The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (August 15-21, 2012)

Rocket Fire Targeting Eilat

• On August 15 at around 2200 hours loud explosions were heard in Eilat, Israel's southernmost city. They were caused by two Grad rockets apparently launched from the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli security forces conducted searches but did not find the remains of the rockets. On Friday, August 17, the remains of one of the rockets were found in a hilly region near the city.
• An Al Qaeda-affiliated network operating in the Sinai Peninsula calling itself The Supporters of Jerusalem (ansar bayt al-maqdas) claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. The following day an announcement was posted on Islamic forums stating "the brothers [i.e., network operatives] succeeded in aiming [the rocket fire] and used all measures so that the rockets would land in inhabited targets, and proof of that is the strength of the shock to the Jews there." It also stated that "as usual, the Jews hid their losses and issued their usual reports and the versions expected, [claiming] that the rocket landed in an open, uninhabited area" (moheet.com website, August 16, 2012).
• The Supporters of Jerusalem were first mentioned on July 24, 2012, when the network uploaded a video to YouTube claiming responsibility for bombing the gas pipeline from the Sinai Peninsula to Israel (YouTube, July 24, 2012). The network also claimed to have carried out other terrorist attacks (moheet.com website):

• The combined shooting attack north of Eilat on August 18, 2012in which eight Israelis were killed and 30 wounded.^[1]
• The shots fired at an Israeli patrol south of Rafah in June 2012.

Left: The network's logo, consisting of a stylized globe, an assault rifle and a flag identifying the organization as affiliated with Al Qaeda. Right: A video uploaded to the Interne, claiming responsibility (with filmed documentation) for attacks on the gas pipeline to Israel which were carried out by the Supporters of Jerusalem (YouTube, July 24, 2012).

Rockets Fired into Israeli Territory since the Beginning of 2011^[2]

Note: Two of the rockets fired in August were Grad rockets, launched from the Sinai Peninsula and targeting the city of Eilat.

Palestinians Injured by Molotov Cocktail

• On August 17 a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a Palestinian taxi driving on the road near Bat Ayin (west of the Etzion Block). The taxi overturned and caught fire. The six Palestinian passengers in the car, five of them from the same family, were injured, one critically and two seriously. They were taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital for treatment. The terrorist attack may have been carried out by Israeli "price tag" extremists.
• Senior Palestinian Authority figures were quick to blame Israel:

• Mahmoud Abbas said that settler attacks against Palestinians, which recently increased, were carried out under the aegis of the "Israeli occupation forces" and had to be stopped. He said it was proof of the Israeli army's and settlers' "racist" mentality. He claimed that if Israel wanted to stop the attacks, it would stop them (Wafa News Agency, August 17, 2012).
• Saeb Erekat, a member of the PLO's Executive Committee, denounced the attack as a "disgraceful crime." He appealed to representatives of the Western countries to denounce the event and place full responsibility for it on the government of Israel (Wafa News Agency, August 17, 2012).

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a communiqué to Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, and Salam Fayyad, its prime minister. He said in an announcement that the incident near Bat Ayin was very grave, and that the security forces were making extensive efforts to locate those responsible to bring them to justice. He added he would monitor the medial care of the wounded, and said he regarded the event as serious and had instructed the Israeli security forces to act with determination to catch the offenders.^[3]The commander of the Judea and Samaria division said it was a very serious incident and could endanger public safety in the region, and ordered additional forces to patrol the main roads in Judea and Samaria (IDF Spokesman, August 16, 2012).

The Palestinian taxi after the attack (Spokesman for the Israel Police, Judea and Samaria district, August 17, 2012).

Continued Egyptian Security Activity in the Sinai Peninsula

• Egypt is continuing its preventive activities and detentions in the Sinai Peninsula. This past week those activities focused primarily on destroying smuggling tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. To conduct the activities, Egypt reinforced the forces deployed in the Rafah region (Safa News Agency, August 20, 2012). The Egyptian army also continued detaining individuals suspected of terrorist activities (Al-Ahram portal, August 13, 2012). According to a senior Egyptian army source, so far 80 operatives belonging to various networks affiliated with the global jihad have been detained, 50 of them Egyptians and the rest from the Gaza Strip (Ma'an News Agency, August 18, 2012).
• On August 20, Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi, the new Egyptian minister of defense, paid a visit to El Arish to observe firsthand the activities of the "Eagle" operation being held in the Sinai Peninsula. During his visit he met with local sheiks and leaders to coordinate the war on terrorism in the Sinai Peninsula (Al-Watan, August 20, 2012). However, the rocket fire this week targeting Eilat may indicate that the Egyptian security measures taken in the Sinai Peninsula are not effective enough.

Hamas' Position on the Actions Taken by Egypt

• Hamas spokesmen continued to state publicly that they supported Egypt's security measures and were cooperating with them. In a speech given for Eid el-Fitr, Ismail Haniya, head of the de-facto Hamas administration, said that the Gaza Strip would be a source of stability and security for Egypt and that the administration in Gaza was prepared to collaborate with Egypt on security issues but not "with the Zionist enemy" (Hamas' Filastin al-'Aan, August 19, 2012).
• Hamas also issued a statement to clarify remarks made by Fathi Hamad, minister of the interior, who strongly attacked the Egyptian president. According to the statement, the recent remarks made by the minister of the interior, in which he demanded the Egyptian president open the Rafah crossing, were misinterpreted. The ministry of the interior of the Hamas administration denied that Fathi Hamad had attacked Mohamed Morsi or compared Egypt after the revolution to the Mubarak era (Website of the ministry of the interior of the Hamas administration, August 14, 2012).
• And on the practical level:

• Palestinian sources reported that the security forces of the de-facto Hamas administration had begun passing intelligence to the Egyptian security services regarding their experience gained in recent years in the struggle against the jihadist networks in the Gaza Strip. Hamas' objective, according to the report, was to help Egyptians in their struggle against the extremist networks in the Sinai Peninsula (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, August 15, 2012).
• Sources in Hamas reported the appointing of a temporary joint Gazan-Egyptian security committee, composed of senior figures from both sides, to promoter better security collaboration.
• On August 15 operatives of Hamas' internal security force detained dozens of operatives belonging to networks affiliated with the global jihad in the Gaza Strip. Interrogation of the operatives is focusing on the recent terrorist attack at Kerem Shalom (PalPress, August 15, 2012).

