News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (August 14 –20, 2019)

Prevention of penetration of four armed terrorists into Israeli territory

• On August 17, 2019, IDF observation posts identified five suspects approaching the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip. At least one of them was armed. IDF forces were rushed to the site. An IDF tank and helicopter shot at the suspects before they could cross the security fence (IDF spokesman, August 17, 2019). The Palestinian ministry of health reported that IDF forces had killed three Palestinians and critically wounded another. The five belonged variously to Hamas, the PIJ and Fatah. Some of them had participated in the return marches and were Night Harassment Unit operatives in the northern Gaza Strip. Senior figures in Hamas and the other terrorist organizations publicly praised the operatives who were killed and blamed Israel for their deaths. Senior Hamas figure Isma’il Haniyeh paid visits, covered by the media, to the families of the dead operatives.^[1]

        
The three terrorists killed while attempting to penetrate into Israeli territory (Palinfo Twitter account, August 18, 2019).

    
Hamas memorial notices for the Palestinians killed attempting to penetrate into Israeli territory (Palinfo Twitter account, August 18, 2019).

The return march of August 16, 2019

• On Friday, August 16, 2019, the return march was held in the Gaza Strip with the theme “Young Palestinians.” Before the march the Supreme National Authority of the Great Return March called on the public to participate in the march and said, for the first time, that the activities would end after two hours (less time than usual). About 5,600 Palestinians participated in the events, gathering at the five usual return camps. Some of the Palestinians went to the security fence, rioted and clashed with IDF forces. They threw hand grenades and IEDs at the soldiers. Attempts were also made to sabotage the security fence and to cross it to enter Israeli territory. The spokesman for the ministry of health in the Gaza Strip reported that 63 Palestinians had been injured, about half of them by live IDF fire (Ashraf al-Qidra’s Twitter account, August 16, 2019).
• The Supreme National Authority announced that the return march of August 23, 2019, would have the theme “At your orders, al-Aqsa mosque,” to mark the 50^th anniversary of the attempt to set fire to al-Aqsa mosque^[2] and to protest the so-called “efforts to Judaize Jerusalem” (Ma’an, al-Aqsa TV, August 16, 2019). Hamas announced the general mobilization of all its operatives, forces, institutions and leadership forums for attendance at the August 23, 2019 return march (Shehab Twitter account, August 18, 2019).
• The Supreme National Authority held a press conference where it called for turning the activities of the August 23, 2019 return march into “a day of confrontation without borders” and for intensifying the struggle against the IDF and the “settlers” [i.e., all Israelis]. The Authority stressed that the return marches would preserve their “popular” character, and called on the residents of the West Bank to also hold marches on August 23 (Sawa, August 19, 2019). The Palestinian public was called on to participate in activities whose theme would be “Together against the siege,” which would be held on the morning of Tuesday, August 20, 2019, at the Beit Hanoun roadblock in the northern Gaza Strip (Sahem al-Akhbariya, August 17, 2019).

Arson terrorism

• This past week a relatively large number of incendiary and IED balloons were launched into Israeli territory. In some instances they caused fires. The balloon-launching units in the Gaza Strip threaten to increase the scope of attacks. The events were the following:
  • August 19, 2019 – A fire broke out in the western Negev. A fire inspector said it had been caused by an incendiary balloon (Israel Fire and Rescue Services, Southern District, August 19, 2019).
  • August 18, 2019 – A fire broke out in the western Negev caused by an incendiary balloon. The Sons of al-Zawari unit and the Ahfad al-Nasser unit, which belongs to the Popular Resistance Committees, reported the launching of clusters of balloons into Israeli territory (Facebook pages of Ahfad al-Nasser and the Sons of al-Zawari, August 18, 2019).
  • August 16, 2019 – During the return march three fires broke out in uncultivated fields in Israeli territory, caused by incendiary balloons (Israel HaYom, August 16, 2019). The Sons of al-Zawari declared the day a “day of rage” (Sons of al-Zawari in Rafah Facebook page, August 16, 2019).
  • August 14, 2019 – The Sons of al-Zawari reported that a cluster of incendiary balloons had been launched east of Khan Yunis into Israeli territory (Sons of al-Zawari Facebook page, August 14, 2019). In Israel two fires were reported near two villages close to the Gaza Strip border. In addition, a number of balloon clusters were found in the area.

