News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (February 10-16, 2021)

The Gaza Strip

• The ministry of health in Gaza announced that the first series of 2,000 Russian Sputnik 5 vaccines is expected to arrive in the Gaza Strip. Majdi Dheir, director of the department of preventive medicine in Gaza, said a small number of vaccines would be allotted to medical personnel and the rest to people with impaired immune systems, such as dialysis or transplant patients. He said 11,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine would arrive in the Gaza Strip in the near future from the W.H.O. (Sawa, February 14, 2021). Mai al-Kayla, PA minister of health, strongly criticized Israel, claiming it had prevented the transfer of a shipment of 2,000 dozes of the vaccine to the Gaza Strip. She called it an arbitrary measure violating all international norms, laws and agreements (Wafa, February 15, 2021).

Judea and Samaria

Spread of the British variant

• On the morning of February 16, 2021, Mai al-Kayla announced that during the past 24 hours 139 cases of the British variant had been detected in the PA territories. She said most of them (88) had been detected in the Ramallah district. She added that the Palestinian medical teams, along with teams from the American-Arab University, were monitoring the spread of the variant and carrying out contact tracing (Facebook page of the ministry of health in Ramallah, February 16, 2021).

Authority of Prisoners and Released Prisoners Affairs closed due to coronavirus

• The Authority of Prisoners and Released Prisoners Affairs reported that Qudri Abu Bakr, Authority chairman, had contracted Covid-19. The Authority called on anyone who had come in contact with him during the past week to undergo a coronavirus test (Facebook page of the Authority of Prisoners and Released Prisoners, February 13, 2021). The next day the Authority announced it was closing its main offices in Ramallah after employees had also been found to have the virus (Facebook page of the Authority of Prisoners and Released Prisoners, February 14, 2021).

Coronavirus vaccines arrive

• In an interview with the BBC in Arabic devoted to the issue of coronavirus vaccines, Mai al-Kayla said the Palestinians were waiting for 25,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine which were supposed to arrive in the near future. She estimated they would begin vaccinating the Palestinian public during the second half of February. They already had 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 10,000 of the Russian Sputnik 5 vaccine. Asked if Mahmoud Abbas had been vaccinated, she said as far as she knew, he had not (Facebook page of the ministry of health in Ramallah, February 16, 2021).

• PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh met with Tor Wennesland, special UN envoy to the Middle East peace process, to discuss acquiring Covid-19 vaccines and support for Palestinian medical staff when inoculation begins (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, February 10, 2021). Mai al-Kayla met with UNRWA representative Philippe Lazzarini, and demanded the Palestinian refugees be included in their general demand for coronavirus vaccines (Facebook page of the ministry of health in Ramallah, February 9, 2021).

Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israel

• This past week no rocket hits were identified in Israeli territory.
• According to reports, on February 14, 2021, two test rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards the sea (Shehab Twitter account, February 14. 2021).

Monthly Distribution of Rocket and Mortar Shell Fire

Annual Distribution of Rocket Hits

Rocks, stones, Molotov cocktails and bottles of paint

• In Judea and Samaria Palestinians continued throwing rocks, stones, Molotov cocktails and paint bottles at Israeli vehicles driving on the roads. This past week there was a significant increase in their number. The more prominent events were the following:^[1]
  • February 15, 2021: Stones were thrown at a police patrol car northwest of Hebron. No casualties were reported. The driver’s window was damaged.
  • February 15, 2021: Stones were thrown at a vehicle north of Ramallah. No casualties were reported. The front windshield of the vehicle was damage.
  • February 14, 2021: Stones were thrown at a vehicle north of Hebron. No casualties or damage were reported. Stones were also thrown at a police patrol car north of Hebron. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged.
  • February 14, 2021: Stones were thrown at a vehicle southeast of Ramallah. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged.
  • February 14, 2021: Stones were thrown at a vehicle northwest of Ramallah. No casualties were reported. The front windshield was damaged.
  • February 14, 2021: Stones were thrown at a bus southwest of Jenin. No casualties were reported. The bus was damaged.
  • February 13, 2021: A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a bus northeast of Ramallah. No casualties were reported.
  • February 13, 2021: Two Palestinians were identified attempting to infiltrate into the community of Beit Hagai in Hebron. They were apprehended and taken for interrogation.
  • February 12, 2021: Four Molotov cocktails and two pipe bombs were thrown at the committee of Beit El (north of Ramallah). No casualties or damage were reported
  • February 12, 2021: Stones were thrown at vehicles at a junction south of Nablus. No casualties were reported. Two vehicles were damaged.
  • February 12, 2021: Stones were thrown at a vehicle south of Nablus. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged.
  • February 12, 2021: Stones were thrown at a vehicle north of Ramallah. The driver lost control of the car and hit the guardrail. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged.
  • February 12, 2021: Stones were thrown at a vehicle south of Ramallah. No casualties were reported. The front windshield was damaged.
  • February 11, 2021: Masked Palestinians threw stones at a vehicle south of Hebron. No casualties were reported. The front windshield was damaged (Ynet, February 11, 2021).
  • February 11, 2021: Stones were thrown at vehicles northeast of Ramallah. No casualties were reported. Two vehicles were damaged.
  • February 11, 2021: Stones were thrown at vehicles northeast of Ramallah. No casualties were reported. One of the vehicles was damaged.
  • February 11, 2021: Stones were thrown at a bus northeast of Hebron. No casualties were reported. Stones were also thrown at an ambulance northeast of Hebron. No casualties were reported. The ambulance was damaged.
  • February 10, 2021: Stones were thrown at a vehicle south of Jerusalem. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged.
  • February 10, 2021: Stones were thrown at a vehicle west of Ramallah. A woman was slightly injured by flying glass from the damaged windshield.
  • February 9, 2021: Stones were thrown at a Border Police force southeast of Bethlehem. The leg of a Border Police fighter was slightly injured.
  • February 9, 2021: Rocks and paint bottles were thrown at a vehicle south of Bethlehem. A woman was wounded and evacuated to a hospital. The vehicle was damaged.
  • February 9, 2021: Stones were thrown at a vehicle south of Jerusalem. No casualties were reported. The front windshield was damaged.

