News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (October 20-26, 2021)

Counterterrorism activities

• An Israeli security force activity in Bayt Fajjar in Gush Etzion uncovered two Carlo improvised machine guns, magazines and ammunition in a storeroom. Two Palestinians were taken for questioning (Israel Police Force spokesman’s unit, October 22, 2021).

Rocks, Molotov cocktails and other events

• In Judea and Samaria Palestinians continued throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles driving on the roads. The more prominent events were the following:^[1]
  • October 25, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus near al-Fawwar, southwest of Hebron. No casualties were reported. The bus was damaged.
  • October 25, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle on the Tekoa-Har Homa road, north of Jerusalem. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged.
  • October 25, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle between Mevo Dotan and Hermesh, west of Jenin. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged.
  • October 25, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle on the Husan bypass road between the al-Khader Junction and Beitar Illit. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • October 25, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus and vehicle in Turmus Aya, northeast of Ramallah. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • October 25, 2021: Rocks were thrown near Sinjil, northeast of Ramallah. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • October 25, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus near al-Fawwar, southwest of Hebron. No casualties were reported. The bus was damaged.
  • October 24, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle on the Husan bypass road between the al-Khader Junction and Beitar Illit. No casualties were reported. The bus was damaged.
  • October 24, 2021: A bottle of paint was thrown at an Israeli bus near Sinjil, northeast of Ramallah. No casualties were reported. The bus was damaged.
  • October 24, 2021: Rocks were thrown and an IED was placed on the road near Homesh, northwest of Nablus. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • October 23, 2021: Palestinians and Israeli settlers clashed between Amihai and Geulat Zion, northeast of Ramallah. An IDF soldier was injured by a rock thrown by a Palestinian.
  • October 23, 2021: Palestinians threw Molotov cocktails at a guard post near Itamar, southeast of Nablus, and then fled.
  • October 23, 2021: Rocks were thrown and an Israeli vehicle south of Shiloh, north of Ramallah. An Israeli woman was cut by flying glass. The vehicle was damaged.
  • October 23, 2021: Palestinians from Bayt Fajjar threw Molotov cocktails at the southern gate of Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion. No casualties or damage were reported.
  •  October 22, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle on route 55 between Nabi Elias and Azun, east of Qalqilya. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged.
  • October 22, 2021: A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Israeli vehicle at the Halhul Junction on the Gush Etzion-Hebron road. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • October 22, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus near Turmus Aya, northeast of Ramallah. No casualties were reported. The vehicle bus was damaged.
  • October 22, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle on the Jerusalem-Gush Etzion road south of al-Khader. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • October 21, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus between Mevo Dotan and Hermesh, west of Jenin. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • October 21, 2021: A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Ofra, northeast of Ramallah. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • October 21, 2021: A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Israeli vehicle on the Gush Etzion-Hebron road north of Karmei Tsur. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • October 20, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Hizma, northeast of Jerusalem. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged.
  • October 20, 2021: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Ni’lin, west of Ramallah. The driver was cut by flying glass.
  • October 19, 2021: Shots were fired from a passing car at an IDF force near the southern exit of Nablus. No casualties were reported. The vehicle drove off towards Nablus.

Significant Terrorist Attacks in Judea and Samaria since January 2020^[2]

Violent clashes in east Jerusalem

• During the past two weeks Palestinians frequently clashed with Israeli security forces near the Damascus Gate in east Jerusalem. In the evening Palestinians gathered and threw rocks and Molotov cocktails, and clashed with the Israeli security forces, who employed riot control measures to disperse the Palestinians. The events peaked on October 19, 2021, the day marked as Muhammad’s birthday. In the evening after a march held by the Palestinian scouting movement, several dozen Palestinians gathered in front of the gate and rioted, clashing with the Israeli security forces. Twenty-two Palestinians were detained (Israel Police Force spokesman’s unit, October 20, 2021). The Palestinian Red Crescent reported 17 Palestinians had been injured. Several Israeli buses that drove past the site were attacked with rocks and their windows were shattered.

