THE UPPER HAND

Avi Issacharoff, Arab affairs journalist and author, posted an appraisal of the current outbreak of terrorist activity in the West Bank (Judea & Samaria) for the Ynetnews outlet, recently. Issacharoff appears less on our TV channels and more in the printed and digital media. He is perhaps better known as co-author of the Israeli television series Fauda.

“Last Thursday, some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel began a hunger strike because they have no official body to negotiate with in the Israel Prison Service. The strike is not limited in time, and next week, an additional 1,000 prisoners are set to join the strike.” Issacharoff said.      I doubt if many Israelis lost much sleep when they heard about the impending strike. After all, we aren’t talking about innocent white-frocked choir boys, but dyed-in-the-wool terrorists.  The strike is not really about representation, prison conditions or other grievances, but a vague hope that it “will bring about a real awakening that would ignite the Palestinian street.”  Issacharoff was quoting the head of the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Fatah member Qadri Abu Bakr.

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also issued a statement, warning Israel against violating the rights of Palestinian detainees. In other words, the Palestinian Authority will not attempt to interfere or stop the strikes.

“This appears to be a newly-emerging problem that Israeli security officials will have to deal with - not the strike itself, but the weakness of the PA. The Palestinian Security Services struggle to operate in various areas of the West Bank - especially in the northern parts.”  Issacharoff noted, adding that they are rapidly becoming home ground for armed militias working to attack Israelis.

“At first, it was the Jenin area and the refugee camp in the city, but the focus quickly turned to Nablus and then to the surrounding villages.

On Wednesday last week, Israeli security forces conducted an operation in Silwad, north-east of Ramallah, and managed to nab a squad of Palestinian militants who carried out a shooting attack on Israeli targets a few weeks ago. The fact that the squad was arrested near Ramallah means they were able to operate unrestrained in the Palestinian Authority’s backyard.” Said Issacharoff.

Other commentators emphasised that no place is out of bounds when Israeli forces pursue terrorist groups, even in the PA’s backyard.   

Putting the current upsurge in clashes in statistical perspective Issacharoff said “More than 60 shooting incidents occurred in the West Bank in the first part of August, and 60 shooting attacks were carried out against Israeli security forces during arrest raids in the area in recent months. These numbers are higher than in all of 2021 combined.

In addition, another 220 shooting incidents were thwarted by the IDF and Shin Bet.” A definite increase compared with incidents that occurred in recent years.

“The growing involvement of Islamic Jihad members in the shooting attacks, as well as Fatah operatives who are now collaborating with them, raises suspicions that we are witnessing a development that is a lot more than a spontaneous reaction. Hamas certainly won't object to this move. It contributes greatly to incessant attempts of persuading Palestinians in the West Bank to carry out attacks against Israel.

In the early years of the Second Intifada, Hezbollah invested quite a lot of funds in an attempt to incite the West Bank by supporting Fatah and Tanzim operatives in the Nablus area. A similar development is quite possible now”

The Palestinian terrorists that Israeli security forces have encountered in recent clashes in the West Bank are a new generation.

 “They are eager to engage in combat, refuse to surrender easily, and equally important - thirsty for publicity and are well-versed in social media platforms.

However, these new-age terrorists don't seem to have any distinct organisational affiliation. They see their local Palestinian identity as more important than being affiliated with a particular terror group.

Social media are convenient communication venues for disseminating information and activities. The downside of these platforms is that they are easily detected.

In recent months Israeli security forces have seized large quantities of firearms and munitions during raids in the West Bank. Disrupting the weapons supply line is a formidable task. For some time now weapons have been smuggled across the river from Jordan. The long-neglected security fence is easily breached by weapons smugglers. Evidently, Iran supplies the weapons for the purpose of undermining Israel’s security. Repairing and upgrading the security barrier is now a top priority requirement.

At this juncture, it’s important to clarify that Israel definitely has the upper hand. Its elite combat units deployed in confrontations with Palestinian terrorists are better trained, equipped with better weapons, and provided with excellent military intelligence.

Israel is trying to curb a different Iranian supply line on yet another front.