Significant terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria since January 2019^[2]

House of terrorist who murdered Esther Horgan destroyed

• After a postponement because of an appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court, on February 10, 2021 the Israeli security forces destroyed the two top floors of the house in the village of Tura, in the Jenin district, where Muhammad Kabha, lived. He was the the Palestinian terrorist who murdered Esther Horgan in the Reihan Forest on December 20, 2020. The top floors were destroyed with an explosive device that left the ground floor intact. According to the IDF spokesman, the manner in which the house was destroyed was meant, on the one hand, to deter potential future terrorists and on the other to prevent harm from coming to those who had not been involved. During the action Palestinians rioted, throwing rocks at the Israeli security forces (IDF spokesman, February 10, 2021).

   
Destruction of two floors of the house of the terrorist who murdered Esther Horgan
(IDF spokesman’s website, February 10, 2021).

• After the top floors had been destroyed, Akram al-Rajoub, the governor of the Jenin district, visited the house to assess the damage. He said he had come to help the family insofar as was possible. He met with the family, condemned the Israeli action and instructed by Mahmoud Abbas, gave orders for helping the family and finding alternative housing for them (Facebook page of the governor of the Jenin district, February 11, 2021).
• Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem called destroying the house an “act of terrorism in every sense of the word.” He also said that destroying the houses of members of the “resistance” [i.e., terrorist organizations] was an old Israel policy used as collective punishment against the Palestinian people’s uprising (Hazem Qassem’s Twitter account, February 10, 2021).

Weapons confiscated south of Nablus

•  On February 15, 2021, the Israeli security forces operating in the village of Urif, south of Nablus, confiscated a large quantity of weapons hidden in a quarry (IDF spokesman, February 15, 2021).

 
Weapons confiscated during the Israeli security force activity
(IDF spokesman’s website, February 16, 2021).

Conduit for Hamas funds from Turkey to Judea and Samaria

• Following action by the Israeli security forces, a number of containers were found in the Port of Ashdod which contained tens of thousands of dollars hidden within goods worth hundreds of thousands of Israeli shekels. They had been sent by Hamas operatives in Turkey for Hamas networks in Judea and Samaria. According to the Israeli Defense Ministry, the money and goods were being transferred by Hamas through two companies, Sense Sanitary Company in Nablus and Tikkno Plus Ic Ve Dis in Turkey (Times of Israel, February 15, 2021).

Opening the Rafah Crossing

• The Egyptian authorities announced the Rafah Crossing would be open in both directions until further notice. Diab Allouh, the PA representative in Egypt, thanked the president of Egypt for opening the Crossing (al-Andalou News, February 9, 2021). The Palestinian media reported that it was the first time in years that Egypt had opened the Crossing for an unlimited period of time. Some Palestinian commentators claimed it was the result of the meeting of the Palestinian organizations in Cairo, held at the same time (al-Quds al-Arabi, February 9, 2021).

   
Right: Pedestrians at the Rafah Crossing (Palinfo Twitter account, February 11, 2021). Left: Palestinian vehicles at the Crossing (Facebook page of the ministry of the interior in Gaza, February 14, 2021).

