Occupied Jerusalem- The Israeli security services declared a state of maximum alert in the country, fearing the return of Palestinian resistance factions to carry out martyrdom and armed operations on the occasion of the first anniversary of the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” which coincides with 4 Jewish holidays this October, the first of which is “the Hebrew New Year.”
These fears were reflected in the Israeli security services with the escalation of the pace of resistance operations in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, as the General Security Service, “Shin Bet”, in cooperation with the Israeli police, within the Green Line and near the settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, thwarted more than 1,200 operations, including 900 shooting operations. And 290 attempts to plant explosive devices.
These data constitute – according to Israeli Army Radio monitoring – double the number of operations that were thwarted during the year preceding the outbreak of the war on Gaza, as the security services monitored an increase in the audacity and type of operations carried out by Palestinians from the West Bank, whether within the Green Line or near settlements and army camps in The bank.
Following the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle – launched by the Hamas movement on the “Gaza envelope” settlements and Israeli towns in the south – and until the first of October of this year, more than 350 shooting, stabbing, run-over operations, or attacks with bombs and explosive devices were carried out – whether inside the side. Israeli forces, or in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and at the border crossings – resulted in the killing of 42 Israelis, the majority of whom were soldiers and settlers, and about 300 were injured of varying degrees, according to monitoring by the Israeli Channel 12.
High alert
In this regard, the Israeli security services are on high alert with the start of the Jewish holidays and on the eve of the first anniversary of the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” as the Israeli police received 60 red alerts warning of the possibility of carrying out armed, bombing, and martyrdom operations inside Israeli cities and towns, and the police called on Israelis who hold a license. To carry weapons.
The security services also deployed more than 5,000 police officers in the heart of cities, commercial complexes, and shopping and entertainment centers, and mobilized their forces on the Israeli home front, especially in the cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The Israeli police confirmed that it was combating, in cooperation with the Shin Bet, what it called “incitement to terrorism” through social media networks, and was carrying out pre-emptive arrests to thwart any planning for any operation, for fear of carrying out operations inside Israel, according to what the Walla website reported.
The fears of the Israeli security services were strengthened after the armed operation at the light train station in Jaffa last Tuesday evening, which resulted in the killing and wounding of 23 Israelis, as the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, claimed responsibility for the operation carried out by Muhammad Rashid Misk and Ahmed Abdel Fattah Al-Haymouni, which led to the death of… 7 Israelis and 16 injured.
This armed operation by the Palestinian resistance, which coincided with the Iranian missile attack deep into the Israeli side, was preceded by an explosive operation carried out on August 18 last in Tel Aviv, when an explosive device carried by the martyr Jaafar Mona from the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank exploded.
Following the bombing attack in the heart of Tel Aviv, Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, and confirmed the return of “martyrdom operations” to the heart of Israeli cities, in response to the continuation of the war on Gaza and the genocide practiced by the occupation army against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Since then, Israeli security officials have warned of the escalation of security tension in the West Bank and the consequences of the return of martyrdom operations and bus bombings in the heart of Israeli cities. Estimates are unanimous that the escalation in the West Bank may develop and escalate through armed and explosive operations within the Green Line, and not just in the West Bank.
What motivates the bank?
Recently, the Military Intelligence Department in the Israeli army (AMAN) sent a warning assessment to the security apparatus according to which it expected an escalation of operations within Israel’s borders to the point of anticipating the outbreak of a third intifada in which armed operations and bomb attacks would occur.
Ron Ben Yishai, an analyst for military and security affairs at the Yedioth Ahronoth website, says that this “is a warning that must be taken seriously.”
Unlike previous intifadas, which were spontaneous popular volcanic eruptions as a result of specific events that brought Palestinians out into the streets, the current escalation is developing gradually, according to Ben Yishai, “and every time new elements are added to it. In fact, the escalation began even before October 7.” 2023, forcing the army to send combat units from the front line with Gaza to the West Bank.
The Israeli analyst adds that what has changed since the outbreak of the war is the extensive use of explosives, and the increased motivation among young people in the camps to carry out operations, “perhaps as a result of the war on Gaza. The increased motivation stems from the fact that almost every Palestinian family in the West Bank has relatives in Gaza, and this is an incentive that should not be ignored.” Considerations related to the continuation of the war and the distribution of army strength between the various fronts.”
Classic attacks
In turn, Doron Matza – a former senior official in the Shin Bet and a researcher in the Israeli-Palestinian field – was not surprised by the attacks in Tel Aviv and Jaffa. He said, “We do not know who planned the attack, and whether the fingerprint belongs to Hezbollah, Iran, or the Palestinian factions.”
Matsa explained that the armed operation in Jaffa, and before it the explosive device operation in Tel Aviv, “brings us back to the dimensions of such classic operations, which took place in the Second Intifada, and the new operations trace their fingerprints back more to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or even the Fatah organization.”
The former Shin Bet official indicated to the “Israel Today” newspaper that before the events of October 7, 2023, the West Bank was on fire, as the armed activity of various Palestinian factions and organizations expanded there, with a focus on competition among them, and its armed infrastructure developed away from the eyes of the security services. Israeli.
Matza says that the Israeli army is waging an intense war throughout the West Bank, adding, “There are movements, there are countermeasures, and there are raids on Jenin, Tulkarm, and even Nablus, and recently Hebron and Ramallah as well. Whenever the army carries out more military operations in the West Bank, we see high levels of terrorism and weapons.” “.
“These are armed infrastructures that did not build themselves, as is the case in the Gaza Strip, to launch rockets deep into Israel,” according to the former Shin Bet official, commenting, “Rather, they are terrorist infrastructures of the classic type of those who carry weapons, prepare explosives, and carry out attacks of the type that we have already seen.” In the 1990s.”