireh district. The two were killed on the night of October 2, 2022, during an Israeli security force activity to detin a wanted Palestinian in the Jilazoun refugee camp, along with another Palestinian. They were in a vehicle that sped towards the force, which responded with live fire (Arabs48 website, December 16, 2022). A military funeral was held for them (Facebook page of the Palestinian national security services, December 17, 2022). Hussein al-Sheikh paid a visit to the mourning notice erected for them (Hussein al-Sheikh’s Twitter account, December 17, 2022).

  
Right: The military funeral (Facebook page of the Palestinian national security services, December 17, 2022). Left: Hussein al-Sheikh (looking at the camera) at the mourning tent (Hussein al-Sheikh’s Twitter account, December 17, 2022).

Rocks, Molotov cocktails and other attacks

• In Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem Palestinians continued throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles driving on the roads. The more prominent events were the following:^[5]
  • December 20, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle in Tekoa (south of Nablus). No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • December 19, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus southwest of Bethlehem. No casualties were reported; the bus was damaged.
  • December 18, 2022: A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an IDF post near Halhul (north of Hebron). No casualties or damage were reported.
  • December 18, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Sinjil (northeast of Ramallah) No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • December 18, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus southwest of Bethlehem. No casualties were reported; the bus was damaged.
  • December 18, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle between Adam and Hizma (northeast of Jerusalem). No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • December 18, 2022: A bottle of paint was thrown at an Israeli bus in Hawwara (south of Nablus). No casualties were reported; the bus was damaged.
  • December 18, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near al-Aroub (north of Hebron. No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • December 17, 2022: A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Sinjil (northeast of Ramallah). No casualties or damage were reported.
  • December 15, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Bayt Ummar (north of Hebron). No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • December 15, 2022: IED thrown from a passing vehicle at an IDF post in Nebi Salah (west of Ramallah). No casualties or damage were reported.
  • December 14, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus in the village of Hares, northwest of Salfit. No casualties were reported; the bus was damaged.
  • December 14, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Yitzhar (west of Nablus). No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • December 14, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus near Bayt Ummar (north of Hebron). No casualties were reported; the bus was damaged.
  • December 13, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus south of Givat Assaf (east of Ramallah). No casualties were reported; the bus was damaged.
  • December 13, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus near Luban al-Sharqia (northwest of Ramallah) No casualties were reported; the bus was damaged.