Distribution of funds from Qatar

• On February 10, 2021, Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza announced the distribution of the monthly $100 to each of 100,000 needy families in the Gaza Strip. The funds will be distributed through the post office bank branches in the Gaza Strip under the supervision of employees of the National Committee and in coordination with the Ministries of Communication and Social Development in the Gaza Strip (Facebook page of Qatar’s National committee, February 10, 2021).

   
Distribution of funds from Qatar at [Hamas] post office bank branches
(Qatar’s National Community Facebook page, February 10, 2021)

Pipeline for gas to run the power plant in the Gaza Strip

• Mohammed al-Emadi, chairman of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, elaborated on a project for constructing a gas pipeline to run the Gaza Strip power plant. He said the EU had agreed to finance installing pipes from the Israeli border to the power plant, and Qatar would finance the installation of the pipes in Israel and purchase the fuel. He said construction would take between two and two and a half years, and in the meantime the power plant would transition to gas. He said the project would help increase the supply of electricity in the Gaza Strip to 400 megawatts and would decrease costs (Sawa, February 14, 2021).
• The EU said they were in deliberations with the PA, Qatar and Israel and technical teams were currently working on the details. He said the EU would donate an initial €5 million (Sawa, February 14, 2021).

Families of shaheeds demonstrate against the PA

• The Palestinian media reported that for the past three days families of shaheeds have staged protests against the PA, demanding the PA restore the payments suspended by Mahmoud Abbas in January 2020. According to Alaa al-Birawi, spokesman for the National Committee of the Families of Shaheeds in Gaza, there are 1,940 families of shaheeds from Operation Protective Edge (2014) whose payments were stopped by Mahmoud Abbas as part of the sanctions he imposed on the Gaza Strip. The families held pictures and signs calling for Mahmoud Abbas to immediately restore the payments, otherwise, they threatened they would not vote in the elections (Facebook page of the National Committee, February 14, and 15, 2021).

Death reported of Dr. Ibrahim al-Yazouri, cofounder of Hamas in Gaza

•  On February 11, 2021, Hamas reported the death of Dr. Ibrahim al-Yazouri (Abu Hazem), 80. He belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood and was one of the founders of Hamas in 1987, along with Ahmed Yassin. He was considered a prominent cleric in Gaza (Hamas website, Felesteen, February 11, 2021). Thousands of people attended his funeral. Ali al-Tarshawi, a senior Hamas figure in Gaza, gave the eulogy, calling him “the spirit of jihad and resistance” (Palinfo website, February 12, 2021).

 
Right: Dr. Ibrahim al-Yazouri (Abu Hazem) (Palinfo website, February 11, 2021). Left: The funeral held in the Saraya plaza in Gaza City (Shehab website, February 12, 2021).

Elections in the PA

Summation of the meeting held by the Palestinian organizations in Cairo

• After the deliberations in Cairo the Palestinian organizations announced they had reached a comprehensive agreement for holding elections. The Palestinian media published the text of the agreement, according to which the organizations committed themselves to a schedule determined by Mahmoud Abbas for elections in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The organizations also committed to respecting and accepting the election results, and a designated court would be appointed to deal with the process. In addition, all political detainees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be released (Sawa, February 9, 2021). Another meeting will be held at the end of March to discuss the issue of the PLO and elections for the Palestinian National Council (Sawa, February 10, 2021).
• PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh and Jibril Rajoub, secretary of Fatah’s Central Committee, called the agreement “a national achievement” (Sawa, February 10, 2021). Saleh al-‘Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, said that at the Cairo meeting the organizations had attempted to solve a general problem and had not discussed details. He said all the issues they had not resolved remained open and would be dealt with by public bodies. He also said that the agreement was general and at each stage they would meet again to discuss details (al-Aqsa, February 10, 2021).
• After the meeting in Cairo Mahmoud Abbas spoke with Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, and they agreed to implement the agreement within the framework they had decided on (Wafa, February 9, 2021).

   
Right: The agreement of the Palestinian factions is a heavy train on a shaky bridge (al-Quds, February 10, 2021). Left: Cartoon by Hamas-affiliated Omaya Joha illustrating the thirst of the Palestinian people for reconciliation. The Arabic reads, “Palestinian reconciliation” (Palinfo Twitter account, February 10, 2021).

Preparations continue

• Preparations continue for holding elections. The PA’s Central Elections Committee said it expected voter registration to end at 17:00 on February 16, 2021. Online registration would end at midnight. According to data issued by the Committee (as of the morning of February 16, 2021), so far 92% of all eligible voters in Judea, Samaria, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip had registered (Facebook page of the Central Elections Committee, February 16, 2021).

   
Right: Registering voters in Khan Yunis (QudsN Facebook page, February 11, 2021). Left: Registering voters in the Tulkarm district (Facebook page of the Central Elections Committee, February 16, 2021).

