Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (November 15-22, 2022)

Shots fired at the Gilboa Crossing

• On November 17, 2022, shots were fired at the Gilboa Crossing (north of Jenin). No Israeli casualties were reported. Following the attack the crossing was closed by Israeli security and a search of the area was undertaken (Israeli defense ministry media unit, November 17, 2022).

Shots fired at the settlement of Shaked

• On November 16, 2022, shots were fired at homes in the settlement of Shaked (west of Jenin). No Israeli casualties were reported. One of the houses was hit. IDF forces searched the area for suspects (IDF spokesman, November 16, 2022).

     
Right: Damage done to the house in Shaked. Left: One of the bullets fired
(Samaria Regional Council, November 16, 2022).

Attempted car bombing in northern Samaria

• According to Palestinian reports, before dawn on November 21, 2022, a vehicle exploded near the Kufeirat Junction, southwest of Jenin, and burned to a shell. Palestinian sources reported that secondary explosions were heard after the initial detonation. According to eye-witness reports, the vehicle contained a large number of cooking gas cylinders; others reported it contained explosives. No casualties were reported. Civil defense and firefighting teams arrived at the site and extinguished the blaze (al-Shahed website, Watan news agency, November 21, 2022).
• IDF sources suspected it was a car bomb which detonated prematurely. Its target was apparently an IDF post in Mevo Dotan. Gas cylinders, barbed wire and a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) flag were found after the fire was extinguished (Israeli media, November 21, 2022).

  
Right: The vehicle on fire (al-Shahed website, November 21, 2022). Left: Partially burned PFLP flag (Shehab Twitter account, November 21, 2022).

Stabbing attack prevented

• On November 18, 2022, Israeli security forces engaged in operational activities detained a suspicious Palestinian youth at the entrance to Kiryat Arba. A search revealed he had a knife. He was taken for interrogation (IDF spokesman’s Twitter account, November 18, 2022).

Significant Terrorist Attacks in Judea and Samaria since November 2020^[1]

Counterterrorism Activities

• This past week the Israeli security forces continued intensive counterterrorism activities in Judea and Samaria, detaining Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist activities and confiscating large quantities of weapons:
• On November 21, 2022, Israeli security forces operated in the Jenin refugee camp to detain a Palestinian wanted for carrying out shooting attacks. He was Rateb al-Bali, a released prisoner; he surrendered to the forces. The forces were attacked by armed Palestinians and returned their fire (IDF spokesman’s Twitter account, Ynet, November 21, 2022). The Palestinian media reported one man was killed and five wounded in the exchange of fire. The fatality was Mahmoud al-Sa’adi, 18 years old, from the Jenin refugee camp. According to reports he was a high school student. The PA ministry of education issued a mourning notice for him (Wafa, Shehab Twitter account, November 21, 2022).

• On November 21, 2022, Israeli surveillance identified two suspicious Palestinians in the region of the border security fence near the village of Uja (north of Jericho). Security forces were dispatched to the site and apprehended one of the suspects, a Palestinian from the village of Yatta. He had 21 hand guns, two M-16 assault rifles, and spare parts for M-16s (IDF spokesman’s Twitter account, November 21, 2022),

• On November 18, 2022, Israeli security forces detained three wanted Palestinians in the village of Harmala (south of Bethlehem). A handgun and bullets were confiscated (IDF Twitter account, November 18, 2022).
• On November 17, 2022, Border Police fighters halted two suspicious vehicles near the village of Uja (north of Jericho). Thirteen parts for an M-16 assault rifle and about 52,000 shekels (about $15,000) were confiscated. The money was suspected of being earmarked to fund terrorist activities (IDF spokesman’s Twitter account, November 17, 2022).
• On November 16, 2022, Israeli security forces operating in the village of Hares mapped the house of Muhammad Murad Souf, who carried out the shooting attack in Ariel, in preparation for demolishing it (IDF spokesman’s Twitter account, November 16, 2022). Abdallah Kamil, governor of the Salfit district, interviewed by Radio Alam in Hebron, claimed Murad Souf had supported his little brothers and now the Israelis were going to destroy their house. He said [the PA] would not abandon the family because the shaheeds were of supreme importance, that was PA policy. He promised that if the family’s house was demolished a new, the PA would build them a better one (Facebook page of the Salfit district governor, November 16, 2022).

