רמה כ ז מל ו תשר מה ו ד י ע י ן ( למ מ" ) כרמ ז מה י עד מל ו ד י ע י ן ול רט ו ר News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (January 23 – 29, 2019) Overview This past week there was a relatively high level of controlled violence during the Friday "return march." The violence consisted of throwing stones, hand grenades and IEDs at IDF forces, damaging the security fence and lighting fires near the fence. Before the violence there were three incidents that increased tension between Hamas and Israel: one was Palestinian Islamic Jihad sniper fire at IDF forces, carried out under the cover of a gathering of Palestinians near the fence. The second was the difficulty of delivering funds from Qatar to the Gaza Strip: Israel delayed the delivery because of the rise in the level of violence, while Hamas refused to accept the funds because of internal criticism. In the end an arrangement was found to transfer the funds to needy families and to finance an employment project with UN involvement. The third was the riots of Palestinian terrorist prisoners that began in the Ofer jail after searches for smuggled cell phones. Hamas spokesmen and Hamas-affiliated media continue threatening to raise the level of violence from the Gaza Strip against Israel. That may include a renewal of the mini-flotillas accompanied by riots; the renewal of launching incendiary kites and balloons; and violent activities near the security fence (confrontations with the IDF, breaking through the fence and destroying the barrier Israel is building). In ITIC assessment, the violence and accompanying threats are Hamas attempts to blackmail Israel for greater economic gestures and measures to end the [so-called] siege of the Gaza Strip. On January 29, 2019, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah announced the resignation of his government to Palestinian chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The current government will continue to function until a new government is formed. Muhammad Ashtiya, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, was mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Rami Hamdallah. 022-19 2 Israel's South The "return march" of January 25, 2019 On January 25, 2019, the 44th "return march" was held in the Gaza Strip. Its theme was "The crime of the siege – a plot that will not succeed." The march was held after a tense week during which Israel refused to enable the transfer of funds from Qatar to the Gaza Strip. Later, when Israel agreed, Hamas refused to accept the funds. Given the tension, at the end of the week the IDF deployed for riots along the Gaza Strip border. In the meantime, behind the scenes political efforts were made to prevent the situation on the ground from deteriorating. Mahmoud Khalaf, a member of the Supreme National Authority of the Great Return March, said Israel's commitment to the lull understandings achieved through Egyptian mediation would influence the nature of the march (Dunia al-Watan, January 24, 2019). About 10,000 Palestinians participated in the Friday activities, gathering at five sites along the security fence. There was a relatively high level of controlled violence, similar to recent Fridays. Rioters burned tires and threw stones, hand grenades and IEDs at IDF forces. Two hand grenades were thrown at an IDF vehicle in the northern Gaza Strip. No casualties or damage were reported. IDF soldiers responded by shooting at Palestinians suspected of throwing grenades (IDF spokesman, January 25, 2019). The Palestinian media reported that dozens of Palestinians had cut through the fence east of the al-Bureij refugee camp and lit fires near it (Filastin al-Yawm, January 15, 2019). Participants in the "return march" in eastern Gaza City (Supreme National Authority Facebook page, January 25, 2019). Ashraf al-Qidra, ministry of health spokesman in the Gaza Strip, reported that one Palestinian had been killed and 22 wounded by IDF gunfire (Ashraf al-Qidra's Twitter account, January 25, 2019). 022-19 3 Right: Ihab 'Abed, killed during the march events, in a picture accompanying the death notice issued for him by the "tire [burning] unit – the shaheed Naji Ghanim groups – Rafah district" (tire [burning] unit Facebook page, January 26, 2019). Left: Picture of Ihab 'Abed throwing stones at IDF forces a short time before his death (Facebook page of photographer Badr al-Najadi, January 25, 2019). A large number of senior Hamas figures were present at the marches, among them Isma'il Haniyeh, head of Hamas' political bureau, who in recent weeks had been absent from the events. Others included Mahmoud al-Zahar, Khalil al-Haya, Musheir al-Masri and Ahmed Bahar. Senior Hamas figures condemned Israel for stopping the delivery of funds from Qatar, stressing that the marches would continue and threatening to fight Israel. Isma'il