Overview

The lull arrangement is preserving the quiet in the western Negev , exploited by Hamas to continue its military buildup. A terrorist from southeast Jerusalem went on a rampage in Jerusalem , again using a construction vehicle for an intended mass-casualty attack, the second this month. Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip joined the festivities of Hezbollah's prisoner exchange deal. Hamas spokesmen again represented the deal as a positive precedent which would lead to the release of Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel in return for the liberation of Gilad Shalit. They called upon Israel to surrender to Hamas's conditions and threatened to abduct other soldiers.

Quiet is preserved in the western Negev towns and villages 

This past week no rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at Israeli towns and villages in the western Negev . One mortar shell was fired on July 15, landing near the Kissufim crossing.

Another mass-casualty attack in Jerusalem

On July 22 at around 2 p.m. a terrorist took a construction vehicle from a site near the Yemin Moshe quarter of Jerusalem and began racing along the street, ramming into cars. A civilian who noticed what he was doing shot the terrorist, but he continued, hitting cars and a bus at the corner of Keren Hayesod and King David streets. A border policeman shot and killed him. Twenty-eight people were injured, one of them seriously. The terrorist was Ghassan Abu Tir, 22, from Umm Tuba in southeast Jerusalem .

It was the second such terrorist attack this month. On the afternoon of July 2 a terrorist from East Jerusalem also used a construction vehicle to carry out a mass-casualty terrorist attack the center of Jerusalem . He took the front loader from a construction site and drove at high speed, ramming everything in his path. He killed three civilians and wounded 40, most of them not seriously. A security guard and an off-duty soldier eventually shot and killed him. ¹

The Gaza Strip

This past week as well the Israeli security forces refrained from carrying out counterterrorism activities in the Gaza Strip

The crossings

This past week there was a continuous stream of trucks passing through the Sufa crossing (an average of 70 a day). In addition, Palestinians with humanitarian problems continued leaving the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing.

Hamas threats to end the lull

A month has passed since the lull arrangement went into effect and Hamas continues its criticism of Israel with regard to the amount of merchandise delivered through the crossings, claiming it is less than expected. For that reason senior Hamas figures (and those from other terrorist organizations) accused Israel of not implementing its commitments and again threatened a renewal of terrorist attacks. Hamas figures made the following statements:

•  Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum complained that not enough merchandise was being delivered to the Gaza Strip, claiming that what was being delivered was less than what was expected, while the Palestinians had fulfilled their side of the arrangement. He called upon Egypt to exert pressure on Israel and to open the Rafah crossing as well (Felesteen, July 22).

•  Senior Hamas figure Khalil al-Hayah threatened that if Israel did not meet the lull arrangement's conditions, “the whole world may be surprised by the collapse of the lull after a while.” He added that Hamas would act “in a popular, public way” to remind the world that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were still blockaded (Filastin al-‘An website, July 21).

•  Hamas administration interior minister Sayyid Siyam threatened that the lull would not continue forever “if the occupation continues to shirk its commitments.” He added that “the response would be agreed upon by Palestinian consensus” (PalMedia website, July 21).

•  Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said that Israel was delaying meeting its commitments as set out by the lull arrangement. He threatened that if the “violations” continued, the organizations would examine a new position regarding the lull (Felesteen, July 19).

Hamas's military buildup in the shadow of the lull

On the night of July 18 Hamas held a military exercise in the neighborhoods of Gaza City , using live weapons. Hamas sources reported that that the exercise was carried out as part of “continuing readiness of the [Izz al-Din al-Qassam] Brigades to meet any Zionist aggression, even in the shadow of the lull” (Palestine-info website, July 19). According to a July 22 Ynet report, Israel Security Agency head Yuval Diskin warned the Israeli parliament's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee that Hamas had exploited the lull to mine large areas of the Gaza Strip.

In the past few days Palestinian newspapers reported on Hamas activity in the Gaza Strip. In Hamas's Al-Risala of July 21 Hamas operatives described how they laid IEDs and set up ambushes along the roads the IDF forces are expected to use if they enter the Gaza Strip.