    
Right: The governor of the Salfit district pays a condolence call to the Souf family (Facebook page of the Salfit district governor, November 16, 2022). Left: Mapping the terrorist’s house (IDF spokesman’s Twitter account, November 16, 2022).

Palestinians riot during the celebration of the life of Sarah in Hebron^[2]

• On Saturday, November 19, 2022, several thousand Jewish worshippers arrived in Hebron to read the Biblical passage about the matriarch, Sarah. During the events, which took place near the Cave of the Patriarchs, there were confrontations between the worshippers and the IDF forces who tried to separate the two sides. Rocks were thrown at the Palestinians; Palestinian property was damaged and windows were broken. Several Palestinians were injured (Israeli media, November 19, 2022).
• The Palestinian media gave extensive coverage to the riot, emphasizing Jewish violence and destruction of Palestinian property, posting videos of the event. Some of the reports claimed the settlers rioted under IDF protection (Shehab, Paldf and QudsN Twitter accounts, November 19 and 20, 2022).
• In the wake of the riot Manzar al-Hayk, Fatah spokesman in Hebron, called it a dangerous escalation which could lead to an explosion in the city, and Israel would be responsible for the consequences and the Palestinians’ responses (Sawa, November 19, 2022). Hamas noted that in the end, Israel’s attempts to undermine the Palestinians determination and their hold on Hebron would fail. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) spokesman Tareq Izz al-Din called on the Palestinian security forces in Hebron to fulfill their obligation to defend the Palestinians and their holy places and not to remain neutral (Paltoday Twitter account, November 19, 2022).
•    The Palestinian social media were severely critical of the PA and Mahmoud Abbas for their helplessness in supporting the residents of Hebron. Palestinian merchants in the Hebron market complained they had asked the Palestinian police and the Hebron municipality to intervene but their requests had gone unanswered. They documented their damaged stores and merchandise (QudsN Twitter account, November 19, 2022).

Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israel

• This past week no rocket or mortar shell hits were identified in Israeli territory.

Monthly Distribution of Rocket and Mortar Shell Fire since January 2020

Annual Distribution of Rocket Hits

Rocket-fire practice

• On the morning of November 18, 2022, the Palestinian “resistance” [Palestinian terrorist organizations] in the Gaza Strip carried out trial rocket launches as part of what they called “developing rocket capabilities,” firing two rockets towards the sea (Filastin al-A’an, November 18, 2022). According to one report on the Palestinian social networks, the Jerusalem Brigades, the PIJ’s military wing, carried out the tests (Asmat al-Shtat’s Twitter account, November 18, 2022).

    
Rocket launches in the Gaza Strip (Filastin al-A’an, November 18, 2022).

Fire in a house in Jabalia

• On November 17, 2022, the ministry of the interior in Gaza reported that 21 Palestinians from the Abu Ria family died in a fire during a family function. It broke out in a building in the Tel al-Zaatar neighborhood of the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. According to the initial investigation, a large quantity of gasoline was stored in the house, accelerating the fire and contributing to the large number of deaths (ministry of the interior in Gaza website, November 17, 2022).
• Yahya al-Sinwar, head of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip, and other Hamas figures went to the site. Issam al-Dalis, chairman of the government monitoring committee in Gaza, arrived to follow the security forces’ efforts to deal with the situation. Iyad al-Buzum, spokesman for the ministry of the interior in Gaza, later held a press conference near the burned building and announced a committee had been appointed to investigate the cause of the fire (Palestine Online, November 18, 2022).

• Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories had offered the Palestinians help in evacuating the wounded to a hospital. He said Israel would be prepared to give whatever medical assistance was necessary to the injured residents of the Gaza Strip (Benny Gantz’s Twitter account, November 17, 2022).
• Sources in the Gaza Strip blamed Israel’s [so-called] “siege” for the results of the fire.
• Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, claimed that the human tragedy was visited upon the Gaza Strip under “siege and fire.” He claimed it had occurred because Israel prevented Gaza from receiving the means that would help it cope with fires such as the one in the Jabalia refugee camp. He called on the free world to make itself heard and do what had to be done regarding Israel and those who collaborated with it in imposing the “siege” (Hamas website, November 17, 2022).
• Suheil al-Hindi, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, claimed during the funeral that Israel was responsible for the fire, the result of the “siege” of the Gaza Strip.
• Jamal Alian, a senior PIJ figure, claimed the victims of the fire had died as a result of the oppression of the Palestinians at the hands of Israel and the international community (Shehab, November 18, 2022).

