Activists of the British aid convoy Road to Hope aboard the Strofades IV wave to a plane
Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israeli territory
Rocket Fire 2010, Monthly Distribution
Hamas representative Musa Abu Marzuq and Fatah representative
A student casts her vote in the Al-Najah University elections
Flotillas and Convoys to the Gaza Strip
 Activists of the British aid convoy Road to Hope aboard the Strofades IV wave to a plane (YouTube, November 14, 2010). The ship was hijacked from Libya by its captain over a financial dispute. The activists are currently trying to organize a new ship to sail to El Arish and from there to reach the Gaza Strip overland. |
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Overview
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Important Terrorism Events
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Gaza Strip
Rocket Fire
Quiet continued in the western Negev this week. No rocket or mortar shell hits were identified.
Rockets and Mortar Shells Fired into Israeli Territory 1
Rocket Fire 2010, Monthly Distribution *
* Rocket hits identified in Israeli territory. A similar number misfire and customarily land inside the Gaza Strip. **As of November 16, 2010. |
Judea and Samaria
Counterterrorism Activities
In a joint Israeli security forces operation on November 14, funds and equipment were confiscated from the house of Ali Dadu, a senior Hamas activist in Tulkarm. Last June Dadu was accused and convicted of transferring millions of dollars to terrorist operatives in the Tulkarm region. The funds apparently came from Hamas sources abroad (IDF Spokesman, November 15, 2010).
This past week were there were a number of stone-throwing attacks on Israeli vehicles. Four Israeli civilians sustained minor injuries. The central incidents were the following:
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November 11: Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle southwest of Bethlehem. Two Israeli civilians sustained minor injuries. Stones were thrown at Israeli vehicles near Ramallah and north of Hebron. One Israeli civilian sustained minor injuries in each attack. Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle south of Qalqilya. There were no casualties but the vehicle was damaged (IDF Spokesman’s website, November 11, 2010).�
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November 10: Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Ramallah. There were no casualties and no damage was done (IDF Spokesman’s website, November 10, 2010).
In Judea and Samaria this past week there were a number of violent demonstrations held by Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners:
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��On November 12 demonstrations were held in the villages of Bila�in and Ni�lin. The demonstrators threw rocks at IDF forces (IDF Spokesman’s website, November 12, 2010). There was also a demonstration at Nebi Saleh (northwest of Ramallah) during which stones were thrown at IDF forces (IDF Spokesman’s website, November 12, 2010).
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On November 11 approximately 50 Palestinians gathered south of Bethlehem and burned tires and threw stones at Israeli vehicles and IDF forces (IDF Spokesman’s website, November 11, 2010).
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The Peace Process
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Continuing the Negotiations and the Building Freeze in the Settlements
At the November 14 government meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said that he wanted to "update my fellow ministers on the general outline of the American proposal for the resumption of the peace talks. This proposal was raised during my talks with Secretary of State Clinton"2 [ITIC emphasis]. According to the proposal, Israel would freeze building in the settlements for an additional three months in return for which it would receive an aid package from the United States (Haaretz, November 13, 2010).
The heads of the Palestinian Authority, with a sense of increasing urgency regarding the negotiations with Israel, responded. The spokesmen were led by Saeb Erekat, head of the PLO’s negotiating team, who said the following:
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Regarding the American proposal: Saeb Erekat and other senior Palestinian figures opposed the "American-Israeli deal" because, they said, Jerusalem was not included in it. Erekat said that "we do not accept the fact that Jerusalem is not included in the deal and there is no meaning to a Palestinian state with the 1967 borders unless its capital is East Jerusalem" (Al-Jazeera TV, November 14, 2010). Other senior figures, who did not identify themselves, claimed that the Palestinians were waiting for an American package of "commitments and aid" in return for renewing the negotiations (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, November 15, 2010).
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Regarding recognition of the Palestinian state: Erekat again stressed that if the United States failed to force Israel to stop building in the settlements during November, the Palestinians might demand it recognize a Palestinian state with the 1967 borders. If that failed, then the Palestinians would appeal to the UN to be accepted into the organization as "Palestine" with the 1967 borders (Agence France-Presse, November 12, 2010). On another occasion Erekat said that Mahmoud Abbas had begun making preparations to appeal to the UN Security Council (BBC, November 12, 2010).
