![]() Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh (Wafa News Agency, September 14, 2010). |
Overview
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Important Terrorist Events
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The Gaza Strip
Rocket Fire
During the past week there was an increase in rocket fire targeting the western Negev. During the week (which included Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year) nine rocket hits were identified in Israel. Most of them fell in open areas. There were no casualties and no damage was done. The attacks were the following:
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On September 7 two rocket hits were identified, one in the region of Sderot. There were no casualties and no damage was done.
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On September 8 a rocket hit was identified near a kindergarten in a kibbutz near the Gaza Strip. There were no casualties.
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On September 9 two rocket hits were identified in an open area near the Gaza Strip. There were no casualties and no damage was done. A terrorist organization calling itself The Supporters of the Sunnah in the Wings of Jerusalem claimed responsibility for at least one of them (Al-Tadahi forum, September 9, 2010).
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On September 10 a rocket hit was identified in an open area near the Gaza Strip. There were no casualties and no damage was done.
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On September 12 a rocket hit was identified in an open area near the Gaza Strip.
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On September 13 a Qassam rocket hit fell in an open area near the Gaza Strip. There were no casualties and no damage was done.
In our assessment, the rockets were launched by rogue terrorist organizations and not Hamas, which continues it policy of restrained rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
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 September 14, 2010. |
Israeli Air Force Attacks
On September 10, in response to the rocket fire, Israeli Air Force planes attacked terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, including a focus of terrorist activity in the northern Gaza Strip and a smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip (IDF Spokesman, September 11, 2010).
Tension between Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Continues
Tension continues between Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. On September 5 there were exchanges of fire between PIJ military wing operatives and Hamas internal security forces in the Khan Yunis region because of an attempt made by PIJ operatives to launch rockets (Al-Ahed, September 5, 2010).
Judea and Samaria
�Counterterrorism Activities
The Israeli security forces continue their counterterrorism activities, detaining Palestinians suspected of terrorist activities and seizing weapons.
On September 7 the Palestinian Authority security forces announced they had detained the terrorists who carried out the fatal shooting attacks at the Bani Naim (near Hebron) and Rimonim junctions. They said that two Hamas squads of three men each were responsible for the attacks (Haaretz, September 8, 2010; Ynet, September 7, 2010).
During the Rosh Hashanah holiday incidences of stone-throwing continued in Judea and Samaria. An Israeli civilian sustained minor injuries.
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September 13 � Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Ramallah. An Israeli civilian sustained minor injuries. Stones were thrown at an Israeli bus near Bethlehem. There were no casualties. Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Qalqilya. There were no casualties (IDF Spokesman, September 13, 2010).
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September 7 � Stones were thrown at an IDF force near Bethlehem. There were no casualties (IDF Spokesman, September 7, 2010).
The Peace Process
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Continuing the relaunching of the peace process in Washington, on September 14 there was a summit meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and American envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell also attended.
On the eve of the meeting the media covered the disagreement between Israel and the Palestinians over construction in the settlements. The Israeli position is that the construction freeze in Judea and Samaria is not part of the negotiations but a one-time gesture made by the Israeli government to show the seriousness of its intentions toward peace and to kick-start the process. The Israeli position is that the issue of the settlements will be negotiated as part of the core issues during the final status agreement. On the Palestinian side, Mahmoud Abbas has made it clear that the Palestinians demand that Israel maintain the freeze, threatening that if Israel renews construction, the Palestinians will abandon the negotiations (Mahmoud Abbas interviewed by Al-Ayam, September 6, 2010). Interviewed by Al-Quds on September 6, Mahmoud Abbas said that if pressure is exerted on the Palestinian Authority to waive the 1967 borders, the refugees or any other of the Palestinian basic issues, he would "take his briefcase and leave."
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu opened the September 12 weekly cabinet meeting by emphasizing the importance of recognition of the State of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people [to which the Palestinians object]. He said that "The conflict between us and the Palestinians, as opposed to other conflicts that were resolved by peace agreements, is over the same piece of ground. We say that the solution is two states for two peoples, meaning two national states, a Jewish national state and a Palestinian national state." He added that to his regret, he had not yet heard the Palestinians use the phrase "two sates for two peoples," which, he said, was the true basis for an end to the claims against the State of Israel and for the end of the conflict between the two peoples. He continued, "[j]ust as we are asked to recognize the Palestinian national state, we also demand and expect the Palestinians to recognize a Jewish state, the State of Israel, as the national state of the Jewish People. This is the true foundation of peace."2 (ITIC emphasis)
Statements from Hamas
Senior Hamas figures and the Hamas-affiliated media continued to attack Israel and the Palestinian Authority over the relaunching of direct negotiations and the PA security forces’ extensive detentions of Hamas operatives in Judea and Samaria after Hamas’ shooting attacks. Reports of the American clergyman’s intention to burn Qur�ans on September 11 (which was cancelled) were exploited for anti-American incitement.