Haniyeh (third from right) and Khalil al-Haya (extreme left) at the "return camp" in eastern Gaza City (Isma’il Radwan's Facebook page, January 25, 2019). The Supreme National Authority emphasized that the "return marches" would continue as "popular" events, but warned Israel not to continue evading its commitment to lift the "siege" and delaying the implementation of the understandings reached through Egyptian mediation. According to the Authority, Israel's rejection and blackmail add fuel to the fire and open the door to a new escalation (alresala.net, January 25, 2019). According to the march organizers, the theme of the next Friday march, February 1, 2019, will be "Our prisoners are not alone" (al-Mayadeen, January 25, 2019). 022-19 4 Hamas threatens to escalate the activities in the Gaza Strip Hamas has apparently decided to escalate the protests. Hamas sources reported the decision to gradually escalate activities along the Gaza Strip border if Israel continued what they called "a denial of the understandings reached with Hamas." According to the sources, the escalation will begin with a renewal of the mini-flotillas (which have not been held for four weeks). It will continue with an increase in the launching of incendiary kites and balloons and after that there will be direct confrontations at the border, break-throughs along the border and finally, the destruction of the "wall" Israel is building to combat the tunnels. According to the sources, the activities will be carried out in sequence before the elections in Israel, because, they claim, Israel political figures are trying to use the Gaza Strip for election propaganda (al-Hadath, January 28, 2019). Right: Cartoon of Hamas' position regarding the continuation of the armed struggle, the "resistance," in the Gaza Strip. The Arabic reads, "No compromise...Gaza" (Palinfo Twitter account, January 25, 2019). Left: The home page of Hamas' al-Risalah from January 28, 2019. One of the articles is entitled, "The escalation of the 'methods' is the most prominent option on the table of the "return [marches]" (alresala.net Twitter account, January 28, 2019). In the meantime, according to reports, the various groups operating within the "return marches" have returned to their routine activities, which includes the "night harassment group" ("the sons of al-Zouari") ("night harassment group" Facebook page, January 26, 2019). The group stopped its provocative activities after the most recent round of escalation (November 2018). It was also reported that the "Palestinian resistance" (i.e., the terrorist organizations) raised their level of alert and agreed to renew the "popular resistance" [i.e., popular terrorism] with new methods to exert pressure on the Israeli communities and IDF forces near the Gaza Strip (al-Akhbar, January 26, 2019). 022-19 5 On January 28, 2019, the Supreme National Authority held a press conference to announce that the 22nd protest flotilla would leave from the Gaza Strip on January 29, 2019. It will sail to the furthest northern sea point of the Gaza Strip, near the coast of the southern Israeli city of Ashqelon. A demonstration will be held on the shore at the same time (al-Aqsa TV, January 28, 2019). For a number of weeks the mini-flotillas have not been held, allegedly because of the weather. Note: The mini-flotilla did in fact take place on January 29, 2019. Hamas hashtag encouraging the launching of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, #balloon_of the return" (Palinfo Twitter account, January 28, 2019). Left: Incendiary balloons launched apparently from east of Rafah in retaliation for the death of Ihab 'Abed, an operative in one of the tire-burning groups in the Rafah district (from a video posted by Abdallah Jamal Abu Wadi' from the Facebook public group "the shaheed Ahmed Jarar unit – Rafah brigade," January 26, 2019). Rocket Fire Rocket fire into Israeli territory This past week no rocket hits were identified in Israeli territory 022-19 6 Monthly Distribution of Rocket and Mortar Shell Fire since January 2018 500 477 450 400 350 300 250 213 180 200 150 150 100 67 50 3 4 0 0 43 0 0 1 2 Annual Distribution of Rocket Hits 4000 3852 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 974 1159925 1137 1000 783 787845 375 373 500 158 103 39 24 15 29 2 0 Sniper fire increases tension along the Gaza Strip border A series of incidents in the Gaza Strip raised tensions and led to the Israeli decision to delay the transfer of Qatari aid funds to the Gaza Strip. On the afternoon of January 22, 2019, dozens of Palestinians gathered and threw stones at IDF forces near the Gaza Strip border. Under cover of the gathering a sniper shot at the forces and an IDF officer was slightly wounded (the bullet hit his helmet). In response an IDF tank fired at a Hamas observation post in the central Gaza Strip.