• Faced with the intensive activity of the Hamas administration's security forces, sources within the global jihad networks issued threats against Hamas and Egypt (Ma'an News Agency, August 17, 2012). For example, an announcement was issued and signed in the name of the global jihad networks in the Sinai Peninsula warning the Egyptian army not to continue its current operation ("Eagle"). According to the announcement, the objective of the organizations in the Sinai Peninsula is not to harm the Egyptian army but to attack Israel, and the activities of the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula harm the organizations' ability to confront Israel (Al-Watan, August 19, 2012).

The Rafah Crossing

• The ministry of the interior of the de-facto Hamas administration announced that the Rafah crossing would be open in both directions for humanitarian needs only. The crossing closed for the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday (Al-Ayam, August 16, 2012). According to Palestinian sources, the Egyptians announced that after Eid al-Fitr the crossing would be open as usual. They also announced that Egypt was working hard to deliver enough fuel to the Gaza Strip for the power plant to work at full capacity. They also announced that Egypt was increasing the amount of electricity it supplied to the Gaza Strip from 22 megawatts to 30 megawatts (Ma'an News Agency, August 5, 2012).

Exploiting Eid al-Fitr to Brainwash the Younger Generation

• The Arab-Muslim world is currently celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which ends the month of Ramadan. In the Gaza Strip the holiday is exploited to brainwash the younger generation with anti-Israeli hate propaganda.
• Next to the food stands in the markets are stands selling toy weapons. To celebrate the holiday, Gazan children went to visit Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist operatives, bringing them cakes and candy. One of the children said, "I am proud of the heroes of Palestine, and when I grow up I will, with the help of Allah, join the Jerusalem Brigades to defend my people and my land, and take revenge for the shaheeds [martyrs], the prisoners and the wounded" (Jerusalem Brigades website, August 19, 2012).

Left: Children visit Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist operatives (Picture from the Jerusalem Brigades website, August 19, 2012).
Right: Toy weapons sold in the markets of the Gaza Strip for Eid al-Fitr (Picture from the Filastin al-'Aan website, August 19, 2012).

Aid Convoys to the Gaza Strip

• Another Miles of Smiles aid convoy arrived in the Gaza Strip. It was the 15^th such convoy and was composed of about 70 activists from the Arab states and other countries. It brought medical aid to the Gaza Strip. It was the first convoy permitted to enter the Gaza Strip since the terrorist attack at Kerem Shalom (Alresalah.net website, August 15, 2012).

The Miles of Smiles 15 convoy received in the Gaza Strip by Ismail Haniya (Picture from Al-Quds TV, August 15, 2012).

• August 16 marked the end of the emergency summit meeting of the Muslim states held in Mecca. A joint final statement included support for the acceptance of the Palestinian Authority as a UN member state, called for the end of the Israeli "occupation" and accused Israel of responsibility for the freeze of the peace process. The statement also demanded that Israel abide by international decision, including the Palestinian refugees' so-called "right of return" (Ma'an News Agency, August 16, 2012).
• Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech in which he said that "Palestine" was "suffering from the injustice of the occupation." He spoke of the Judaization of Jerusalem, the so-called "excavations under Al-Aqsa mosque," the settlements and the roadblocks, the damage done to the economy, the prisons full of thousands of Palestinians and the Israeli policies which had caused the peace process to fail (Wafa News Agency, August 16, 2012).

Mahmoud Abbas shakes hands with Ahmadinejad at the emergency summit meeting in Mecca (Picture from Filastin TV, August 14, 2012).

• Mahmoud Abbas reiterated that the Palestinian Authority leadership intended to appeal to the UN General Assembly before the end of the year to upgrade its status to that of non-member state. He said the step would be taken despite the failure of the vote in the Security Council last year (Qudsnet website, August 18, 2012). Saeb Erekat, a member of the PLO's Executive Committee and head of the Palestinian negotiating team, said that the date for the appeal to the UN would be determined at the next conference of the Arab League's monitoring committee, which is supposed to take place on September 6 (Ma'an News Agency, August 17, 2012).

Jerusalem Day Events Have a Low Profile in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip

• The annual Iranian-sponsored Jerusalem Day events were held on the last Friday of Ramadan. No unusual events marking the day were reported in Judea and Samaria. The events in the Gaza Strip were low-profile and not attended by senior members of the de-facto Hamas administration. After the Friday prayers in the mosques the Palestinian terrorist organizations (with the exception of Fatah) held a march attended by a few hundred people, who proceeded from the mosques to the center of the city (Ma'an News Agency, August 17, 2012).

Jerusalem Day events in the Gaza Strip. Left: Representative of the various organizations which took part in the Jerusalem Day march in the Gaza Strip (Picture from the PIJ's Paltoday website, date, 2012). Right: March in the streets of Gaza City (Picture from Hamas' palestine-info website, date, 2012).