Illustration from Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda
Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israeli territory
The heading of the Al-Qaeda in Iraq condemnation.
Women and young girls wearing jilbabs.
Schematic map of the authorized building sites
Hamas� Palestine-Info website, August 8, 2009
 The Israeli Defense Minister authorizes the building of 445 new living units in the settlements (Illustration from Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, the Palestinian Authority newspaper, September 8, 2009). |
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Overview
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Important Events
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Gaza Strip
Rocket and mortar shell fire
During the past week the trend toward a slight increase in rocket and mortar shell fire from the Gaza Strip into the western Negev continued. Three rocket hits were identified and seven mortar shells were fired, four of them at an IDF force operating the security fence. In addition, Palestinians shot light arms at civilians and IDF forces near the fence. The incidents were the following:
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September 3: During a 24-hour period seven mortar shells were fired, four at an IDF force near the security fence and three at villages in the western Negev. There were no casualties and no damage was done. In an exceptional statement, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas� military-terrorist wing, claimed responsibility for the attacks. According to the statement, Hamas would continue to take �the path of jihad and resistance� (Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades website, September 3, 2009).
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September 3: Palestinians shot at an IDF force near the security fence in the central Gaza Strip. The force returned fire. There were no casualties and no damage was done (IDF Spokesman, September 3, 2009). The Jund Ansar Allah in Palestine, the jihadi-Salafist network which was recently suppressed by Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack (Fatah forum website, September 3, 2009).
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September 3: Palestinians shot at civilians working the near security fence. There were no casualties but a tractor was damaged.
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September 4: A rocket hit was identified in an open field near a village in the western Negev. There were no casualties and no damage was done.
- September 7: A rocket hit was identified in an open field near a village in the western Negev. There were no casualties and no damage was done.
The rocket fire followed the September 4 Israeli Air Force attack on a tunnel in the large town of Absan in the Khan Yunis district of the southern Gaza Strip. The tunnel, meant for the infiltration of terrorist operatives into Israel territory to carry out attacks, was dug under a structure about 1.5 kilometers, or 0.9 miles, from the security fence (IDF Spokesman, September 4, 2009). According to Palestinian sources, no casualties resulted from the Israeli attack (QudsNet website, Ramattan News Agency, September 4, 2009).
Abd al-Latif al-Qanu�, Hamas spokesman in the northern Gaza Strip, said that the escalation meant �continuing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.� He warned Israel, saying that if it escalated its aggression there would be retaliation from Hamas and the other [terrorist] organizations, �together or individually� (Safa News Agency, September 7, 2009).
Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israeli territory
since the end of Operation Cast Lead 1
Judea and Samaria
The Israeli security forces continued their counterterrorism activities, which included the detention of Palestinians suspected of terrorist activities. During the past week there were almost daily terrorist attacks which included stones and Molotov cocktails thrown at Israeli vehicles, as follows:
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September 7: Stones were thrown in two separate attacks at Israeli vehicles northeast of Ramallah and west of Bethlehem. There were no casualties but damage was done to the vehicles (IDF Spokesman, September 7, 2009).
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September 6: A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Israeli vehicle east of Qalqilya, and another southwest of Bethlehem. Stones were thrown at Israel vehicles southwest of Ramallah and south of Nablus. There were no casualties but damage was done to the vehicles (IDF Spokesman, September 6, 2009).
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September 5: Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle east of Qalqilya. There were no casualties but damage was done to the vehicle (IDF Spokesman, September 5, 2009).
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September 3: Stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle northwest of Ramallah. There were no casualties but damage was done to the vehicle (IDF Spokesman, September 3).
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September 3: An IDF force discovered a knife among the tools of a Palestinian youth near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The knife was confiscated. (IDF Spokesman, September 3, 2009).
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September 1: In three separate incidents stones were thrown at Israeli vehicles northeast of Ramallah and southwest of Jenin. There were no casualties but damage was done to the vehicles (IDF Spokesman, September 1, 2009).
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Developments in the Gaza Strip
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The crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip
The Kerem Shalom crossing was open during the entire week for the passage of Gazans and merchandise. Approximately 85 trucks entered the Gaza Strip every day.
Hamas continues its media attack against UNRWA
Hamas is continuing its extreme reaction to the reports current in the Gaza Strip that UNRWA plans to include basic Holocaust studies in its schools.2 In an editorial entitled �Keep the agency from its evil path,� Mustafa Sawaf, Felesteen editor, warned against introducing into the school curriculum social and political content which contradicted �Palestinian rights,� culture and religion. He added that the Jews �over exaggerated� the dimensions of the Holocaust although Western scientists and historians doubted that it had ever happened. He claimed that a �holocaust� was being carried out against the Palestinian people by what Mustafa Sawaf called �the new Nazis� (Felesteen, September 3).