     
Right: The Sons of al-Zawari unit in eastern Khan Yunis prepares incendiary balloons for launching into Israeli territory. Left: Explosives and gas canisters for attaching to balloon clusters (Sons of al-Zawari in eastern Khan Yunis Facebook page, August 15 and 16, 2019).

• August 13, 2019 –Incendiary balloons launched from the Gaza Strip caused at least two fires. While firefighters were extinguishing one of the blazes another incendiary balloon landed near them. (Israel HaYom, August 13, 2019).

    
Right: The Sons of al-Zawari unit in eastern Khan Yunis launches clusters of incendiary balloons. Left: A fire that broke out close to the community Be’eri in the western Negev, caused by an incendiary balloon (Sons of al-Zawari Khan Yunis unit Facebook page, August 13, 2019).

Pictures from a video issued by the Ahfad al-Nasser network, which belongs to the Popular Resistance Committees (from a video posted to the Ahfad al-Nasser Facebook page, August 18, 2019). Clockwise from the upper left, the warnings in Arabic and Hebrew read, “We are working and planning your destruction,” “Get ready,” and “Death is coming.”

Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israel

• This past week four rockets were fired into Israel in two attacks on consecutive days. Three of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system. So far no organization has claimed responsibility. The attacks were the following (Israeli and Palestinian media):
  • On August 16, 2019, a rocket was fired into Israeli territory. It was intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system. In response Israeli Air Force aircraft attacked two underground Hamas terrorist sites in the northern and central Gaza Strip (IDF spokesman, August 17, 2019). In response Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum claimed the attacks against the “resistance posts” in the Gaza Strip were a message of escalation and aggression intended to deflect attention from the “brave actions” in the West Bank, which had intensified Israel’s internal crises (Palinfo, August 17, 2019).
  • On August 17, 2019, three rockets were launched into Israeli territory from the northern Gaza Strip. The Iron Dome aerial defense system intercepted two of them. A number of fragments were found in a house in the southern Israeli city of Sderot. First responders provided medical care for six family members: two who were slightly hurt while running to a protected area and four who were suffering from shock.
• This past week the military wings of Hamas and the PIJ announced a number of trial firings of rockets from the Gaza Strip into the sea.

Monthly Distribution of Rocket and Mortar Shell Fire since January 2018

Annual Distribution of Rocket Hits

Stabbing attack in Jerusalem

• On August 15, 2019, two teenaged Palestinians stabbed an Israeli policeman the Old City of Jerusalem. One of the stabbers was shot to death and the other was mortally wounded and later died. The policeman was critically wounded and evacuated to a hospital. A civilian at the site was slightly wounded in the leg. After the incident the police closed the entrance to the Temple Mount to anyone under fifty years of age. The Old City was closed but reopened a short time later. After the gates were closed calls were heard among Palestinians to go to al-Aqsa mosque and hold the evening prayer in front of the gates closed by Israel (Shehab Twitter account, August 15, 2019).

    
Pictures documenting the stabbing of the policeman (Israel Police Force spokesman’s unit, August 15, 2019).

The two Palestinian teenagers who stabbed the policeman were Naseem Mukafah Abu Rumi, 14, who was killed, and Hamoudeh Khader al-Sheikh, 14, who was mortally wounded and later died. Naseem Abu Rumi was the son of Mukafah Abu Rumi, a member of the Jerusalem branch of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) (Watan Agency, August 15, 2019). The DFLP issued a death notice for Naseem Abu Rumi (Facebook page of the DFLP, Jenin branch, August 15, 2019). Many notices were posted on the social networks praising the attack and expressing sorrow at the death of the two boys. The notices received thousands of Likes from Palestinian Facebook users, who asked Allah to have mercy on their souls and allow them to enter paradise.