Increase in number of permits for Palestinian construction workers

• The COGAT announced that as of the week of October 30, 2021, 9,000 additional permits would be issued for construction workers to enter Israeli territory. The COGAT stated that increasing the number of permits was part of a government decision intended to make it possible for more Palestinians to work in Israel in the near future (COGAT spokesman, October 24, 2021).

Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israel

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

Monthly Distribution of Rocket and Mortar Shell Fire since January 2020

Annual Distribution of Rocket Hits

Qatar’s financial aid for Gaza

• After a visit to the Gaza Strip, Mohammed al-Emadi, chairman of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, said conditions were improving in all areas. He said the rebuilding process would be speeded up in the near future (Shehab, October 23, 2021).
• The ministry of health in Gaza reported the beginning of the first phase of a project to build a new hospital in Rafah. It will be funded by Qatar and construction will be overseen by Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza. The cornerstone was laid in February 2021 with al-Emadi in attendance (Palsawa, October 20, 2021). Construction will cost $24 million. The total hospital area will be about 12 acres, and it will have several buildings and 355 beds (al-Andalou News, February 8, 2021). The new hospital will provide medical services to the Rafah district, where today there is only one government hospital, which in an emergency cannot treat all the district’s residents.

   
Laying the foundations for the new hospital in Rafah
(Twitter account of journalist Hassan Aslih, October 20, 2021).

Israeli entrance permits for Gazans

• Israel announced that beginning on October 21, 2021, 3,000 additional entrance permits would be issued to Gazan businessmen, bringing the total number of permits to 10,000. According to the COGAT, the political leadership decided on the increase following a security assessment, with the objective of improving economic conditions in the Gaza Strip. The COGAT spokesman also noted that measures to improve civilian conditions in the Gaza Strip are conditioned on the preservation of security stability over time. An assessment of the situation will determine whether or not additional measures will be made (COGAT spokesman, October 21, 2021)

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) delegations visit Tehran

• Delegations of Hamas and PIJ high-ranking representatives paid a visit to Iran and participated in the Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran. According to Hamas, its delegation included Khalil al-Haya, a member of Hamas’ political bureau; Usama Hamedan and Khaled al-Qadoumi, Hamas representative in Iran. In a speech before the conference, al-Haya called for unity within the Islamic nation to create a united front to face the Islamic world’s joint challenges, the most important of which was “the Zionist occupation and American imperialism.” He noted the [alleged] crimes committed by the “Zionist entity” against Islamic religious sites, activities to Judaize Jerusalem and changes in the status quo on the Temple Mount. He called on the Arab-Muslim nation to help the Palestinian “resistance” [i.e., terrorist organizations] which, he claimed, was the factor that united the Islamic nation. On the sidelines of the conference, the Hamas delegates met with senior Iranian officials and clerics (Hamas website, October 25, 2021).

PA-United States relations

• Senior PA figures related to the reopening the American consulate in Jerusalem, after the government of Israel asked the United States to postpone it. Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Israel was trying to blackmail the American administration and exert pressure to change its mind about the consulate, but the Biden administration was determined to reopen it (Voice of Palestine radio, October 20, 2021). Nabil Sha’ath, advisor to Mahmoud Abbas for foreign affairs and international relations, said Israel was exerting pressure to prevent the consulate from reopening. The United States, he said, hesitated to keep its promises to the Palestinians because of Israel’s claims that its current government was fragile and could fall if measures were taken changing the situation with the Palestinians (Chinese news agency Xinhua, October 19, 2021).
• At a meeting of the Palestinian leadership, which included members of the PLO’s Executive Committee and Fatah’s Central Committee, Mahmoud Abbas called on the United States to reopen the consulate in Jerusalem and the PLO legation in Washington, DC. He also demanded that the United States keep the promises it had made to the Palestinians and recognize its commitment to end the financial blockade of the PA imposed by the Trump administration (Wafa, October 24, 2021).
• Senior Fatah figure Issam al-Ahmed said the United States administration had assured the Palestinians of its determination to reopen the American consulate in Jerusalem without saying when. He said the Palestinians wanted promises made to them to be kept in reality, not on paper (QudsN Twitter account, October 24, 2021).

