Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (July 6 – 12, 2022)

Shooting attack

• On July 5, 2022, shots were fired from a passing vehicle at an IDF force manning a roadblock erected at the entrance to Homesh, northwest of Nablus. The fighters returned fire; no Israeli casualties were reported. A search of the site revealed several empty shell casings (IDF spokesman, July 5, 2022). The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Jenin, Fatah’s military-terrorist wing, claimed responsibility (Twitter account of Jihad Samir, July 5, 2022). The following day a Palestinian suspected of carrying out the attack surrendered to the Israeli security forces (IDF Twitter account, July 6, 2022).

Counterterrorism activities

• This past week the Israeli security forces conducted counterterrorism activities in locations in Judea and Samaria, detaining dozens of Palestinians wanted for involvement in terrorist activity and confiscating weapons. During the activity in the village of Jaba, south of Jenin, procedure for detaining suspects was followed, which included live fire. The Palestinian was wounded, fled into a building and later died. The circumstances are being investigated (IDF spokesman, July 6, 2022).
• The Palestinian media reported that Rafiq Riyad Ghanem, 20, from Jaba, had been killed (Filastin al-Yawm website, July 6, 2022). His death was widely covered by the media, including the Palestinian social networks. Fatah reported he was one of its members. According to reports, his father, his brother Muhammad and his uncle Hani are all former incarcerated in Israeli jails (Wafa, July 6, 2022). The al-Quds Open University, where he had been a student, issued a mourning notice for him (al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, July 6, 2022). After his death Fatah organized a march of masked, armed operatives who fired their weapons into the air. They chanted slogans in support of Ghanem and demanded revenge (YouTube, July 6, 2022).

    
Right: Rafiq Ghanem (Twitter account of journalist Hassan Aslih, July 6, 2022). Left: Armed Fatah operatives demonstrate in Jaba (YouTube, July 6, 2022).

• In response to Ghanem’s death, PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said it was another “crime,” the natural outcome when criminals felt they were exempt from punishment. He appealed to international human rights organizations to exert pressure to have “the criminals” brought to trial. PA government spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said the bloodshed continued and the number of shaheeds was mounting. The PA foreign ministry said Israel was making preparations for the American president’s visit by “committing more murders and escalating its aggression against the Palestinian people” (Wafa, July 6, 2022). Hamas claimed Jenin had become a symbol of jihad and sacrifice when it “courageously resisted” Israel’s “aggression” against the Palestinian people, and continued the “history of the resistance” with the blood of its “heroic shaheeds” (Wafa, July 6, 2022).
• The more prominent events were the following:
  • On July 10, 2022, IDF fighters operating in the village of Danaba detained a Palestinian wanted on suspicion of shooting at IDF soldiers near the settlement of Einav on July 8, 2022. An improvised Carlo machinegun was found in his possession (IDF spokesman, July 10, 2022).
  • During an Israeli security force action to detain a wanted Palestinian in the Nur al-Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm, three suspects were seen fleeing. The force followed procedure for detaining a suspect, including the use of live fire. One of the suspects was wounded and received medical attention (IDF spokesman, July 7, 2022).
  •  During an Israeli security force action in a village near Bethlehem Palestinians rioted, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at the fighters. No Israeli casualties were reported (IDF spokesman, July 7, 2022).

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

Eid al-Adha on the Temple Mount

•   Tens of thousands of Muslims attended the Friday sermon on the Temple Mount on July 8, 2022, the eve of the Eid al-Adha holiday. The events passed without particular incident; Hamas and Fatah flags were carried. On July 8, 2022, the Eid al-Adha prayer was held in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, with Hebron mayor Taysir Abu Sneina in attendance.

