Important Events

Significant reduction in rocket fire aimed at Sderot and the settlements
bordering the Gaza Strip ¹

Two weeks into the current rocket offensive (which began on May 15), the number of rockets launched at settlements in the western Negev has significantly diminished in comparison with the first days of the attacks. During the past few days an average of two or three rockets hits have been identified, as compared with the 20-40 identified hits of the first days (See Statistical Data, below).

So far, there have been 230 identified hits in the western Negev and the settlements bordering the Gaza Strip (approximately 300 hits during May). ²That is a monthly number unprecedented in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most of the rockets hit Sderot and the settlements in its immediately vicinity.

The attacks have claimed the lives of two Israeli civilians: Shirel Friedman, 32, a resident of Sderot, who was killed on May 21, and Oshri Oz, 36, a resident of Hod Hasharon, who was killed on May 27 when a rocket hit his car. Four civilians were seriously wounded, 40 slightly wounded and 238 were treated for shock.

Many buildings in Sderot and neighboring settlements suffered direct hits, including residential dwellings, schools, a synagogue, a restaurant, a community center; greenhouses and fields were set on fire. Sderot residents were sent on short vacations to the center of the country, especially over the weekends. The greatest number was 3,200, of Sderot's total population of 24,000. According to a security source, an estimated 1,800 Sderot residents are still on vacation.

Most of the rocket launchings were carried out by Hamas (joined by the other terrorist organizations). According to claims of responsibility, during the last days the Palestinian Islamic Jihad increased its participation in the launchings. Some of the rockets are fired from positions close to residential dwellings in populated areas . (Watch video clips distributed by Hamas and the PIJ showing rockets being launched near houses.)

Video 1        Video 2

At a government meeting held on May 27, Yuval Diskin, head of the Israeli Security Agency, suggested various reasons for the decrease in rocket fire. In his assessment, the actions taken by the IDF have harmed Hamas and made it difficult for the organization to carry out its attacks. In addition, Hamas has limited capabilities for manufacturing Qassam rockets and difficulties in conveying them from place to place. Nevertheless, Diskin is of the opinion that Hamas is far from being broken and is still able to continue launching rockets, and even to put Ashqelon within range in response to harder blows from the IDF (Ynet, May 28).

Statistical Data ³

Daily distribution of identified rocket hits

Monthly distribution of identified rocket hits

Gaza Strip

The IDF and the Israeli security forces continued their counterterrorist activities in the Gaza Strip, including pinpoint air strikes against terrorist targets. Some recent targets were:

•  Squads of terrorists launching rockets.

•  Positions and bases of the terrorist organizations and Hamas' Executive Force.

•  Vehicles carrying rocket launching squads and weapons.

•  Lathes for manufacturing weapons and stores for stockpiling them.

•  Offices and businesses of Gaza Strip money changes who transferred funds to the terrorist organizations.

As part of the IDF's counterterrorist activities, on May 29 special forces entered the Gaza Strip and killed two Hamas operatives near the Sufa crossing in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

Judea and Samaria

A border guard policeman and a security guard were wounded by gunfire near the security fence in the Armon Hanatsiv neighborhood of Jerusalem . The policeman and several guards were standing at a roadblock when two Palestinians approached. One shot the policeman in the back. The Palestinians were shot and killed by the guard Fatah/Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack (Al-Manar TV, May 26). An official Palestinian spokesman said that Fatah had no connection to the attack (Palestinian News Agency, May 26).

Counterterrorist activities

In response to the shooting attack in the Gaza Strip, the IDF also increased its counterterrorist activities in Judea and Samaria , aiming at Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Several Palestinians were detained, among them national unity government ministers, members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, mayors and operatives who had been on the wanted list for a long time.

Actions to be noted were:

•  A security force operation in the Ramallah region, during which an operative was killed and four others were wounded (May 29).

•  Security force operations in the Jenin region, during which a member of both the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Force 17 was killed (May 29).

•  The detention of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades commander for Jericho and the Jordan Valley .

•  The arrest of Zakharia Zubeidi's brother; the brother is a Fatah operative who took part in a number of shooting attacks against Israeli vehicles (May 28).

•  Operational activity in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus , during which five Fatah operatives (one of them senior) and Hamas operatives were detained. Among them was Jamal Tirawi, a Fatah member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Detainees in the Nablus area, May 30, 2007 ( Ma'an News Agency )

Senior terrorist-operative is detained in Ramallah

On May 28 the Israeli security forces detained Khaled Jamal Musa Shawish, a senior terrorist-operative from the Jenin area who had spent the past years in Ramallah. He had been on the wanted list for seven years for his involvement in terrorist attacks which resulted in the deaths of eight Israeli civilians. Among them were the dispatching of suicide bombers in 2002 and shooting attacks on the trans-Samaria highway in 2000-2001. During the last few years he dealt mainly with directing terrorist attacks, including abductions and shootings.

Abu Mazen's proposal for a phased ceasefire.

PA chairman Abu Mazen proposed a month-long ceasefire , during which there would be negotiations with Israel over extending it to the West Bank . He called upon the various terrorist organizations to take the first step and cease firing rockets , thus putting the ball in Israel 's court.

•  According to Abu Mazen, when the rocket fire stopped, Israel would be forced to end its air strikes and if it did not, public opinion (and perhaps even Israeli opinion) would support the Palestinians: “…It starts with the cessation of rocket fire. When we stop launching rockets, the ball will pass to the Israeli court, and they will no longer have an excuse for their aggression and bombings of us, at least in their own eyes or the eyes of the world…” (Interview with Al-Jazeera TV, May 29).