Swedish foreign minister visits Ramallah

• Swedish Foreign Minister Announcement Linde arrived in the PA for an official visit, meeting in Ramallah with Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh. Mahmoud Abbas told her the current situation could not continue and called for a “period of calm,” including the stopping of Israel’s [alleged] acts of “hostility” towards the Palestinians in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, its implementation of signed agreements and for trust-building measures to be carried out, as well as the immediate undertaking of a political process under the aegis of the International Quartet (Mahmoud Abbas’ Facebook page, October 19, 2018). The QudsN website reported that during the meetings with Mahmoud Abbas and Muhammad Shtayyeh, the Swedish foreign minister said the current level of corruption in the PA’s institutions was an obstacle to Sweden’s helping the Palestinians (QudsN website, October 20, 2021).

   
Right: Mahmoud Abbas meets with the Swedish foreign minister (Mahmoud Abbas’ Facebook page, October 19, 2021). Left: Muhammad Shtayyeh meets with the Swedish foreign minister (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, October 19, 2021).

Mahmoud Abbas meets with Mohammed al-Emadi

• Mahmoud Abbas met in his office in Ramallah with Mohammed al-Emadi, the Qatari emissary, after al-Emadi had spent a number of days in the Gaza Strip meeting with the Hamas leadership. Abbas and al-Emadi discussed civilian projects in the Gaza Strip and PA help for the Gaza Strip (Wafa, October 24, 2021).

Muhammad Shtayyeh visits European countries

• PA government spokesman Ibrahim Melhem reported that PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh had gone to visit three European countries. The first was Belgium, where he participated in a meeting held in Brussels of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which donates money to the PA. From there he is scheduled to go to Luxembourg, and then to Glasgow in Scotland to participate in the climate change summit meeting. Melhem said Shtayyeh had gone to Europe to enlist financial aid from European countries for the PA, support for renewing the peace process, and to exert pressure on Israel to lift the restrictions imposed on the Palestinians preventing them from holding elections in east Jerusalem (Wafa, October 21, 2021).
•  On October 21, 2021, Muhammad Shtayyeh attended the signing of an agreement for €11 million from Germany to fund the Palestinian universities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, and vocational and technical training for university graduates (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, October 21, 2021).

Palestinian reactions to Israel’s designating civilian social organizations^[3] affiliated with the PFLP as terrorist organizations