   
Right: The prayer on the Temple Mount on Eid al-Adha eve. Left: Hamas sign welcoming worshippers to the prayer (Paldf Twitter account, July 9, 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

Bedouin IDF soldier detained after being recruited by an organization in the Gaza Strip

• It was recently published that on May 30, 2022, the Israeli security forces detained Shehadeh Abu al-Kiyan, from the Bedouin village of Hura in the Negev. He was detained when it was learned he had been recruited by an organization in the Gaza Strip called the Battalions of the Holy Fighters^[2] and had carried out intelligence-gathering missions, photographed sites in Israel and stolen weapons. He volunteered for the IDF on instructions from his handlers. The indictment handed down against him including membership in a terrorist organization and intention to undermine the security of the State of Israel. He decided to act against Israel because in 2019 the IDF destroyed his father’s illegally constructed house. He stole an M4 rifle and ammunition magazines and hid them near where he lived. In 2021 he contacted a Gazan operative and said he wanted to join the Battalions of the Holy Fighters. Once a member, he transmitted information to his handlers about military helicopters and soldier training near where he lived, and sent pictures of IDF bases he had photographed. He was told to join the IDF. During the induction process he transmitted the names and pictures of Bedouins who served in the IDF. After he had been inducted he was asked to transmit more military information. He was detained several days after his induction, which prevented him from completing his mission (Southern District Prosecution’s spokesman’s unit, Israeli Security Agency spokesman’s unit, July 7, 2022).

Electricity

• The demand for electricity from the generator companies operating in the neighborhoods of the Gaza Strip recently increased. Local residents signed up for their services to ensure a supply of electricity during the Eid al-Adha holiday, when there is traditionally a heavy demand. According to Safwat Musa, the director of the generator companies in the northern Gaza Strip, most of the new subscribers are temporary, and included institutions, associations, and the owners of local slaughterhouses and farms who needed additional refrigeration services. Muhammad Thabet, responsible for the Gazan electric company’s public relations, said no increase in the number of hours of electricity could be expected from the company during the Eid al-Adha holiday, and would not exceed eight hours in any region (palsawa, July 6, 2022).

Hamas-Egypt contacts

• Mahmoud al-Zahar, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, reported on formal contacts with Egyptian General Intelligence. Other senior Hamas figures attended the meetings, including Khalil al-Haya, a member of Hamas’ political bureau. Mahmoud al-Zahar said they discussed economic and security issues, and the activity of the Rafah Crossing. Several “sources” reported that they also discussed the issue of the prisoners and MIAs, as well as possible scenarios for promoting an exchange deal between Hamas and Israel (al-Araby al-Jadeed, July 9, 2022).

Communiqué from Isma’il Haniyeh to leaders of the Arab-Muslim world

• Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, sent a communiqué to leaders and senior officials in the Arab-Muslim world for Eid al-Adha relating to al-Aqsa mosque and Jerusalem. He claimed Muslims could not enjoy freedom of worship because Israel wanted to carry out excavations under al-Aqsa mosque and destroy it. He also called Jerusalem and al-Aqsa a “combat front” which had to be immediately liberated from Israel in order to enable freedom of religion and for worshippers to be fully protected (Hamas website, July 10, 2022).

Saleh al-‘Arouri interviewed by al-Aqsa TV

• Saleh al-‘Arouri, deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, was interviewed by al-Aqsa TV. His main talking points were the following:
  • Al-Aqsa mosque and the Temple Mount: He said Israel’s excavations, which he claimed had been going on under the Temple Mount for years, threatened the safety of al-Aqsa mosque, which Israel planned to destroy. He said the countries of the world had a responsibility, because if anything happened to the mosque it would “ignite the world.” He added that the Palestinians would not stop defending the holy sites with all their strength, that is, by praying at the mosque, guarding in the mosque, counterattacks against the settlers and their plans, with confrontations and even a war like “Sword of Jerusalem” [i.e., Operation Guardian of the Walls].
  • The “resistance” [anti-Israeli terrorism]: He said Israel had to understand that the Palestinians were determined and desired to renew their “resistance” to the “occupation,” at all times and under every circumstance. They would not surrender, their “resistance” would continue and grow, and they could not be overcome. “Sword of Jerusalem” was a strategic change in the confrontation with Israel, enforcing the “new equation” of attacking Israel for the sake of defending al-Aqsa mosque and the holy sites, and [the result was that] Israel and its allies were the ones who asked for a ceasefire.
  • The “resistance” in the West Bank: He added that the “resistance” was renewing and increasing, and all of Israel’s measures, the assassination, persecutions, scare tactics, prevention of attacks, detentions, raids and even trying to tempt the Palestinians, for example with the possibility of working in Israel, all had the opposite effect. Even cooperation and security coordination with the PA did not bring results. For the past year, and even longer, the “resistance” had been increasing around the issue of al-Aqsa mosque, a subject that awakened all Palestinians. All the shaheeds always mentioned defending al-Aqsa and Jerusalem in their wills and everything they wrote, and they would always be mentioned. The “resistance,” he said, was uniting. Operatives from all locations were cooperating. Perhaps it started in the Jenin refugee camp, but it then moved south to Ramallah and Silwad, and reached the entire West Bank and would also enter Israel, because Israeli Arabs were part of the Palestinian people.
  • Hamas’ foreign relations: Hamas, he claimed, maintained global ties that served its interests. Its main objective and strategy was to be victorious over Israel and “liberate” the Palestinian lands and holy places. Hamas, he said, was open to relations with the entire world except for Israel, if it served Hamas’ interests.