This is not the first time the editor of Felesteen has attacked UNRWA and its director, John Ging, and warned of UNRWA�s �bad influence� on the youth of the Gaza Strip. He said that the agency had sent Ging�s advisors to speak to him to clear the air and improve Ging�s image (Felesteen, September 3, 2009). In light of Hamas� extreme reaction, on September 4 UNRWA said in an official statement that it denounced all forms of Holocaust denial and opposed its politicization. It also said that UNRWA was committed to educating for human rights and would continue developing a syllabus for teaching the values of human rights (Reliefweb website, September 4, 2009).
In the meantime, Hamas opened another front against UNRWA when the ministry of health of the Hamas de-facto administration accused it of keeping medical equipment in its warehouses for long periods of time, including dialysis equipment and drugs which had been sent directly to the ministry but had not been delivered. According to the ministry, that made UNRWA a collaborator in the �siege� of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (Website of the ministry of health of the Hamas de-facto administration, September 3, 2009).
Tension continues between Hamas and the jihadi-Salafist networks
Mahmoud Taleb, an operative in the jaljalat jihadist network, was interviewed on September 6 by Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. He repeated what he had told Al-Ayyam on July 11, 2009, that the jihadist operatives intended to swear allegiance to Osama bin Laden because �he is our commander and in charge of us.� He said that he was �number one on Hamas� wanted list� and had turned into a threat to national security as far as Hamas was concerned. Asked if the jaljalat would seek revenge for what happened to Jund Ansar Allah in Rafah, he said that �we will do what Islamic law dictates with regard to retaliation for the bloodshed of our Jund Ansar Allah brothers and our Sheikh Abu Anwar al-Maqdisi [i.e., Sheikh Abd al-Latif Musa, who was killed by Hamas in a battle at the Ibn Taymiyyah mosque in Rafah on August 14]. Mahmoud Taleb complained that Hamas had confiscated many weapons and much equipment from his men, and that many fighters had been detained on their way back from jihad missions [against Israel].
Strong condemnations of Hamas by global jihad networks continue
On September 5 Al-Qaeda in Iraq issued a strong condemnation of Hamas on Al-Qaeda�s main information website (Al-Fajr Media Center). It again criticized �the gang ruling the Gaza Strip� for attacking the Ibn Taymiyyah mosque and executing Salafist Muslims as a service to the Crusaders (the West, particularly the United States), the Jews and the infidel Arab rulers, and especially the regime of [Egyptian] President Mubarak. According to the announcement, the number of Salafist operatives killed by the Hamas �gang� during its rule of the Gaza Strip was greater than the number of Jews killed during the same period of time. It called on Allah to avenge the blood of the murdered and to destroy the Hamas state, and demanded that the Salafists in the Gaza Strip not negotiate with the �criminals�.
The heading of the Al-Qaeda in Iraq condemnation.
In addition, the jihadi-Salafist Jordanian Sheikh Issam al-Barkawi, nicknamed Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, posted an open letter on his website accusing Hamas of murdering Muslims (Shabaqat Filastin l�il-�Ilam, August 29, 2009). Salafist networks in the Lebanese refugee camp Ayn al-Hilwe called for a boycott of Hamas to exert pressure on it to stop its attacks in the Salafists in the Gaza Strip (ibid.).
Responses to Islamic dress enforced in Gazan schools
The IslamOnline website reported from the Gaza Strip that the Hamas de-facto administration had made an �unannounced decision� to oblige female high school students in the western part of Gaza City to wear clothing suitable to Muslim religious law. While school principals in the eastern part of the city reported that they had not received official instructions regarding female dress, teachers and students in the western part of the city reported that the �unannounced decision� had been implemented on August 23, the first day of school. �Sources within Gazan education� reported that the Hamas de-facto administration was focusing on the western part of the city, where the wealthy Gazans live, because a number of female students there wore tight clothing and behaved permissively. The students in those schools were forced to wear dark blue jilbabs (tent-like dresses in solid colors which cover the entire body) and black or white shoes (IslamOnline website, August 24, 20093).
Women and young girls wearing jilbabs.