• After legally authorized joint activities of the Israeli security forces, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed an order designating six civilian social organizations operating under the aegis of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as terrorist organizations. The Israeli ministry of defense said in a statement that the organizations were operating on behalf of the PFLP and helping fund its terrorist activities. A “security source” told reporters that the six organizations operated as part of an organized network affiliated with PFLP, which carries out terrorist activities and in the past was involved in terrorist attacks. The organizations recruited terrorist operatives and raised money for the PFLP, laundered money and recruited operatives for the organization’s military-terrorist wing. A source involved in the decision said the investigation which eventually led to issuing the order had lasted for six months (Haaretz, October 24, 2021).
• According to the Israeli ministry of defense, the organizations operated as “civilian social organizations,” but were in reality part of a network of organizations operating internationally for the PFLP to support its activities and promote its objectives. The organizations were controlled by the PFLP and employed many PFLP operatives both in the field and in administration, including operatives who were involved in terrorist activities. The organizations serve as the main source of income for the PFLP’s military buildup, receiving large sums of money from European countries and international organizations through deception and fraud (Israeli defense minister’s media unit, October 22, 2021).
• The PA and Hamas condemned the Israeli decision. Muhammad Shtayyeh called on the international community and human rights organizations to follow suit and condemn it as well. His office said in a statement that the decision was a dangerous attack on international law because the institutions designated by Israel as terrorist organizations operated in accordance with Palestinian law and were associated with international institutions, and that necessitated intervention and action to prevent Israel from implementing the decision. Mahmoud Abbas held a meeting with representatives of the six organizations where he condemned the decision and said he stood with them in their struggle to expose the [alleged] “crimes of the occupation” to the world. He said they intended to carry out formal activities in the international arena to fight the decision (Mahmoud Abbas’ Facebook page, October 25, 2021).
• The Palestinian foreign ministry issued a strong condemnation of the decision, calling it an “insane attack of the [Israeli] occupation’s regime” on Palestinian civilian society and its institutions, a hostile invention, slander and an attack on Palestinian society and the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people, who oppose the Israeli occupation. The foreign ministry’s announcement called the decision “humiliating” and not the last in Israel’s extensive, methodical campaign against Palestinian civilian organizations considered “prominent” among the Palestinian organizations which defended human rights (Palestinian foreign ministry Facebook page, October 24, 2021).
• Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the decision made by “the Zionist minister of war” to designate civilian and human rights organizations as terrorist organizations was one of the forms of war being waged against Palestinian existence and an attempt to weaken the Palestinian people. He called for a national campaign to fight the decision and called on the international community to expose [alleged] “Zionist terrorism” (Hazem Qassem’s Telegram channel, October 23, 2021).

Palestinian terrorist prisoners end hunger strike

• On October 21, 2021, nine days after it began, the hunger strike of 250 PIJ prisoners in Israeli jails ended. After conflicting reports were issued, Tareq Izz al-Din, the PIJ spokesman in Judea and Samaria, formally announced the end of the strike. Senior PIJ figure Khader Adnan confirmed the hunger strike had ended and congratulated the families of the prisoners in Israeli jails on the end of the hunger strike and the prisoners’ victory (Filastin al-Yawm, October 22, 2021).
• The PIJ said it was satisfied the strike had ended with conditions agreed on between the prisoners and the prisoners authorities after a long series of negotiations. Among the conditions was the cancellation of solitary confinement for PIJ prisoners, with the exception of the six prisoners who had escaped and two others, whose solidary confinement would end in two months. The PIJ also claimed the [so-called] aggression against the Palestinian prisoners would end (al-Mayadeen, October 22, 2021).
• Tareq Izz al-Din praised the end of the strike, calling it a victory for the prisoners, whose demands had been met. The PIJ said in a formal announcement that they congratulated the prisoners and their families on the “achievement and victory,” and warned Israel and the prison authorities against changing their minds about the agreement or avoiding meeting the prisoners’ “just demands” (Filastin al-Yawm, October 22, 2021).
• Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem congratulated the prisoners’ movement on the “victory won by virtue of the heroic prisoners, especially those belonging to the PIJ.” He said they were proud of the unity of the prisoners’ movement, and called for national activity to be continued and expanded (Hamas website, October 22, 2021).
• Once the hunger strike had ended, the leadership of the Hamas prisoners announced that dozens of prisoners who belonged to Hamas were planning an unlimited hunger strike in solidarity with the six prisoners who were on a hunger strike to protest their administrative detention (al-Aqsa, October 24, 2021).

Registering 4,000 Palestinians in Judea and Samaria

• On October 19, 2021, Israel announced the registration of about 4,000 Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria who had no status and were not registered as residents of the Gaza Strip. Registering them will make it possible for them to ask for permission for employment in Israel and receive services from the civilian administration without fear of being deported to the Gaza Strip (Twitter account of Benny Gantz, October 22, 2021).
• The Palestinian media quoted an announcement from Hussein al-Sheikh, PA minister of civilian affairs, who said they had promoted the first wave of the receipt of ID cards for people living in “Palestine” who so far did not have Palestinian IDs. According to the announcement, the status of 4,000 Palestinians will now be registered and they will be entitled to receive Palestinian IDs and passports, and to update their addresses (Hussein al-Sheikh’s Twitter account, October 19, 2021).