Hamas’ summer camps

• Registration continued for Hamas’ summer camps, whose theme this year is “Rooted in Jerusalem.” The camps are for Gazans between the ages of 14 and university. Registration is conducted daily in the mosques throughout the Gaza Strip, after the evening prayer (Facebook page of the “Rooted in Jerusalem” summer camps, June 30, 2022).
• Muhammad Mahmoud, chairman of the summer camp committee in the central Gaza Strip district, said the camps, which would begin after the Eid al-Adha holiday, would focus on Islamic education and leisure activities, and would include camps for Qur’an memorization. This year the theme would be “Rooted in Jerusalem,” to emphasize the Palestinian’s basic principles and instill them in Palestinian children (Dunia al-Watan, June 27, 2022).

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz meets with Mahmoud Abbas

• On July 7, 2022, a week before American President Joe Biden’s scheduled visit to the Middle East, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Gantz said the atmosphere was positive, and they discussed security and civilian coordination in preparation for the president’s visit. It was agreed that security coordination would continue and possible destabilizing measures would be avoided (Benny Gantz’ Twitter account, July 8, 2022). Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke on the phone with Mahmoud Abbas and wished him a happy Eid al-Adha. They discussed calm on the ground, cooperation and preparations for the American president’s visit (Israeli media, July 9, 2022).
• PA sources noted that no progress had been made at Mahmoud Abbas’ meeting with Benny Gantz. Mahmoud Abbas said he had stressed the importance of creating a “political horizon,” respecting signed agreements, and ending activities that could cause the situation to deteriorate (Wafa, July 7, 2022).
• Hamas condemned the meeting. Tareq Salami, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) spokesman for the West Bank, also condemned the reception held by the PA for Benny Gantz, and said the PA’s stubbornness to continue contacts and security meetings served Israel’s interests and plans, and showed the PA’s bankruptcy (Quds Press, July 8, 2022).

Preparations for Biden’s visit continue

• This past week the PA continued making preparations for Joe Biden’s visit, but do not expect political achievements to result from it. “Knowledgeable sources” said senior PA figures had expressed their displeasure to the Americans responsible for coordinating the visit, noting that relating to the Palestinian cause would not be part of the president’s agenda. They said the Palestinian leadership understood the American administration had no intention of changing American foreign policy regarding the Palestinian cause, and demanded that the visit include practical decisions and pressure on Israel. The leadership threatened that if they did not get the response they wanted they would implement the decisions made by the PLO’s Central Council, and the PA would revoke its recognition of the State of Israel and cancel the agreements it had signed (al-Quds al-Arabi, July 11, 2022).
• Hussein al-Sheikh, PA minister of civilian affairs, said the American administration and other agencies had pressured the PA to delay implementing the decisions of the PLO’s Central Council until after Biden’s visit. He said that if there were no genuine breakthrough the PA would have no alternative but to implement the Central Council’s decisions (al-Ghad, June 5, 2022).
• Jibril al-Rajoub, secretary of Fatah’s Central Committee, said Biden would not initiate new measures during his visit. He said after the visit the Palestinian leadership would meet to discuss what its next steps would be. He said Mahmoud Abbas had told American Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he would be obliged to implement the decisions made by the Palestinian institutions if no change were made in the positions of Israel and the United States (al-Shuruq, July 7, 2022).
• Azzam al-Ahmed, secretary of Fatah’s Central Committee and a member of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said they were not optimistic about the visit, and had been doubtful since the beginning of the discussion about a new Middle East alliance and committee, similar to NATO, to confront Iran, as if it were the only danger. He said what Biden had to do was to keep the promises he made to the Palestinians during his election campaign, and then later confirmed. He had to make Israel stop its unilateral actions, stop the settlement activity, the destruction of houses and eviction of residents. He added that the Palestinian leadership wanted Biden to end the “financial siege” Trump and several Arab states had imposed (al-Andalou News, July 7, 2022).
• Ahmed al-Mudallal, senior PIJ figure, said the objective of Biden’s visit was to support Israel (“the Zionist occupation”), and that the United States had never acted as a fair and honest broker in the Palestinian cause. Not only that, he said, but Israel’s “crimes” against the Palestinian people were committed with the protection of the United States. He said the “resistance” [anti-Israeli terrorism] was the Palestinian people’s only option (al-Aqsa, July 11, 2022).

