Ramallah- For the fourth consecutive day, the Israeli occupation continues its military operation in the city of Jenin, north of the West Bank, amid clashes and explosions that shake the city and its camp from time to time.
Since the start of the operation last Wednesday, the military wings of the Palestinian factions announced that they had detonated explosive devices in Israeli army vehicles and equipment, damaging some of them and injuring soldiers, according to military statements.
In light of the Israeli failure to win the battle in its favor in the northern West Bank, and its falling into the ambushes of the armed battalions, the old-new question arises: How do the fighters obtain weapons and equipment? And how do they manufacture their explosive devices?
Various sources
The West Bank is experiencing security and military measures and Israeli control over the crossings, in addition to the presence of more than 700 military checkpoints throughout the West Bank.
It is certain that the military wings of the Palestinian factionsTilneya does not reveal the sources of its weapons, equipment, or how it manufactures explosive devices, but by quickly reviewing what is published by the Hebrew media and the occupation army, and obtaining the opinions of some experts, we can get closer to the picture.
Retired Major General Yousef Al-Sharqawi points out that “the occupation is the main incentive for forming battalions and resistance and forming a force for the people. There is no occupation without resistance or armed battalions.”
Regarding the sources of weapons, he says, “The weapons market is open in the West Bank and it is certainly an Israeli market. The arms trade and the underworld in Israel constitute a primary source of weapons in the West Bank, some of which reach the clans and factions.”
He added that the Palestinian factions, after 76 years since the Nakba and 56 years since the occupation of the West Bank, have gained experience that enables them to prepare and equip themselves, without revealing their sources.
Immediately after the Israeli forces stormed the areas of the northern West Bank at midnight on Wednesday, the resistance fighters confronted them with explosive devices, and the occupation announced that the first soldier was injured during this operation in an ambush with an explosive device in the Nour Shams camp in Tulkarm, after it exploded with a force of occupation soldiers who were trying to dismantle “tarpaulins” that were blocking the alleys… pic.twitter.com/uAriJ4J9bG
— Metras (@MetrasWebsite) August 28, 2024
Regarding the source of the explosive devices, Al-Sharqawi added that Israel explicitly announced that “the basic materials are available in the market and the method of making and preparing them is available on the Internet.”
He referred to previous announcements about the confiscation of fertilizers and agricultural products on the pretext that they are raw materials that could turn into explosives.
According to the Palestinian expert, the Israeli occupation will continue its war on the West Bank, terrorizing the Palestinian people and trying to destroy their consciousness. It may resort to annihilating cities and camps and causing many losses, but it will fail in the end.
Factions do not lack means
For his part, military expert and expert on Israeli affairs Omar Jaara explained to Tel Aviv Tribune Net that there is a difference in preparation and equipment between the military battalions in the West Bank, which are untrained and unarmed, and the battalions in Gaza, where there is training, tunnels and missiles.
Jaara believes that the occupation is trying to exaggerate the scene in the West Bank with various allegations, including that there is preparation for missiles that will cross the borders with the West Bank into the 1948 territories, in an attempt to paint a new picture of October 7 from the West Bank, “and these are all fabrications and Israeli media terrorism.”
The same Palestinian analyst adds that there is security coordination and a Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, but the Israeli does not want the Palestinian, whether he is a negotiator or a resistance fighter.
He continued that in natural human law there is no people subject to occupation who do not resist to the best of their ability, and we can return to the previous uprisings: the stone uprising, the trampling uprising, the stabbing uprising, and even the fireworks uprising as the occupation calls it. “Therefore, the occupation will not be able to reach zero resistance, just as it will not be able to reach zero rockets from Gaza.”
Regarding arming the factions, he said that the Israeli media is promoting that it comes from Iran via Jordan, and this is a clear accusation against Jordan despite the existence of the Wadi Araba Agreement between the two sides, as is the case in the Salah al-Din axis between Egypt and Gaza, from which the occupation claims that weapons are being smuggled into Gaza.
He stressed that “the factions do not lack the means, and the needy do not lack the means, but not in the sizes promoted by the Israeli media.”
Local sources: The occupation forces arrested Marwan Iyad Al-Harshi, the owner of a store specializing in selling fertilizers and pesticides in the city of Salfit a short while ago. pic.twitter.com/iSjB9I4fH2
— Quds Network | Prisoners (@asranews) July 10, 2024
Fighting fertilizers
In June, Israel Hayom published data on what it called arms smuggling operations from Jordan, including explosive devices that it claimed were “disrupting the balance.”
At the time, the newspaper quoted a source it described as high-ranking in the occupation army claiming that 381 weapons were seized in the West Bank during 2023, including 153 pieces that arrived via the border with Jordan and were seized by thwarting 16 smuggling attempts.
In the first half of 2024, the source claimed to the newspaper that about 200 weapons coming from Jordan were seized, claiming that “these weapons do not come out of nowhere. They come from smuggling across the border with Jordan,” referring to attempts to smuggle weapons that upset the balance, as 12 explosive devices were seized in 2023 alone, which were directed at Palestinian parties.
The newspaper acknowledges that the source of the West Bank’s weapons is not the borders, which it claims come from Iran through Palestinian organizations, but rather “Israeli and Palestinian criminal organizations,” pointing to the “huge economic returns” of this trade.
According to local sources, on July 10, the occupation forces carried out a large-scale campaign in the West Bank targeting shops selling fertilizers and agricultural materials, and arrested some of their owners, on the pretext that these materials and fertilizers were used in manufacturing explosive devices.
The campaign extended to several areas in the cities of Tulkarm, Salfit, Ramallah, Jerusalem and Jericho, and leaflets were posted on the shops and agricultural nurseries that were raided, warning farmers and merchants against using and selling fertilizers.