    
The two young Palestinians who carried out the stabbing attack. Right: Naseem Abu Rumi. Left: Hamoudeh Khader al-Sheikh (Israel Police Force spokesman’s unit).

    
Right: Mourning notice issued by the DFLP’s student faction for the deaths of Naseem Abu Rumi (called “friend”) and Hamoudeh Khader al-Sheikh (called “hero”) (Facebook page of the Unity faction, August 16, 2019). Left: Status of Khader al-Sheikh changed from “shaheed” to “wounded” after the Palestinian link claimed he had not been killed (Facebook page of the Unity faction at al-Quds University, August 16, 2019).

• PIJ spokesman Da’ud Shehab condemned the killing of the two boys, claiming they had been “sentenced to death by a kangaroo court” (Da’ud Shehab’s Twitter account, August 15, 2019). In an interview, senior PIJ figure Khaled al-Batash condemned the deaths of the boys who had carried out the attack, stating that defending the choice of “resistance” as a means of deterrence against Israel headed their priority list (al-Aqsa TV, August 16, 2019).

Vehicular attack

• On the afternoon of August 16, 2019, a Palestinian terrorist carried out a vehicular attack near the community of Elazar in the Gush Etzion area. He stole a vehicle and drove at high speed towards a bus stop where a number of civilians were waiting, hitting a brother and sister. After the attack the car flipped over into a ditch next to the bus stop. The terrorist tried to open the door and was shot and killed by a policeman. Two civilians were injured in the attack, one seriously and the other slightly (IDF spokesman, August 16, 2019).

   
Right: The vehicle immediately before the attack (Israel Police Force Twitter account, August 16, 2019). Left: The vehicle after the attack (IDF Facebook page, August 16, 2019).

• The driver of the vehicle was Alaa’ Khader al-Hereemi, 26 or 27, from Bethlehem. He was married and had two children, and had been imprisoned in Israel for three years (released in 2016). In 2006 he was wounded in the leg by IDF fire (Watan TV, August 16, 2019; Facebook page of bethlehemmedia, August 16, 2019).

    
Alaa’ Khader al-Hereemi (Facebook page of the al-Doha subsidiary office of the Fatah’s Bethlehem branch, August 16, 2019).

• Various Facebook news pages reported on the vehicular attack. The Palestinian public related to it at great length, and most people praised the attack and the attacker, asking Allah to have mercy on his soul and allow him to enter paradise. They also expressed home the Israelis would die. A number of people, as usual after vehicular attacks, claimed it was not an attack but rather an accident.

Responses to the terrorist attacks

• Hamas and the other terrorist organizations praised the attacks and the attackers. Some of the responses were the following:
• Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanua said the recurring stabbing and vehicular actions in Jerusalem and the West Bank were the response to the attacks on al-Aqsa mosque and the Judaization of Jerusalem (Palinfo, August 16, 2019).
• Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, said all possibilities were open to the Palestinian people to defend themselves, their country and their holy sites. He said the Palestinians would not recoil from any measure and that the “resistance” [i.e., terrorist attacks] would continue (Izzat al-Rishq’s Twitter account, August 16, 2019).
• Khalil al-Haya, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, praised the attackers in Jerusalem and Gush Etzion, saying the Palestinian “uprising” was the natural response to Israel’s attempts to eradicate the Palestinian cause. He said young Palestinians were prepared to sacrifice for their people on a daily basis (al-Aqsa TV, August 16, 2019).