In the early morning hours of July 22 a Hamas operative was killed and two were seriously wounded in a “work accident” which caused an explosion in the Sajaiya neighborhood in the eastern part of Gaza City (PalMedia website, July 22). On July 18 as well there was an explosion in a Hamas training center wounding seven operatives, three of them seriously. However, the Fatah-affiliated Pal-Press website reported that it was a matter of a conflict between clans of the Hamas militias (Pal-Press website, July 18).

Quartet representative Tony Blair’s visit to the Gaza Strip canceled

On July 15 Tony Blair, the International Quartet's representative to the Middle East, was expected to visit, but his visit was canceled after Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned him that an attempt on his life might be made in the Gaza Strip (Ynet, July 15).

Hamas administration prime minister Ismail Haniya said that Hamas had taken all the necessary steps to protect Blair and accused Israel of exerting pressure on him not to go to the Gaza Strip in an attempt to keep him from seeing the “catastrophe of the blockade” (Ramattan TV, July 15).

Palestinian responses to the prisoner exchange deal link it to the issue of Gilad Shalit

The Palestinian media gave a great amount of sympathetic coverage to the prisoner exchange deal between Hezbollah and Israel , stressing the delivery of the remains of Palestinian terrorists. Mentioned most frequently was murderess Dalal al-Mughrab i, a Fatah operative who participated in the Coastal Road massacre on March 11, 1978 . ² Palestinian TV broadcast programs and songs praising her, her “heroism” and the “armed struggle.” Fatah organized a parade in Ramallah in her honor, but attendance was poor.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad rally in Gaza to mark the
prisoner exchange deal (Al-Jazeera TV, July 18).

Hamas again represented the deal as a positive precedent which would lead to the release of Palestinian prisoners in return for Gilad Shalit. The movement again called upon Israel to surrender to Hamas's terms and threatened to abduct more soldiers:

Hamas rally at the Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs in Gaza
to mark the prisoner exchange deal (Al-Aqsa TV, July 19).

•  Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said that the deal “…proves that the Zionists have relinquished the criteria according to which they refused to release prisoners sentenced to long terms of imprisonment and life imprisonment.” He noted that “sooner or later, the Zionist occupation will have to surrender to our conditions and if it does not, there will be no deal.” He stated the reasons for the delay in negotiations for Gilad Shalit, primarily the “blockade” of the Gaza Strip, and what he called Egypt 's soft position regarding Israel . He added that more Israeli soldiers would be abducted until Israel agreed to Hamas's terms (Felesteen, July 19).

•  Senior Hamas figure Ayman Taha said that Hamas had imposed “complete secrecy” on the issue of prisoner exchange with Israel , just as Hezbollah had, to conceal the process which would enable the deal to be closed. He added that all progress depended on Israel 's agreeing to Hamas's conditions (Al-Quds al-Arabi, July 19).

•  Senior Hamas figure Ismail Radwan said that the deal with Israel was not currently a top priority, but rather Israel 's opening the crossings and lifting the blockade in accordance with the lull arrangement (Al-Dustour, July 19).

•  Senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Zahar said that Hamas would be willing to return to the negotiations regarding Gilad Shalit only if Israel agreed to released prisoners “with blood on their hands,” adding that Shalit was not the only card in Hamas's hand and that “we have many bargaining chips…” (Al-Rai al-Aam, July 21).

•  Imprisoned Hamas figure Abbas al-Sayyid, who planned the terrorist attack at the Park Hotel in 2002 and was sentenced to 35 terms of life imprisonment, sent a message from jail blessing the prisoner exchange deal. He said that the deal showed that Israel 's life imprisonments [of Palestinian terrorists] were valueless as long as “the resistance's victories continued.” He added that the prisoners hoped Hamas would free them in a future deal (Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, July 19).

¹ For further information see our July 3, 2008 Bulletin entitled “Mass-casualty terrorist attack on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem ”

² It is unclear at this point whether her remains were in fact handed over to Hezbollah in the exchange.