   
Right: Senior Hamas figures at the funeral, among them Ahmed Bahar, acting Legislative Council chairman, and Rawhi Mushtaha, a member of Hamas’ political bureau (Twitter account of the Legislative Council in the Gaza Strip, November 18, 2022). Left: Yahya al-Sinwar offers his condolences at the mourning tent erected for the victims (Facebook page of photographer Anas al-Sharif, November 19, 2022).

Hamas condemns Azerbaijan’s decision to open an embassy in Israel

• Bassem Na’im, a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip, condemned Azerbaijan’s decision to open an embassy in Tel Aviv. He called on the Azeri parliament and government to change their minds and instead make the decisions necessary to support the Palestinian “struggle for freedom and independence” (Hamas website, November 19, 2022).

Hamas makes preparations to mark the 35^th anniversary of its founding

• Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem reported that Hamas was making preparations for a rally in the Gaza City on December 14, 2022, to mark the movement’s founding. He said the rally would emphasize the importance of Jerusalem and the Islamic and Christian holy places, and the seriousness of al-Aqsa mosque’s situation. It would also note Hamas’ support for the “Palestinian uprising” in Judea and Samaria and the [so-called] “right of return” of the Palestinians in the dispersal (Hamas website, November 16, 2022).

Opening a rebuilt mosque in Gaza City

•   Abd al-Hadi al-Aja, deputy minister of Muslim endowments in the Gaza Strip, presided at the reopening of the al-Sheikh Ajlin mosque in the western part of Gaza City, now called the Shaheed Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad)^[3] Center. The mosque was destroyed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. The rebuilding was paid for by Ridwan Kamil, the governor of West Java, Indonesia, through the Amman-Palestine Foundation. The opening ceremony was attended by Omar Siyam, the director of the Amman-Palestine office in Gaza; and Mustafa al-Sawaf, chairman of the mosque’s reconstruction committee. Al-Aja said the mosque had been renamed for Khalil al-Wazir to emphasize the connection between past and present in the history of the Palestinian “struggle.” He thanked Malaysia and Indonesia for standing with the Palestinians and for undertaking the project to rebuild, develop and support the Gaza Strip (website of the ministry of Muslim endowments in the Gaza Strip, November 17, 2022).

   
Right: The new mosque. Left: The sign over the door announces the Shaheed Khalil al-Wazir Center – al-Sheikh Ajlin Mosque (Shehab Twitter account, November 17, 2022).

Marwan Issa’s father dies

• On November 18, 2022, the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, announced the death of Abd al-Karim Issa, the father of Marwan Issa (Abu al-Baraa) deputy Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades commander (Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades website, November 18, 2022). His funeral was held in the al-Bureij refugee camp, and one of the mourners was Maher al-Houli, chairman of Hamas’ administrative committee for the central Gaza Strip (Safa, November 18, 2022).

Mahmoud Abbas attends the opening of the World Cup games in Qatar

• On November 19, 2022, the Qatari News Agency reported the arrival of Mahmoud Abbas in Doha, the capital of Qatar, who had come to attend the opening of the World Cup. On arrival he was received at the airport by Sheikh Fahed Bin Faisal al-Thani, a government minister, and Muneir Abdallah Ghannam, PA representative in Qatar (Qatari News Agency, November 19, 2022).
• Mahmoud Abbas kept a low profile during the visit, and it was not reported by Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, which customarily covers Mahmoud Abbas’ official visits abroad. Mahmoud Abbas’ Facebook page mentioned the visit only two days after his arrival, and only in connection with his meetings with government leaders. The World Cup was only mentioned when Mahmoud Abbas sent congratulations sent to the emir of Qatar and to world leaders for the opening of the games. From what he posted it was not clear that he was in Qatar.
• His visit was harshly criticized by the Palestinians, who complained family members and close friends were members of the delegation. According to reports, 13 of the 20 members of the Palestinian delegation were relatives, including his wife, his children and his grandchildren. The others were close friends, among them Hussein al-Sheikh and Majed Faraj, the latter head of Palestinian general intelligence (private Twitter accounts, November 16 and 19, 2022).
•   In preparation for the World Cup, Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza opened two facilities, one in Gaza City and the other in Ramallah, where the Palestinian public could watch the games on giant screens (Facebook page of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, November 20, 2022).