• A source in Fatah said they had decided that senior and prominent figures would not be candidates for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), but rather new faces would be chosen, young people and people known to the general Palestinian public (al-Sharq al-Awsat, London, February 15, 2021).
• Isma’il Haniyeh sent a communiqué to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Thani, the emir of Qatar, asking for Qatari participation in the international supervision of the elections. He also asked Qatar to exert pressure on Israel to prevent it from sabotaging the elections, and mainly to keep Israel from interfering in east Jerusalem. He sent a similar communiqué to the president of Turkey (Hamas website, February 14, 2021). The EU representative in the PA said the organization was willing to help supervise the elections (Wafa, February 15, 2021).

Candidates for the “presidency”

• Nabil Sha’ath, advisor to Mahmoud Abbas for foreign affairs and international relations, said in an interview that Fatah was united around Mahmoud Abbas and there were no other names proposed as candidates for “president” (Sawa, February 11, 2021).
• Senior figures in Fatah are of the opinion that Marwan Barghouti, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, is determined to run for president against Mahmoud Abbas. Hazem Abd al-Qader, a member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, and close to Marwan Barghouti, called on Mahmoud Abbas not to run for president in the upcoming elections (al-Araby al-Jadeed, February 15, 2021). Note: Marwan Barghouti is currently serving five consecutive life sentences and forty additional years after having been convicted of murder and planning terrorist attacks against Israelis during the second intifada.
• Hussein al-Sheikh, chairman of the Civilian Affairs Authority, visited Marwan Barghouti and Karim Yunes in jail and sent him a message from Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah’s Central Committee (Wafa, February 11, 2021). Sources in Fatah said during his visit to Barghouti in the Hadarim jail, al-Sheikh tried to convince him not to run for president and instead to head Fatah’s list for the PLC (al-Akhbar, February 15, 2021).

   
Hussein al-Sheikh visits the Hadarim Jail
(Facebook page of Hussein al-Sheikh, February 11, 2021).

Hamas’ position

• Isma’il Haniyeh spoke with Hana Nasser, the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, and expressed his support for the Committee. He said Hamas was determined to provide the atmosphere necessary for holding elections according to the agreement reached in Cairo. He also said he hoped the Committee would not allow Israel to interfere in the elections (Hamas website, February 11, 2021).
• Saleh al-‘Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, said Hamas reserved the right to keep its options open. He said there might be one candidate who would be generally agreed on or there might be several, or Hamas might propose its own candidate (al-Aqsa, February 10, 2021).
• Musa Abu Marzouq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, presented Hamas’ plan for the day after the elections to the PLC and for forming the Palestinian government if Hamas won the election. He said that to make it possible for the international community to cooperate with the new government, they would ensure that senior positions, such as prime minister and foreign minister, would be given to people who could not be vetoed. He said Hamas had learned its lesson in the past and would not fill senior positions with the movement’s leadership. Musa Abu Marzouq also said that if Hamas won the elections it would not allow the West to disarm it.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad participation

• After the conference in Cairo the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) announced its final position, which was that it would not participate in the elections for the PLC. Senior PIJ figures said they would not raise obstacles to holding PLC elections (Filastin al-Yawm, February 9, 2021).

The PA and the International Criminal Court (ICC)

• In light of the ruling handed down by the judges, the Palestinians are urging the ICC to open an investigation. A meeting of Fatah’s Central Committee, chaired by Mahmoud Abbas, called on the ICC to begin its investigation as soon as possible, especially regarding the issues of the prisoners, the settlers and the IDF operations in the Gaza Strip (Wafa, February 13, 2021). The PA foreign ministry also issued an official statement calling on the ICC to immediately announce the opening of an investigation into “the crimes of Israel and the settlers” against the Palestinian people (Wafa, February 14, 2021).
• Palestinian civilian social organizations al-Haqq, al-Dameer, al-Mezan and PHRC (which call themselves the “Coalition”) issued a joint announcement praising the ICC’s ruling and calling on the chief prosecutor to take immediate action to advance the investigation. According to the announcement, they had already filed six complaints with the chief prosecutor’s office and provided thousands of eye-witness statements (al-Haqq website, February 6, 2021).

Coalition of Palestinian civilian social organizations

• In the meantime, it was reported that after two rounds of elections conducted among ICC member states, Karim Khan, a British legal expert, was chosen as the next chief prosecutor. He will replace Fatou Bensouda on June 16, 2021.
•  Karim Ahmed Khan, 50, from Britain, is a lawyer and an expert in international and human rights law. In recent years he worked in the office of the ICC prosecutor in the former Yugoslavia, was legal counsel for the ICC prosecutor’s office in Rwanda and was special UN counsel and chief investigator for advancing punishment for crimes committed by ISIS (identified website, February 12, 2021; Wikipedia).