Launching a construction project in the northern Jordan Valley

• Mahmoud Abbas visited Jericho to launch several regional projects, the largest of which will be building a new city called Qamar (“Moon City”), northeast of Jericho. Muhammad Mustafa, chairman of the Palestinian Investment Fund, who accompanied him to the ceremony, said the project would be situated “in a strategic location that will not allow Israel to develop the settlements in the region,” and would help the population of the Jordan Valley to double within five years. The project, carried out by the Palestinian Investment Fund, will cover an area of about 445 acres and include tourist attractions, commerce and residences. It will create 20,000 jobs and the total cost will be about $500 million (Wafa, Watan, October 23, 2021).

Palestinian accusations that Israel damaged the PA’s environment and natural resources

•  On October 19, 2021, PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh met with Diane Corner, the British consul in Jerusalem. She presented him with a report that monitored the damage Israel [allegedly] did to the environment in Judea and Samaria. Muhammad Shtayyeh said the environment was one of the challenges facing them, particularly the waste generated by the settlements, as was Israel’s ongoing control of [the Palestinians’] natural resources, the uprooting of trees to enable construction in the settlements and the use Israel makes of the Palestinian areas as sites for the disposals of solid, chemical and electronic waste (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, October 21, 2021).

PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh exploits the olive-picking season for anti-Israeli incitement

• Muhammad Shtayyeh visited the Salfit district accompanied by Mustafa Kamil, the district governor. Shtayyeh met with local farmers and helped them pick olives. He accused Israel of uprooting trees, particularly olive trees, claiming that between 1967 and today Israel had uprooted 25 million trees in the PA territories, 8,000 of them olive trees. He claimed Israel not only evicted people from their houses, it also uprooted their trees (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, October 20, 2021).

    
Muhammad Shtayyeh visits Salfit (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, October 20, 2021).

Judea and Samaria

• The ministry of health in Ramallah reported the following coronavirus data for October 26, 2021: the number of active cases stood at 1,536, down from 2,071 on October 19, 2021, 60 patients were in ICUs, 15 of them on ventilators. So are 2,875 Palestinians have died of coronavirus-related conditions; 951,089 Palestinians have been fully vaccinated (two shots), up from 916,126 on October 19, 2021 (ministry of health in Ramallah Facebook page, October 26, 2021).
• Mai al-Kayla, PA minister of health, reported the daily infection curve had flattened, but noted that the number of coronavirus-related deaths was increasing. She said the increase in mortality proved the widespread existence of the delta variant in the PA territories. She said Palestinians who had received two doses of the vaccine had also died (ministry of health in Ramallah Facebook page, October 20, 2021).

The Gaza Strip

• The ministry of health in Gaza reported that on October 26, 2021, there were 5,801 active cases, down from 9,867 on October 19, 2021. Of the 1,455 tests administered between October 25 and 26, 2021, 256 new cases were diagnosed, a positive rate of 18%. So far 1,548 Gazans have died of coronavirus-related conditions, up from 1,515 on October 19, 2021. There are 161 coronavirus patients in the hospitals in the Gaza Strip, 108 of them in serious or critical condition. As of October 26, 2021, 471,614 Gazans had been vaccinated, up from 466,286 on October 19, 2021 (ministry of health in Gaza Facebook page, October 26, 2021).

   
Despite the decline in coronavirus infection, construction continues for a new UAE-funded field hospital for coronavirus patients near the European Hospital in eastern Khan Yunis
(Safa Facebook page, October 21, 2021).