Other events on the ground

• In Judea and Samaria Palestinians continued throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli security forces and civilian targets (mainly at vehicles). Israeli security forces carried out counterterrorism activities throughout Judea and Samaria, detaining Palestinians suspected of terrorist activity, confiscating funds used to finance terrorist activities, and seizing military grade and improvised weapons. The more prominent events were the following:
  • August 19, 2019 – While Israeli security forces secured the entrance of Jewish worshippers at the Tomb of Joseph in Nablus, Palestinians threw stones and an IED at the forces (IDF spokesman, August 20, 2019).
  • August 19, 2019 – During IDF security force searches for weapons in the villages of Samoa and Dura (Hebron region) the forces seized an improvised machine gun, two hand guns and ammunition magazines (IDF spokesman, August 19, 2019).
  • August 19, 2019 – During IDF security force searches in Beit Rima (east of Beit Arieh) an improvised weapon was seized (IDF spokesman, August 19, 2019).
  • August 15, 2019 – During IDF security force searches in the village of Bayt Umar (northwest of Hebron) the forces seized weapons, including an M-16 assault rifle and ammunition (IDF spokesman, August 15, 2019).

Significant terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria since June 2017^[3]

Stabbing of IDF soldier in Hadera by Jordanian citizen prevented

• On August 19, 2019, an indictment was handed down for Muhammad Muslah, 21, a Jordanian citizen, who holds a Palestinian ID card. According to the indictment, on July 22, 2019, while on a visit to the PA, Muhammad Muslah decided to carry out a terrorist attack. He took a knife, infiltrated into Israeli territory through a breach in the fence and took a bus to the central Israeli city of Hadera. His intention was to find an IDF soldier he could stab.
• Not finding a soldier, he went to the central bus station and sat down. He roused the suspicions of a policeman who happened to be there at the time. The policeman asked him for his ID card and discovered he was in Israel illegally. He then searched Muslah’s belongings. Muslah struggled with the policeman, tried to stab him and fled. He later approached policemen with the knife in one hand and a rock in the other, shouting “Allahu akbar.” In response one of the policemen shot him in the leg. The Israel Police Force reported that during interrogation he admitted planning to stab a soldier (Maariv, Channel 13 News, August 19, 2019).

Chairman of Qatari committee expected to arrive in the Gaza Strip

• Mohammed al-Emadi, chairman of the Qatari committee for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, is expected to enter the Gaza Strip through the Erez Crossing on August 22, 2019. His visit is supposed to last for a number of days, during which he will monitor the projects in the Gaza Strip the Qatari committee is carrying out and the funding for needy families (Sawa, August 19, 2019)

Project for family visits in the Gaza Strip

• During the Eid al-Adha holiday Hamas announced the initiation of a broad campaign called “Mutual connections,” during which senior Hamas figures visited about six hundred families in the Gaza Strip to wish them a happy holiday. Senior Hamas figures participated in the campaign, as did operatives in the Hamas’ military wing. Also included were Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, Yahya al-Sinwar, head of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip.
• According to the organizers of the project, the objective of the visits was to thank the families who had adopted the “resistance” in all its forms and for the participation of their sons in “national activities,” especially in the return marches. Yahya al-Sinwar called Palestinian families the “strategic ammunition” of the project of “liberation and return” and sponsors of the “resistance” (Filastin al-Yawm, August 13, 2019).
• On August 19, 2019, Hamas officially announced the end of the first stage of the campaign. According to the announcement, 43 delegations had been appointed which included members of the political leadership, representatives of the military wing’s leadership and other senior figures. Among them were Isma’il Haniyeh and Yahya al-Sinwar (Hamas website, August 19, 2019).

• In ITIC assessment, the objective of the visits was to provide a response to the Gazan public’s fatigue caused by participation in the return marches. Their fatigue has been manifested in the decline in the number of participants in recent weeks and the feeling that the demonstrations have exhausted themselves (as can be seen by the first signs of public criticism of the benefits of holding weekly demonstrations).