The main points made by senior Hamas figures were the following:
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The negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority had no legitimacy or value, either Arab or international. The Palestinian Authority did not have the right to represent or negotiate in the name of the Palestinian people, and therefore any results of the negotiations did not commit the Palestinians (Safa News Agency, September 10, 2010).
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The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Judea and Samaria were asked to remain firm against Israel and the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, and to "sacrifice more, because they are the spearhead of the jihad and the resistance, and the only legitimate weapon defending the Palestinian people and the homeland" (Safa News Agency, September 10, 2010). Hamas called the detentions a "national betrayal" (Hamas� Palestine-info website, September 8, 2010), and warned the PA’s security forces that "the weapons that reached the heart of the occupier can reach you as well" (Al-Resalah.net, September 8, 2010).
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Praise for the path of terrorism: Ahmed al-Jaabari, senior operative in the Hamas military wing, posted a letter on the Al-Bayan Center website to all Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operatives for the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He called the withdrawal of IDF forces from the Gaza Strip a "partial victory" and criticized the negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. He said that "the enemy will lower his head only before the sword and gunfire and will not [be made to] flee except by fire and warfare." He emphasized the adherence of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades to "all Palestine, from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea, with its capital of Jerusalem," and said that it was "land of Islam�for ever and ever, until Judgment Day" (Hamas-affiliated Al-Bayan Center website, September 14, 2010).
Ahmed al-Jaabari (Al-Bayan Center website, September 14, 2010).
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Anti-American incitement: Ismail Haniya, head of the de facto Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, said at the prayers for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday ending Ramadan, that the American clergyman [who wanted to burn Qur�ans on September 11] served the West’s agenda, which wanted to harm the Muslims in "Palestine" and beyond. He called on Allah "to tear to pieces the countries and the existence [itself] of those who want to tear the Qur�an to pieces" (Al-Aqsa TV, September 10 2010).
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Signs of the victory of the Arab-Islamic nation over the United States and the West: Ismail Haniya blessed the "brave Iraqi resistance" which had "defeated" the United States. He added that the West’s armies and plans had collapsed in Afghanistan and Palestine, and praised the changes which had taken place in Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran and even Palestine. He extolled the Turkish people and their leadership for Turkey’s exit from its strategic alliance with Israel (Al-Aqsa TV, September 10 2010).
Developments in the Gaza Strip
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The Crossings
This past week between 82 and 295 trucks entered the Gaza Strip every day. Eighty tons of iron entered and preparations began for bringing in 250 tons of construction equipment to upgrade a sewage purification plant in the Sheikh Ajalin area of the Strip (Website of the Israeli Coordinator for the Territories, September 4-15, 2010; IDF Spokesman’s website, September 13, 2010).
The Ongoing Islamization of the Gaza Strip
Hamas continues its Islamization of the Gaza Strip. It was recently reported that Hamas forbade women to smoke hookahs (narguilehs) in public places. The Hamas police force also began enforcing the ban on gender mixing in Internet cafes and now demands that couples walking in the street produce marriage licenses. Young men suspected of being homosexuals are interrogated and sometimes imprisoned. Hamas also makes it difficult to listen to Western music and to hold functions at which Western music is played (AP, July 19, 2010).
Palestinian women participate in a Qur�an memorization ceremony
�(Safa News Agency, September 12, 2010).
Flotillas and Convoys to the Gaza Strip
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Flotillas and Convoys Update
Reports continue of international initiatives to organize flotillas and aid convoys to the Gaza Strip:
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Lebanon: Yasser Qashlaq, chairman of the Free Palestine Movement, claimed that the Lebanese women’s ship Maryam is expected to set sail "regardless of how much pressure is exerted." He said in an announcement that the organization planned to launch another ship, the Maryam 2. He called on the Arab countries to help with his plan for an overland convoy which would reach Israel and demand it be allowed to realize the so-called "right of return" (Al-Nishra, September 8, 2010).
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Freedom Fleet 2: Amin Abu Rashad, a member of the European Campaign to Break the Siege on Gaza, said that committees had been established throughout Europe for the flotilla’s sailing. He mentioned Germany, Holland, Switzerland and Britain. He said that the flotilla’s organizers intended to have a large number of politicians and diplomats on board, as well as participants from Australia, Canada, the United States and South American countries. He also claimed that the organization was trying to include representatives from well-known, leading international agencies (Al-Aqsa TV, September 7, 2010).
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The United States: According to the Iranian media, the Free Palestine Movement announced it had been raising money for a year to finance an aid plane which would fly to the Gaza Strip in the spring of 2011 (PressTV, Iran, September 7, 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/2010/09/spokestart120910.htm.