•  On May 30 Abu Mazen held two meetings with prime minister Ismail Haniya regarding his call for a ceasefire. A spokesman of Ismail Haniya's government and spokesmen for Hamas, Fatah and the PIJ all expressed their opposition to a lull in the fighting with Israel which would be limited to the Gaza Strip and demanded a simultaneous general lull which would include both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Ismail Haniya and Abu Mazen, May 30, 2007 ( Ma'an News Agency )

Discussions in Cairo

A round of discussions began in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas, mediated by Egypt . On May 27 the Fatah delegation conferred with senior Egyptians led by Omar Suleiman, the head of general intelligence. Other meetings are expected to take place between the Hamas delegation and the Egyptians and between the Fatah and Hamas delegations with Egyptian participation. To be discussed are the strengthening of the internal Palestinian ceasefire and calming the situation with Israel .

The Fatah delegation includes Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior Fatah official and deputy Palestinian prime minister; Rauhi Fatuh, Abu Mazen's representative, and Muhammad Dahlan, who will join them in Egypt . The Hamas delegation , which includes senior figures from the territories and abroad , is headed by Musa Abu Marzuq, deputy head of the political bureau in Damascus . The Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on May 29, two days after the Fatah delegation members had begun conferring with the Egyptians.

The dispute over the effectiveness of the rocket attacks continues

PA chairman Abu Mazen again called upon the Palestinian terrorist organizations to stop firing rockets into Israel , calling them “useless.” He said that the continued rocket fire would not end the crisis but only gave Israel reasons to attack the civilians in the Gaza Strip. He also censured the “stubbornness of [some] factors [determined] to destroy the Gaza Strip while serving personal interests and foreign agendas… (Palestinian News Agency, May 27). Fatah's central committee also called upon the Hamas leadership to stop the rocket fire, since Israel 's response to it was killing Palestinians and destroying their institutions (Palestinian News Agency, May 21).

Abu Mazen's statements brought about a wave of negative reactions from Hamas and PIJ spokesmen. For example, Yehiya Musa , a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that the rockets “shook the [Zionist] entity's security” (Filistin Al-‘An Website, May 25). Nizar Rayan, a senior Hamas figure, said that “our rockets travel for kilometers and they are stronger than the useless arsenals of the Arabs in the Arab countries” (Pal-media Website, May 25). Khaled Mansour , a wanted PIJ terrorist, said that “the rockets are what forced the criminal enemy to leave the Gaza Strip, Sderot, and soon Ashqelon and Tel Aviv” ( Palestine newspaper, May 25).

According to the Pal-media news agency, which based its report on “sources close to Hamas,” in an internal memo the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades ordered the cessation of rocket fire into Israel . The same sources noted that “the decision is the result of internal and external pressure on the movement and on its military wing…” The sources added that the decision had not been fully implemented and that after the memo had been distributed, on May 29 Hamas operatives launched several rockets at Sderot (Pal-media Website, affiliated with the Fatah and Palestinian Preventive Security, May 29). ⁴ Similar reports appeared in the Israeli media. ⁵

Abu Obeida , a Hamas/Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades spokesman, denied the reports, saying they “did not contain a grain of truth,” proof of which was Hamas' continuing rocket fire at Israeli settlements. He admitted that “external and internal pressure” was being exerted on Hamas to stop the rocket fire but the movement, he said, would adhere to its position “and not give the [Israeli] occupation a ceasefire for free, until it stopped its aggression against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip” (Filistin Al-‘An Website, May 30).

Anarchy continues in the Gaza Strip and Samaria

While the Hamas-Fatah ceasefire is generally observed, anarchy continues in the Gaza Strip; the events are not necessarily connected to confrontation between the two organizations. During recent days the Palestinian media have reported that the director of the treasury ministry was abducted (May 27) and that shots were fired at the head of the office of the high Muslim religious judge in Gaza (May 29). They also reported the abduction and release of a senior Executive Force operative, gunshots, abductions and the murder of civilians and the torching of an internet café in Gaza City .

Samaria

In the region of Tubas in northern Samaria there were particularly violent clashes between members of the Palestinian security forces and Fatah operatives, and the Daraghmeh family. The cause was the death of Ra'ed Daraghmeh, a Fatah operative, who tried to evade arrest for his involvement in killing a Palestinian woman last year. His supporters attacked the local national security headquarters and set fire to it. The Palestinian security forces then called for backup from Jenin, Nablus and Ramallah to calm the situation. Dozens of operatives form both sides were wounded, some of them seriously.

¹ Update of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center bulletin about the Hamas rocket attack.

² Identified hits on Israeli territory only. In our assessment the number of rockets launched is approximately 20% higher.

³ As of 5 p.m. , May 31, identified hits in Israeli territory. In our assessment the amount of rockets fired is approximately 20% higher.

⁴ On May 29 Hamas claimed responsibility for a number of rocket launchings, most of them against Sderot.

⁵ On May 30 the Israeli radio station Kol Israel stated that according to “a senior Palestinian source,” Abd al-Hadi Siam , a senior figure in Hamas's military wing, ordered that rocket fire be stopped because of the damage done to a Hamas training camp by Israeli air strikes and pressure exerted on Hamas's political figures. According to the report, Ahmad al-Ghandour, commander of the Hamas military wing in the northern Gaza Strip, refused to obey and ordered that the rocket fire continue. A similar report appeared in a column by Avi Issacharoff in Haaretz on May 30.