Statement from Isma’il Haniyeh

• Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, paying a visit in Deir al-Balah to the families of the terrorists who were killed in an attempt to penetrate into Israel, related to four Hamas objectives (al-Aqsa TV, August 18, 2019):
• To amass power and become strategically stronger: Haniyeh stated that the “weapons of the resistance” were the top priorities of Hamas and the “resistance” [i.e., military buildup and not economic rehabilitation headed Hamas’ list of priorities].
• The “resistance” had to be on alert everywhere, especially in Jerusalem, to struggle against the plots of Israel and the United States. Haniyeh took the opportunity to praise the young men who use knives to defend their land and Jerusalem, and those who carry out vehicular attacks against Israel. He sent them the message that the “resistance” will defend them with blood, rockets and rifles.
• To realize the [so-called] “right of return:” Haniyeh praised the position of the Palestinian residents of the refugee camps in Lebanon in the face of the decision made by the Lebanese government.
• To struggle against the Arab states’ normalization with Israel. Haniyeh praised the Arab states who oppose normalization.
• Haniyeh also said Hamas was prepared to negotiate with Israeli indirectly to reach a prisoner exchange deal.

Ban on spreading information in the Gaza Strip

• Following the attempted penetration of Palestinian terrorists into Israeli territory on August 17, 2019, a spokesman for the ministry of the interior in the Gaza Strip appealed to media personnel and people active on the social networks not to give out information about the incident (in which three terrorists were killed) which had not been supplied by official sources. They were also asked not to quote the Israeli media (Palinfo, August 18, 2019).
• Later Salameh Maarouf, chairman of the Information Office in the Gaza Strip, said he intended to resolve the issue of the “chaos” in reporting news on the social networks, especially in emergency situations. He said the events of August 17-18, 2019 illustrated the danger inherent in reporting rumors, especially given the fact that the only source for the events was Israel. He said his office was working on a number of levels to monitor the publication of news on the social networks and to direct and channel the announcements. He also noted that his office was taking legal steps and that it would take legal action against anyone who spread “lies” whether it concerned Israel directly or people who were serving Israel’s agenda (Shehab, August 18, 2019).

Attacking Israel for the ban on the entrance of two American Congresswomen into Israel

• On August 15, 2019, the Israeli minister of the interior decided, in the wake of a decision reached by the political leadership, not to allow Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, two anti-Israeli American Congresswomen, to enter Israel. The PA and Hamas criticized the Israeli decision. A number of comments were the following:
• Muhammad Shtayyeh, PA prime minister, claimed Israel’s decision not to allow them to enter the country and incitement against them reflected Israel’s fear of having its actions against the Palestinians exposed to the American public and the international community. It also reflected, he claimed, Israel’s attempt to silence and frighten free voices calling for peace and the realization of the rights of the Palestinians. He also claimed that the Israeli decision proved that racism and democracy could not exist together (Wafa, August 15, 2019).
• Nabil Sha’ath, advisor to Mahmoud Abbas for foreign affairs and international relations, said the decision was Israel’s attempt to hide its crimes against the Palestinians and camouflage its racist measures and policies, which violate international law. He praised the two Congresswomen for their stance in opposing racism and the Israel “occupation,” and for their support for the BDS movement (Wafa, August 16, 2019).
• Saeb Erekat, secretary of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said the day would come when anyone who wanted to visit Palestine could fly straight into its international airport in Jerusalem or enter through the international crossing controlled by the Palestinian people (Ma’an, August 16, 2019).

• Bassem Na’im, senior Hamas figure and a member of Hamas ministry for international relations, said the decision proved Israel is a Zionist entity specializing in terrorism and the violation of international laws. He said the day is fast approaching when people will visit Palestine through its free and independent crossings (Hamas website, August 16, 2019).
• During the most recent return march, the Supreme National Authority praised the position of the American Congresswomen and criticized the decision taken against them, and invited them to visit the Gaza Strip (al-Aqsa TV, August 16, 2019).

Orders from Mahmoud Abbas regarding PA government ministers and advisors

• Mahmoud Abbas issued an edict ordering all his advisors to stop work and cancelling the rights that come with their positions and the decisions and laws pertaining to them. He also issued a decision requiring government ministers to return the money they received before he instructed the reduction of their salaries (Wafa, August 19, 2019). So far it is not clear why the decision was made or what its significance is. It may reflect measures to make the government more efficient, given the PA’s economic distress. It is also possible that the announcement was made for the sake of public relations, given the PA’s economic distress.