The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center News of Terrorism and the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict (September 1-6, 2010) Hamas spokesman Musheir al-Masri extols the terrorist shooting attack in Judea and Samaria (Al-Jazeera TV, August 31, 2010). Overview This past week events focused on the relaunching of the direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Washington. According to media reports, both sides agreed their objective was to formulate a "framework agreement" within a year which would define the principles of a resolution for the conflict and the establishment of a Palestinian state. George Mitchell, the American envoy to the Middle East, said that Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had also agreed to meet in the Middle East on September 14 and 15, and that they would continue meeting every two weeks. The opening session was accompanied by shootin g attacks carried out by Hamas and targeting Israeli vehicles in Judea and Samaria: An attack southeast of Hebron killed four Israeli civilians. In another shooting attack in eastern Samaria two Israeli civilians were wounded. A shooting attack northeast of Ramallah did not result in casualties. Responsibility for the attacks, which were intended to disrupt 248-10 the relaunching of the talks, was claimed by Hamas, which also threatened to maintain a dialogue with Israel "with guns." 2 Important Terrorist Events Shooting Attacks in Judea and Samaria On the evening of August 31 an Israeli vehicle was shot at near the Bani Naim junction southeast of Kiryat Arba in Judea. The four Israeli civilians in the car were killed. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, officially claimed responsibility.1 In our assessment the objective of the attack was to disrupt the relaunching of direct negotiations in Washington. The Hamas leadership praised the attack. Musheir al-Masri, speaker for the Hamas faction in the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that the attack was "an extremely strong" response to the "talks for relaunching the direct negotiations." He said that the way for Palestinians to negotiate was "with guns," claiming that the "resistance" (i.e., terrorism) of Hamas' military wing would continue "until the liberation of Palestine." Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas movement spokesman, claimed that the attack was the natural reaction to "Israel's crimes" (Hamas’ Palestine-info website, August 31, 2010). Hamas also held festivities in several refugee camps during which candy was distributed to the participants (Ma’an News Agency, August 31, 2010). Musheir al-Masri extols the terrorist attack Candies distributed in the Jabaliya refugee which killed four Israeli civilians (Al- camp to celebrate the terrorist attack Jazeera TV, August 31, 2010). (Hamas’ Palestine-info website , August 31, 2010). Hezbollah also expressed support of the attack. The organization said in a statement that it was "a clear message which proved that there was no option other than resistance" (i.e., terrorism and violence). It claimed that the attack was a response to "the policy of occupation and settlement" and that "the settlers can be considered occupation soldiers even if they do not wear uniforms" (Hezbollah's Al-Intiqad website, September 2, 2010). 1 For further information see the date bulletin, “On the eve of the summit meeting in Washington to relaunch the direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, a shooting attack was carried out targeting an Israeli vehicle southeast of Hebron” at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/ipc_e122.pdf. 3 Two similar attacks were later carried out; the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for both of them: On September 1, an Israeli car was shot at in the area of Rimonim, a settlement in eastern Samaria. Two civilians were wounded, one seriously and one suffered minor wounds. On September 2, an Israeli vehicle was shot at near the settlement of Ofra, northeast of Ramallah. There were no casualties. In response to the shooting attacks Ismail Haniya, head of the de facto Hamas administration, said that the events were the continuation of Islam's historic victory during [the holy Muslim] month of Ramadan. He added that Hamas intended to continue "the path of Ramadan victories" in view of the attempt to "separate the [West] Bank from its Arab- Muslim depth and turn into an oasis of false peace" (Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV, September 2, 2010). The Gaza Strip Rocket Fire This past week one rocket hit was identified in Israeli territory. It fell in an open space in the western