The decision to force female high school students in the western part of Gaza City to wear traditional Islamic dress is being criticized. Agence France-Presse reported some of the female students� reactions: A student at the Ahmed Shuqi school for girls �in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City refused to wear a jilbab, saying that �the Hamas government cannot force me to wear Islamic dress.� Another student said she would not wear a head covering and that �we are willing to agree to anything but not to Islamic dress, because it hides the signs of our youth and makes us look like old women.� A third student said that the decision was �a blow to our liberty,� and a Christian student said that she had no choice, she had to wear a head covering because �that is what the government decided and we have to respect it as long as we live here� (Agence France-Presse, August 23, 2009).
Muhammad Askol, minister of education in the Hamas de-facto administration, responded to the criticism, claiming that no [formal] decision had been made to force female students to wear a jilbab. He claimed that some school principals had �independently decided� that the students were required to wear them. He also claimed that they had not taken forceful steps against uncooperative students, such as expelling them from school, �but have only had talks with them� (Al-Risala, August 27, 2009).
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The Peace Process
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Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak authorized the building of 455 new living units in settlement blocks in Judea and Samaria, as follows:
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Har Gilo (Gush Etzion)� 144 new units
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Alon Shvut (Gush Etzion) �12 new units
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Agan Ayalot (Giv�at Zeev) � 76 new units
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Modi�in Ilit � 84 new units�����
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Ma�aleh Adumim � 89 new units
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Keidar (near Ma�aleh Adumim) � 26 new units
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Meshchiot (the Jordan Valley) � 20 new units
Schematic map of the authorized building sites
The Israeli decision produced a wave of negative Palestinian reactions:
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Nabil Abu Rudeina, Palestinian presidential spokesman, asked the international community and the American administration to take a firm stand against the settlement policy. He said that �the continuing Jewish policy of settlement challenges President Obama and the international community. [It shows that] Israel does not want peace, is deceiving the world and wasting time� (Wafa News Agency, September 7, 2009).
- Saeb Erekat, chief PLO negotiator, said in an announcement that �Israel�s decision further undermined any belief that it is a credible partner for peace.� He added that that nullified any effect a settlement freeze would have, when and if it happened (Reuters, September 7, 2009).
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Omar Hilmi al-Ghoul, advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, told Palestinian Television that �it can be seen that Israel is a country above the law which is not interested in a process [that will lead to] a political arrangement, and whose ideology is to restore violence to the region, because it continues building the settlements and ignoring the rights of the Palestinian people� (Palestinian Television, September 7, 2009).
The inscription reads �(Stopping) the settlements
(Hamas� Palestine-Info website, August 8, 2009).
The Palestinian government�s weekly meeting, headed by Salam Fayyad, denounced the Israeli plan to authorize building in the settlements. Fayyad called for the continuation of �popular resistance through peaceful means� against the settlements and the fence, and praised the struggle of the residents of Bil�in, Na�alin and other places (Website of the Palestinian prime minister�s office, September 7, 2009).
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| Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas meets Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo (Wafa News Agency, September 5, 2009). | Mahmoud Abbas shakes hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a visit in Libya to make the 40th anniversary of Qaddafi�s rule (Wafa News Agency, September 2, 2009). |
This past week Mahmoud Abbas visited France, Spain and a number of Arab countries. When in Cairo he held a press conference and spoke of several issues related to the peace process. He said that �stopping the building is a condition we impose, and it also appears in the Road Map.� He said that Israel�s first commitment, which has not yet been met, is stopping all settlement activities, including those resulting from natural growth. He confirmed the reports about a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under American presidential aegis but wondered what its purpose would be: �Meeting just to meet is out of the question, but if a clear position is taken regarding the settlements and other issues, the Palestinians will not prevent it.� He said that �there is no reason to meet with Netanyahu if he continues enlarging the settlements because that would mean that he is not interested in doing anything for the sake of peace.� Mahmoud Abbas also accused Israel of doing its utmost to change unilaterally signs of the Arab nature of Jerusalem (Wafa News Agency, September 5, 2009).
1 The statistics do not include the mortar shells fired at IDF soldiers patrolling the border fence which fell inside the Gaza Strip.
2 For further information see our August 6, 2009 bulletin �The battle for hearts and minds in the Gaza Strip: The attack reflects Hamas� ambition for absolute control over education in the Gaza Strip and to inculcate students with its radical Islamic ideology, including hatred and terrorism against Israel.� at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/hamas_e082.pdf.
3 The Qur�an requires that the wives of observant Muslims wear the jilbab. According to Islamic tradition, when a girl reaches puberty, she is not allowed to expose any part of her body except for her face and hands. A girl of nine is usually considered to have reached puberty. Islamic schools around the world do generally not force girls under the age of nine to wear traditional Islamic dress. However, some of the sages recommend that even girls younger than nine wear a jilbab to become accustomed to it.
