|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.inss.org.il/publication/ramadan-escalation/
Hamas Is Behind the Ramadan Escalation
(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Lt.-Col. (ret.) Yohanan Tzoreff - The ongoing escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian arena is the product of a process planned and orchestrated by Hamas, in cooperation with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the PFLP, several months before Ramadan. As a lesson from the conflict of May 2021, Hamas sought to use the holy sites in eastern Jerusalem to foment a mass protest that would once again muster Palestinian solidarity in Jerusalem, throughout the West Bank, and in Israeli territory. However, both in Jerusalem and in the West Bank the masses did not take to the streets. In the current reality in the Palestinian arena, the masses can take part in such a campaign when there is coordination between Hamas and Fatah to create a consensus, or after increased friction and casualties with the Israeli police, especially around the holy sites in Jerusalem. But coordination between Hamas and Fatah is not viable today and there is no Palestinian consensus on a widespread confrontation with Israeli security forces. Moreover, the preparations of the Israeli police and the defense establishment to deal with the friction without causing many casualties have prevented mass involvement from developing. Yet Hamas gained some achievements: the Palestinian issue returned to the international agenda; most Arab countries, including those that normalized their relations with Israel, criticized it and even reprimanded its representatives; and the weakness of the Palestinian Authority and the crumbling Fatah movement were highlighted. The writer, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, served as Arab Adviser to the Civil Administration in Gaza and as head of the Palestinian-Arab Division in the Ministry of Intelligence and Strategy.