   
The facilities opened by Qatar’s National Committee, Gaza City (right) and Ramallah (left) (Facebook page of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, November 21, 2022).

The UN authorized a working paper for a resolution regarding the Palestinians’ right to self-determination

• On November 17, 2022, the UN’s Third Committee authorized 12 working papers, including one dealing with the right of the Palestinians to self-determination, by a majority vote of 167 member states. Five voted against and there were seven abstentions (UN website, November 17, 2022). Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki praised the vote and called for practical steps that would lead to the Palestinians’ full realization of their rights. He called the decision a response to the activities [allegedly] carried out by Israel and the settlers against the Palestinians. Rawhi Fatouh, chairman of the Palestinian National Council, praised the decision, which he called “a Palestinian victory” (al-Quds al-Arabi, November 17, 2022). Hamas also praised the decision and expressed its esteem for the countries that voted in favor. Hamas called on the UN and its agencies to implement the resolution and stop “the crimes of the occupation” (Hamas website, November 17, 2022).

Reactions to the FBI’s decision to investigate the death of Shireen Abu Akleh

• The Israeli media reported that the American Department of Justice had instructed the FBI to investigate the circumstances of the death of Palestinian reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was an American citizen killed in Jenin on May 11, 2022. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz called the decision a “serious mistake,” because the IDF had carried out an expert independent investigation, all of whose details were presented to the Americans. He stressed that Israel would not cooperate with an external investigation and would not permit meddling in its internal affairs (Israeli media, November 15, 2022).
• The Palestinian reaction was positive. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, alleged it was “more proof that the Israeli version [of the events] was unreliable.” He criticized Israel’s reaction and claimed Israel was challenging international law, publicly ignoring international decisions and UN resolutions, and persistently refusing to obey them (Wafa, November 15, 2022). The PA foreign ministry also praised the decision, claiming that while it had been delayed, it proved the United States did not rely on the investigation carried out by Israel. The ministry announced it was prepared to cooperate with any United States or international investigation (al-Andalou News, November 15, 2022).

Palestinian concerns regarding the results of the elections in Israel

• At meetings recently held with foreign officials, senior PA figures expressed concerns regarding the future Israeli government:
  • PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, in a meeting with Hilde Haraldstad, Norwegian special representative to the Middle East peace process and the Norwegian representative in the PA, claimed that in view of the results of the recent elections in Israel, the situation in the Palestinian arena can be expected to become more complicated. He called on the Norwegian government and the international community to exert pressure on Israel to release the tax revenues it holds for the Palestinians (Wafa, November 17, 2022).
  • On November 16, 2022, Shtayyeh met with Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, the EU representative in the PA. He told von Burgsdorff that the soon-to-be-formed Israeli government seemed more “aggressive” towards the Palestinians [than the previous one] and called on the EU to take “an appropriate attitude” towards it (Wafa, November 16, 2022).

    
Left: Muhammad Shtayyeh meets with the Norwegian representative to the Middle East (Wafa, November 17, 2022). Left: Muhammad Shtayyeh meets with the EU representative in the PA (Wafa, November 16, 2022).

•   On November 17, 2022, Hussein al-Sheikh, chairman Fatah’s Executive Committee, met with Hady Amr, deputy assistant secretary for Israeli and Palestinian affairs in the American State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Shtayyeh stressed the need to create a “political horizon” to preserve the two-state solution and called for an end to Israeli’s unilateral measures, which were destroying the solution and influencing regional security and stability (al-Quds, November 17, 2022).

     
Palestinian cartoons for the soon-to-be-formed Israeli government
(al-Quds al-Arabi, November 19 and 20, 2022).

Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor vilifies Israel at a conference in Brazil

• Mahmoud al-Habash, Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor for religious affairs and the head PA Sharia [Islamic court] judge, participated in the annual conference of Muslims in Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by the Islamic Call Center [da’wah] in Sao Paolo, Brazil (November 18-20, 2022). The theme of the conference was “Muslims in America confronting hatred.” Al-Habash gave a confrontational speech in which he claimed that “Palestine” suffered from the “aggression and hatred” of the “occupation.” He claimed Israel’s leaders and government members employed a policy of “hate speech,” adding that was why the Palestinians could not be “tolerant” of Israel, which attacked people and their houses, their mosques, their olive trees and their holy sites. Nevertheless, he also claimed “every day ‘Palestine’ embodies the principles of tolerance and the rejection of hatred,” but could not reconcile with Israel (“the occupation”), and its “resistance” [terrorist attacks] was a religious obligation and human right. When the “aggression” ended, he assured his audience, there would no longer be hatred, racism, oppression or blood (Mahmoud al-Habash’s Facebook page, November 19 and 20, 2022).

Islamic Bloc ceremony at Hebron University

• On November 17, 2022, the Islamic Bloc (the Hamas faction at Hebron University) held a ceremony honoring ten outstanding students. The theme of the ceremony was recognition for “the shaheed Muhammad al-Jaabari” [the Palestinian terrorist who carried out the shooting attack at Kiryat Arba on October 29, 2022], the lion of the resistance [Palestinian terrorism] from Hebron” (Twitter account of the Islamic Bloc in the West Bank universities, November 17, 2022; Islamic Bloc website, November 18, 2022). Saleh al-‘Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, in a speech delivered by telephone, said Hamas relied on the “resistance” [terrorism] and Palestinian youth, and that the Palestinians could triumph over Israel. He called on the Palestinians in the universities to unite, act together and rid themselves of disputes to deal with the great challenges facing them (Hamas website, November 17, 2022).

   
The Islamic Bloc ceremony at Hebron University
(Facebook page of the Islamic Bloc at Hebron University, November 18, 2022).

Rocks, Molotov cocktails and other attacks

• In Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem Palestinians continued throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles driving on the roads. The more prominent events were the following:^[4]
  • November 21, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle at the Rawabi Junction (north of Ramallah). An Israel was injured by flying glass. The vehicle was damaged.
  •  November 21, 2022: Rocks were thrown at Israeli vehicles at the Ni’lin Junction (northwest of Ramallah). An Israeli was injured by flying glass. Vehicles were damaged.

• • November 21, 2022: Rocks were thrown during a riot in al-Aroub (southwest of Bethlehem). An IDF soldier was injured. No damage was reported.
  • November 21, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli truck between Ariel and the Gitai Avishar Junction (northwest of Salfit). The driver veered out of his lane and caused an accident. No casualties were reported. The truck was damaged.
  • November 20, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus north of the al-Fawwar Junction (southwest of Hebron). No casualties were reported; the bus was damaged.

    
The damaged bus.

• • November 20, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle north of Ofra (northeast of Ramallah) No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • November 20, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus and other vehicles near al-Aroub (north of Hebron). No casualties were reported; vehicles were damaged.
  • November 20, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli bus near Tekoa (southeast of Bethlehem). The bus driver was injured by flying glass. The bus was damaged.
•   November 19, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle north of the Zif Junction (west of Hebron) (Rescue Without Borders in Judea and Samaria, November 20 2022). An Israeli was injured. The vehicle was damaged.

   
Right: The damage to the bus near Tekoa. Left: the damage to the vehicle near the Zif Junction (Carmel Security, November 19, 2022).

• • November 18, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle between the Alon road and Jericho. No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • November 17, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle in Hawwara (south of Nablus) No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • November 17, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Bayt Ummar (north of Hebron) No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • November 17, 2022: Rocks were thrown at Israeli vehicles and a bus Nabil Abu Rudeineh the Jinsafut Junction (east of Qalqilya). No casualties were reported; vehicles were damaged.

    
Right: The shattered window of an Israeli vehicle (Paldf Twitter account, November 17, 2022). Left: The damaged front windshield of the bus (Rescue Without Borders in Judea and Samaria, November 17, 2022).

• • November 16, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Dir Abu Mashal (northwest of Ramallah) No casualties were reported; the windshield of the vehicle was damaged.
  • November 15, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Halhul (north of Hebron). No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • November 15, 2022: Rocks were thrown from a passing car at an Israeli vehicle between Karnei Shomron and Funduq (east of Qalqilya). No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.
  • November 15, 2022: Rocks were thrown at an Israeli vehicle between Emanuel and Yakir. No casualties were reported; the vehicle was damaged.

     
The vehicle damaged near Yakir.