Negev. There were no casualties and no damage was done. The Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the attack (Chinese News Agency, September 4, Israeli territory. identified in hits havebeen 2010, 63rocket beginning of Since the have been fired into Israel. intoIsrael. been fired have shells identified and85mortar been Lead 194rockethitshave Cast Operation of Since theend Mortar Rockets Rockets 2 Strip. The statistics do notinclude mortar shells fired at IDF soldiers patrolling the border fence which fell inside the Gaza shells Rockets and Mortar Shells Fired into Israeli Territory Rockets andMortarShellsFiredintoIsraeli 12 7 0 \1 1-12 6\ 3 Rocket Fire2010,MonthlyDistribution* 1 \1 1-19\13 2 000000000 \1 1-26\21 1 3 \2 1-2\21 2 \2 2-9 3\ 1 000 15 \2 2-16\10 \2 2-23\12 1 \3 2-2\24 \3 3-9 3\ 2 \3 3-16\10 9 \3 3-23\17 3 2 11 2 \3 3-30\24 1 0000 \4 3-6\31 00000000000 \4 4-13 7\ 4 8 \4 4-21\14 \4 4-27\22 5 \5 4-4\28 1 \5 5-11 5\ 0 \5 5-17\12 2 7 25/5 - 18/5 10 3 1/ - 6 26/5 1 8/6 - 2/6 1 15/6 - 9/6 2 22/6 - 16/6 0 6 0 5 10 1 15 29/6 - 23/6 00 6/7 - 30/6 00 13/7 - 7/7 1 55 20/7 - 14/7 21 7\ - 27 7\ 000 2 28 7\ - 8\3 0 2 \8 10 - 4\8 4 00 17/8 - 11/8 24 8\ - 17 8\ 000 1 31 8\ - 24 8\ 9\7 - 31 8\ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 5 *Rocket hits identified in Israeli territory. A similar number misfire and customarily land inside the Gaza Strip. **As of September 6, 2010. An Israeli Air Force Response In response to the rocket attacks, on the night of September 5 Israeli Air Force planes attacked a number of terrorist targets in the southern Gaza Strip. Among them were assault tunnels for the infiltration of terrorist squads into Israeli territory (IDF Spokesman's website, September 5, 2010). The Palestinian media reported five wounded and a number of missing (Hamas’ Palestine-info website, September 5, 2010). The Peace Process On September 2 the direct talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas began at the summit meeting in Washington. During the conference both sides met with American President Obama, Jordan's King Abdallah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, as well as with American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and American special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell. Both sides agreed that their objective was to formulate a "framework agreement" within a year which would define the principles of a solution for the conflict and for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Benyamin Netanyahu said in a speech that he viewed Mahmoud Abbas as a "partner for peace." He said that "A true peace, a lasting peace, would be achieved only with mutual and painful concessions from both sides: from the Israeli side, from the Palestinian side -- from my side, and from your side. But the people of Israel, and I as their prime minister, are prepared to walk this road and go a long way -- a long way in a short time - - to achieve a genuine peace." He said that the pillars of peace were Palestinian recognition of "Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people" and "legitimacy and security" against the "new forces" in the region, especially "Iran and its proxies, and the rise if missile warfare"3 (ITIC emphasis throughout) (Prime Minister's website, September 2, 2010). 3 http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechstate020910.htm. 6 Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and American President Barack Obama before the working dinner (Israeli Government Press Office, September 1, 2010). Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in a speech given to relaunch the negotiations on September 2, claimed that they could not be started all over again but had to be based on the previous rounds of talks in which all the unresolved issues had been defined. He said that during the talks in the coming year the sides would deal with all the issues of the final status agreement, including Jerusalem, the settlements, borders, security, water and the release or prisoners to "reach a peace which will end the conflict" (Haaretz, September 3, year). Disputes between Iran and the Palestinian Authority Iranian President Ahmadinejad condemned the talks between Israel and the Palestinians, saying "who has the right to turn over those lands ["Palestine"] to the enemy?" He claimed that "Zionism is a problematic political party which works against humanity…controls the media and the centers of power and the economy." He said that "the fate of the Palestinians will be determined by the resistance of the nation and [its] citizens. The promise of Allah [will be] fulfilled and victory is close" (ISNA, September 3, 2010).