MENA Monitor focuses on the Middle East and North Africa region, analyzing the most important events happening in the area stretching from Morocco to Iran, their consequences for neighboring countries and their impact on the world’s situation.
Date: 31 January 2023 Author: Michał Przygoda
The Escalating Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Violence has risen in the Israel-Palestine conflict in the past few days. Nine Palestinians have been killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military said its troops went in to arrest Islamic Jihad “terror operatives” planning “major attacks”. The Palestinian presidency accused Israel of a “massacre” and later announced it had ended coordination with Israel on security matters. A tenth Palestinian was meanwhile shot and killed during a confrontation with Israeli troops in the town of al-Ram, near Jerusalem, as residents protested against the Jenin raid, Palestinian officials said[1]. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops entered Jenin to arrest an Islamic Jihad “terror squad”, who it accused of being “heavily involved in planning and executing multiple major terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers”. It said forces surrounded a building and that three armed suspects were “neutralized” after they opened fire, while a fourth suspect surrendered. The IDF said troops were shot at by other Palestinian gunmen and returned fire, hitting targets. It added it was looking into “claims regarding additional casualties”. Islamic Jihad and Hamas said their fighters had targeted the troops with gunfire and improvised explosive devices[2].
A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside an East Jerusalem synagogue Friday night. The attack occurred around 8:15 p.m. local time after the gunman opened fire on people who participated in service to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day. He had tried to flee by car but was pursued by police and shot dead. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack that killed seven people and wounded a dozen. However, a spokesman for the Islamist group Hamas hailed the action as a response to the crime conducted in a refugee camp in Jenin in the West Bank. In some places in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians took to the street, cheering the attack[3].
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised “a strong, swift, and precise response.” Netanyahu made the statement on Saturday as he convened his security cabinet over one of the deadliest attacks carried out by a Palestinian in years in the occupied East Jerusalem, which killed seven people on Friday[4].
Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor, James Bays, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said that Israel’s Security Cabinet is expected to authorize action in response to the attack. “There are two main branches of what is likely the Security Cabinet may authorize. The first is concerning the families and friends of those suspected of carrying out recent attacks,” Bays said. “What they say they are going to do is to seal the homes of those people, and potentially arrest some, then demolish their homes and also revoke their permission to live in Jerusalem”[5].
Bays added that the second action would be to fast-track the authorization of gun permits for Israelis. “Israeli police is already encouraging those who already have gun permits to start carrying guns on them,” he added. Israel has decided to deploy thousands of special forces in East and West Jerusalem after the country was placed on “the highest state of alert” after the deadly attack on Friday. Far-right Israeli Minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for more guns in the hands of Israeli citizens and settlers as part of safety measures. Ben-Gvir has been viewed as highly controversial, having already been convicted of racist incitement against Palestinians[6].
As Israeli-Palestinian tensions soar, more attacks are likely to follow. Chances are that Israel and Palestine will continue missile attacks that have intensified in the wake of the recent blasts.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64410607 [accessed on January 29, 2023].
[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/28/israel-netanyahu-vows-swift-response-to-deadly-east-jerusalem-attack [accessed on January 29, 2023].
[3] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/28/israel-netanyahu-vows-swift-response-to-deadly-east-jerusalem-attack [accessed on January 29, 2023].
[4] https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/08/07/cease-fire-israel-gaza-hamas/10261901002/ [accessed on January 29, 2023].
[5] https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/08/07/cease-fire-israel-gaza-hamas/10261901002/ [accessed on January 29, 2023].
[6] https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-army-reinforces-west-bank-after-synagogue-shooting-2023-01-28/ [accessed on January 29, 2023].
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