On Sunday, gunmen fired on Israeli troops in a West Bank village; on Thursday Palestinian terrorists shot at a car carrying yeshiva students, killing one and injuring two others. These events come on the heels of several attacks, and attempted attacks, in the past few weeks. Yossi Kuperwasser looks at what’s behind them:
The recent uptick in terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria necessitates distinguishing between two parallel tracks that underpin the violence. One is the ongoing incitement, intended to create a consciousness of struggle in the general public, particularly among Palestinian youth. The second is Hamas’s interest in increasing terrorism within, and emanating from, Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. The connection between the tangible expressions of these two trends has ignited a multitude of attacks and has unleashed fears that Israel is facing another wave of terrorist attacks.
This effort is also not new and is a permanent part of Hamas’s and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s policy aimed at harming as many Israelis as possible, [attempting to] undermine national resilience in Israel, and demonstrating these movements’ adherence to “the path of struggle,” in contrast to Fatah, while they refrain from acting from Gaza and igniting another war.
Although the [Fatah-led] Palestinian Authority works to limit Hamas’s freedom of action, it is being dragged by the competition into increasing incitement, heaping praise on the perpetrators of the attacks, and accusing Israel of executing the terrorists killed during the attacks. Thus, the Palestinian Authority itself is guilty of fanning the flames and leading more terrorists to decide that it is time to act.
Read more on Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: https://jcpa.org/article/latest-palestinian-attacks-are-motivated-by-incitement-combined-with-hamas-interest-to-increase-terror/