Financial aid for the PA

• Muhammad Shtayyeh attended the signing of an aid agreement between the PA and the World Bank for $23.5 million. The money will come from Norway, Holland, Britain and the EU, and will go to develop electricity and energy projects (Wafa, July 4, 2022).
• On July 7, 2022, Mai al-Kayla, PA minister of health, attended a ceremony to receive $369,000 in aid from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for combatting the coronavirus. The aid consists of ICU beds, oxygen generators, ventilators and disinfection equipment. She said it was part of $1.7 million dollars’ worth of aid from Japan spread over a period of a year and a half, between June 2021 and January 2023 (ministry of health in Ramallah Facebook page, July 7, 2022).
• Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of the UAE, ordered $25 million to be allotted to the al-Makassed Hospital in east Jerusalem for it to expand its services for Palestinians (UAE news agency, July 9, 2022). The hospital was founded in 1968 and is the largest of the six medical centers in east Jerusalem. It has suffered from a serious financial crisis since 2019, when Trump stopped American foreign aid to the east Jerusalem hospitals.

Mahmoud Abbas’ visit to Algeria

• Mahmoud Abbas visited Algeria at the invitation of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, to attend the celebration of the 60^th anniversary of the country’s independence. Accompanying Mahmoud Abbas were Ziyad Abu Amru, a member of the PLO’s Executive Committee; Majed Faraj, head of Palestinian general intelligence; and Mahmoud al-Habash, his advisor for religious matters. Mahmoud Abbas met with Abdelmadjid Tebboune and they discussed developments in policy concerning the Palestinian cause and the strengthening of bilateral relations (Wafa, July 5, 2022).
• Isma’il Haniyeh also arrived in Algeria at Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s invitation, heading a Hamas delegation. On the sidelines of the ceremony, the Algerian president initiated a meeting between Mahmoud Abbas and Isma’il Haniyeh, who shook hands for the cameras. It was the first time they had met in years.
• Khalil al-Haya, deputy chairman of the Hamas political bureau, said the Algerian president’s insistence on the meeting indicated Algeria’s intention to preserve Palestinian unity and the unity of the Muslim nation (Hamas website, July 6, 2022).
• However, “sources” reported that Egypt had expressed anger at the Algerian president’s efforts for a breakthrough in the internal Palestinian reconciliation with the meeting between Mahmoud Abbas and Isma’il Haniyeh. According to the sources, the meeting showed the failure of Egypt’s efforts (al-Araby al-Jadeed, July 9, 2022).

   
With the sponsorship of the Algerian president, Mahmoud Abbas and Isma’il Haniyeh shake hands (al-Quds, July 5, 2022).

The investigation of the death of Shireen Abu Akleh

• According to United States State Department Spokesman Ned Price, “After an extremely detailed forensic analysis, independent, third-party examiners, as part of a process overseen by the U.S. Security Coordinator (USSC), could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin of the bullet that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Ballistic experts determined the bullet was badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion. In addition to the forensic and ballistic analysis, the USSC was granted full access to both Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian Authority (PA) investigations over the last several weeks. By summarizing both investigations, the USSC concluded that gunfire from IDF positions was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh. The USSC found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances during an IDF-led military operation against factions of Palestinian Islamic Jihad on May 11, 2022, in Jenin, which followed a series of terrorist attacks in Israel” (State Department website, July 4, 2022).
• The Palestinians rejected the investigation’s conclusion and accused Israel of deliberately murdering Shireen Abu Akleh. They claimed the United States was trying to absolve Israel of guilt.
• Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, said the American declaration was manipulative, adding that the PA would continue its legal case in the International Criminal Court. Hussein al-Sheikh said they would continue and not allow for any concealment of the truth (Hussein al-Sheikh’s Twitter account, July 4, 2022).
•  Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the United States’ position was biased towards Israel and exposed Washington as a partner in the reporter’s murder, because the crime was committed with a weapon made by and paid for by America. He also claimed the United States had prevented an international investigation commission from exposing Israel’s “crimes” (Hamas website, July 4, 2022). Bassem Na’im, head of Hamas department of foreign relations, said the PA leadership’s surrender to American pressure regarding the examination of the bullet, after the PA had refused to hand it over for a month and a half, strengthened their doubts regarding the timing of the surrender, close as it was to President Biden’s visit (Shehab, July 5, 2022).