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Developments in the Gaza Strip
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The Crossings
During the past week between 188 and 304 trucks carrying merchandise entered the Gaza Strip every day. The trucks contained food and animal feed, building materials and other goods (Website of the Israeli government coordinator for the territories, November 15, 2010).
Egypt Detains a Palestinian-Egyptian Terrorist Squad in the Sinai Peninsula
Unidentified senior Egyptian sources reported that the internal Egyptian security forces detained 25 men who belonged to "a radical religious" terrorist squad which was planning to abduct Israeli tourists and members of the UN peace-keeping force in the Sinai Peninsula. The sources reported that although all the operatives who were caught were Egyptian, during interrogation they gave names of operatives who belonged to the Army of Islam in the Gaza Strip (which is affiliated with the global jihad). It was also reported that some of the operatives had been taught how to prepare explosives in a course given in the Gaza Strip (Masrawy News and Ma’an News Agency, November 11, 2010).
Sources in the Egyptian internal security forces reported that they were looking for another squad, this one composed of seven operatives, one of whom was linked to rocket fire into Israel from the Sinai Peninsula. The squad was planning, the sources said, to carry out additional terrorist attacks in southern Sinai� (Ma’an News Agency, November 13, 2010).
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The Internal Palestinian Arena
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Another Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation Attempt Fails
On November 9 and 10 there was another round of talks in Damascus between representatives of Hamas and Fatah as part of efforts to reconcile the two organizations. The talks ended without results. Another round is expected to take place, apparently at the end of November.
Hamas representative Musa Abu Marzuq and Fatah representative
Azzam al-Ahmed meet in Damascus (Al-Jazeera, November 11, 2010)
Fatah Victorious in Student Council Elections in Nablus’ Al-Najah University
Fatah won the student council elections in Al-Najah University in Nablus, taking 57 of 81 seats. Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad boycotted the elections to protest the actions of the Palestinian Authority security services against students affiliated with them. In the past, during the Palestinian terrorist campaign known as the second intifada (2000-2005), Al-Najah University was a Hamas-PIJ stronghold, a focal point for Islamic indoctrination and a source of suicide bombers.
After the victory of the Fatah candidates, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed the elections had been fixed. Hamas representatives accused Fatah of forcing students to vote for its candidates. A PIJ spokesman claimed that only 40% of the students voted and accused Fatah of falsifying the elections results to show that the minimum number of ballots for election had been cast (Al-Risala, November 11, 2010; Wafa News Agency and Palestine News Network, November 9, 2010).
A student casts her vote in the Al-Najah University elections
(Palestine News Network, November 13, 2010)
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Flotillas and Convoys to the Gaza Strip — Update
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Members of the British Road to Hope Convoy Claim They Were Taken Hostage
Between seven and ten activists of the British aid convoy calling itself Road to Hope, which defines itself as an independent, non-affiliated convoy, claimed they were taken hostage by the captain of the rented ship Strofades IV.
According to the reports of the activists, among them Kenneth O’Keefe, a former US Marine who was aboard the Mavi Marmara, the ship was hijacked because of a dispute over money. The ship’s captain demanded the money owed him, immediately and in cash, and when he could not reach an arrangement with the activists, he sailed with the ship before it finished loading its cargo. On board at the time were members of the convoy and a number of Libyan policemen and customs agents. All efforts of the Libyan navy to halt the ship failed. In the end the activists were released in Greece by the Greek coast guard (Agence France-Presse, November 13, 2010; Reuters, November 11, 2010).
After the affair, the activists who were left in Libya reported that they had acquired another ship and that they intended to set sail for the port of El Arish or Alexandria as soon as possible. So far it is unclear whether the ship has set sail or is still in Libya (Al-Bayan Center website, November 13, 2010).
Right: The Strofades IV which was hijacked to Greece with some of the convoy activists on board (Press TV, Iran, November 13, 2010). Left: At the far right, Kenneth O’Keefe, a former US Marine who was on board the Mavi Marmara (YouTube, November 12, 2010).
1 The statistics do not include the mortar shells fired at IDF soldiers patrolling the border fence which fell inside the Gaza Strip.
2 �http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/Spokesman/2010/11/spokestart141110.htm
