Hamas

News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (July 15 – 21, 2020)

This past week the Gaza Strip was quiet. At the political level intensive Palestinian Authority (PA) diplomatic activity continued in the international and Arab arenas, even though Israel has not carried out its intention to annex territories in Judea and Samaria and the PA is mostly involved in fighting the coronavirus. This past week the number of COVID-19 cases in the PA territories surged. According to reports, Hamas prevents Gazans from watching the al-Arabiya and al-Hadath TV channels, both of which are supported by Saudi Arabia, and their offices in the Gaza Strip were closed.
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Jibril Rajoub and other senior Fatah figures represent the strategy of “popular resistance” [i.e., popular terrorism] as their main course of action if Israel announces annexation of territory

Senior Fatah figures have recently often represented the "popular resistance" [i.e., popular terrorism] as an important response to an Israeli annexation of territories. Senior Fatah figure Jibril Rajoub was interviewed by the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese al-Mayadeen TV channel. According to Rajoub the "popular resistance" is carried out peacefully (a baseless allegation) and has gained international legitimacy.
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News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (July 8 – 14, 2020)

This past week the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria were relatively quiet. The Palestinians are apparently devoting most of their attention to fighting the coronavirus. Politically, the intensity of the Palestinian campaign against Israel's intention to annex territories has weakened, probably because of the Palestinian focus on the COVID-19 crisis.
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Spotlight on Iran (June 28, 2020 – July 12, 2020)

The Iranian chief of staff of the armed forces and the Syrian minister of defense signed a comprehensive agreement concerning military cooperation between the two countries. The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey discussed the settlement of the war in Syria at a video-teleconferenced summit. Iran issued only a tepid response to the raid carried out on June 25th by the Iraq’s Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) on the compound of the Shia pro-Iranian militia, Kataeb Hezbollah, in Baghdad. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenai, sent a letter to the head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Hanniyeh, in which he stressed Iran’s ongoing commitment to support the Palestinians.
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News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (July 1 – 7, 2020)

There was an increase in tension on Israel's southern border this past week when three rockets were launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip. Protests against Israel's intention to annex parts of Judea and Samaria continued, culminating in a "day of rage" in Gaza and demonstrations (not attended as well as expected) in Judea and Samaria. Jibril Rajoub, secretary of Fatah's Executive Committee, and Saleh al-'Arouri, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, held an exceptional (virtual) joint press conference. In the meantime, most of the PA's attention and efforts are focused on dealing with the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in Judea and Samaria.
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The spread of COVID-19 continues to spiral in Judea and Samaria compared to the low number of patients in the Gaza Strip (Updated to July 6, 2020)

The number of active cases in Judea and Samaria continues to spiral in the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. The number of active cases throughout the PA is 3,758, compared to 1,620 last week (updated to the evening of July 5, 2020). A total of 3,150 active cases are from the Hebron District (compared to 1,334 cases last week), accounting for about 84% of all active cases in Judea and Samaria.
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