    
Palestinian reactions to the American investigation. Right: Biden performs a magic trick, turning a bullet into a dove (al-Quds, July 6, 2022). Left: American examination of the bullet (Alaa’ al-Laqta’s Facebook page, July 5, 2022).

Activity of Hamas’ student cell in al-Najah University

• On July 5, 2022, the Islamic bloc, Hamas’ student cell in al-Najah University in Nablus, held a ceremony for its members who had received degrees from the university. Hundreds of people attended and waved Hamas flags and signs with pictures of Ahmed Yassin, Yahya Ayash and other senior Hamas figures. Islamic bloc members gave speeches in which they called for all the university’s graduates to complete the course begun by the shaheeds, the prisoners and the men of the “resistance’ [terrorist operatives] until “Palestine” had been “liberated from the occupation.” Baraa Qasrawi, Islamic bloc representative, said the ceremony had been held for the first time in three years, noting that the situation today was different and that the number of “resistance” supporters in the Palestinian public had grown (Felesteen, July 5, 2022).

     
Right: The graduation ceremony at al-Najah University in Nablus (Paldf Twitter account, July 6, 2022). Left: A sign hung at the ceremony, with pictures of Yahya Ayash, Abu Obeida, Salah Shehadeh and Ahmed al-Jabari (Paldf Twitter account, July 5, 2022).

• At the graduation ceremony of the “military academy” in Jericho, Tawfiq al-Tirawi, a member of Fatah’s Executive Committee, said Hamas was planning a “soft revolution” in the West Bank, and was planning to take control of the universities, unions, local councils and every institution by exploiting the differences of opinion inside Fatah (YouTube, July 11, 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:^[3]
  • July 11, 2022:Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near the village of Zbeidat, north of Jericho. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • July 11, 2022: Rocks were thrown from a passing car at a civilian waiting at the Git Junction near Qadumim, east of Qalqilya. No casualties were reported. The vehicle drove into Nablus.
  • July 11, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle between Hizma and Anatot, north of Jerusalem. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • July 11, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle between Ofarim and Beit Arieh, east of Elad. No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • July 11, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Hawwara, south of Nablus. No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • July 11, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Bayt Ummar, northwest of Hebron. No casualties were reported; the windshield of the vehicle was damaged.
  • July 11, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus near Turmus Aya, northeast of Ramallah. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • July 10, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle between Migdalim and the Alon Junction, southeast of Nablus. No casualties were reported; the windshield of the vehicle was damaged.
  • July 10, 2022: A glass bottle was thrown from a passing car at an Israeli vehicle on the access road to Ma’aleh Lavona, north of Ramallah. No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • July 10, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Mugheir, northeast of Ramallah. No casualties were reported; the windshield of the vehicle was damaged.
  • July 10, 2022: Rocks were thrown at two Israeli buses in Hawwara. No casualties were reported; the windshield of one of the buses was damaged.
  • July 10, 2022: Rocks were thrown from a passing car at an Israeli vehicle near Dir Abu Mishal, west of Ramallah. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • July 8, 2022: Rocks and Molotov cocktails were thrown at an Israeli bus between Hizma and Anatot, northeast of Jerusalem. The bus drivers was injured by flying glass and the bus was damaged.
  • July 7, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle on the Gush Etzion-Hebron road near Bayt Ummar. No casualties or damage were reported.
  • July 6, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle on the road between Har Gilo and the Tunnel Road roadblock. One person was injured and the vehicle was damaged.
  • July 5, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle in Hawwara. No casualties or damage were reported.