Confronting Iranian incursions in Syria has reached a new stage. In the past IDF attacks on Iranian proxies, weapons stores, convoys en route to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syrian airports were reported by both Syrian and foreign newsmedia outlets but rarely confirmed by official Israeli spokespersons.

A-Sharq Al-Awsat, a Saudi-owned daily published in London, claims that Israel has intensified strikes on Syrian airports to disrupt Tehran's increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon including Hezbollah.

“Tehran has adopted air transport as a more reliable means of ferrying military equipment to its forces and proxies in Syria, following disruptions to ground transfers.

Israel has long seen Iran's deepening entrenchment in Syria as a national security threat and is widening the scope of its strikes to hit at this new transport method,”.

On Wednesday night last week, Israeli aerial attacks damaged Aleppo airport just before the arrival of a plane from Iran, preventing it from landing.

Israel also carried out a strike on Damascus airport, damaging equipment, the second such attack on the airport since June when Israeli air strikes on the runway knocked it out of service for two weeks.

In the past, Israel attacked weapons storage installations and adjacent facilities after Iranian cargo planes had unloaded the weapons they were carrying. Lately, Iran has switched to sending its weapons shipments via Iranian commercial airliners hoping to fool Israeli military intelligence.

This ruse has also been foiled.

In another report A-Sharq Al-Awsat cited Syrian officials as saying Russian officers called on their Iranian counterparts at the Hama Military Airport in central Syria, to vacate a number of sites in the country.

The report said the three Russian officers demanded they evacuate the Iranian military headquarters in the western Hama province, which is situated next to the Syrian army’s Regiment 49 base. The base is used to store missiles for the S-200 air defence system, as well as other Russian-made military equipment, the report said.

Another site the Russian officers demanded the Iranians evacuate was a base south of Tartus, the report said. In July, Syria accused Israel of targeting a site in the town, in a rare morning airstrike.

The report said the calls came as Russia was seeking to maintain stability in Syria, and to deprive Israel of targets to bomb in areas Russia regards as being strategically important. An airstrike attributed to Israel last month hit several Iranian sites close to Russia’s main naval base in Tartus.

In its struggle to defend itself Israel is often taken to task. A case in point is the never-ending Shireen Abu Akleh case.

Biden administration officials have asked Israel to review the IDF’s rules of engagement for operations in Judea and Samaria. Specifically, to publish the conclusions of its report into the killing of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11.

American and Israeli officials claim that the requests were made in a recent call between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz.

Blinken made the request after meeting Abu Akleh’s family members in Washington, and after the release of America’s own investigation into Abu Akleh’s death.  As you no doubt recall, Abu Akleh was killed in crossfire between IDF soldiers and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in Jenin.

Rules of engagement are guidelines used by the military to determine when the use of live fire is justified during operations.

Evidently, the Biden administration felt compelled to do something in response to Abu Akleh’s death after the Palestinians and their proponents succeeded in turning her into a cause célèbre (despite the fact that she is but one among thousands of journalists killed on assignment in recent decades).

A seemingly unassertive “request” for the IDF to review its rules of engagement was probably deemed the mildest form of rebuke, while not really accusing the IDF of intentionally killing Abu Akleh.

Even so, Gantz reminded Blinken that war is messy, and collateral damage, including harm to civilians who intentionally come dangerously close to armed clashes, is not uncommon.

The United States military is certainly no stranger to this phenomenon, with its second invasion of Iraq deemed one of the most deadly conflicts ever for war reporters. Taken together, all of this further bolsters the perception that Israel is held to a double or higher standard than every other nation, including the United States.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid reiterated the defence minister’s remarks on Wednesday when he addressed a graduation ceremony for maritime officers. “No one will dictate our rules of engagement when we are fighting for our lives,”

The prime minister spoke just one day after State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the Biden administration wanted Israel to review its rules of engagement.

Summing up, and mindful of the Jewish people’s long history of suffering, expulsions, pogroms, and genocide, I’m glad to be alive at a time when Israel definitely has the upper hand.

 

Have a good weekend.

 

Beni                                                       8^th of September, 2022.