The Meir Amit
Intelligence and Terrorism
Information Center
Overview
This past week one rocket hit was identified in the Gaza Strip. In response the Israeli Air Force attacked terrorist targets. IAF aircraft also struck a car, killing an operative affiliated with the global jihad. According to the IDF Spokesman's website, he had been involved in carrying out terrorist attacks in the Gaza Strip and was planning terrorist activities in the Sinai Peninsula.
Mahmoud Abbas again stated that the Palestinians intended to appeal to the United States, the UN General Assembly and the Security Council for recognition of a Palestinian state. He stressed that the options would only be used as a last resort if Israel refused to freeze construction in the settlements. Senior Hamas figures Khaled Mashaal and Mahmoud al-Zahar called for terrorism (the "resistance") to continue to "liberate all Palestine." Important Terrorism Events
Gaza Strip
Rocket Fire
This past week one rocket hit was identified in the western Negev (November 6). It fell in an uninhabited area. There were no casualties and no damage was done. The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the attack (Al-Resalah.net, November 6, 2010).
Rockets and Mortar Shells Fired into Israeli Territory 1
Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israeli territory
Rocket Fire 2010, Monthly Distribution *
Rocket Fire 2010, Monthly Distribution
* Rocket hits identified in Israeli territory. A similar number misfire and customarily land inside the Gaza Strip. **As of November 9, 2010.
Israeli Air Force Attacks
In response to the rocket fire, Israeli Air Force aircraft attacked two terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip (IDF Spokesman's website, November 6, 2010).
On November 3 IAF aircraft attacked the car carrying Muhammed al-Nimnim, a senior operative in the Army of Islam, a terrorist network in the Gaza Strip affiliated with the global jihad. Al-Nimnim was killed. The IDF Spokesman's website reported that al-Nimnim was a resident of the Shati refugee camp. He was involved in carrying out terrorist attacks in the Gaza Strip and in planning attacks on Israeli and American targets in the Sinai Peninsula in conjunction with Hamas elements in the Gaza Strip (Article by Tzahi Biran, IDF Spokesman's website, November 3, 2010).
Judea and Samaria
Counterterrorism Activities
This past week the Israeli security forces continued their counterterrorism activities in Judea and Samaria.
During the week there were a number of incidents involving throwing stones and Molotov cocktail at Israeli vehicles, among them the following:
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On November 8 a number of Molotov cocktails were thrown at Israeli vehicles southeast of Nablus. There were no casualties. A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Israeli bus near Bethlehem. There were no casualties but the bus was damaged. Stones were thrown at Israeli vehicles, one south of Bethlehem and the other west of Ramallah. There were no casualties but the vehicles were damaged (IDF Spokesman's website, November 8 and 9, 2010).
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On November 6 stones were thrown at Israeli vehicles in two separate incidents south of Ramallah. There were no casualties but the vehicles were damaged (IDF Spokesman's website, November 6, 2010).
There were a number of violent demonstrations, during which rioters confronted Israeli security forces:
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On November 7 a demonstration was held in the Arab village of Bila’in. Rioters threw stones at IDF soldiers. One soldiers sustained minor injuries and was evacuated to a hospital for treatment (IDF Spokesman's website, November 7, 2010).
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On November 6 a demonstration was held at the security fence near the Israeli village of Karmei Tzur (southwest of Bethlehem). The demonstrators, who were Palestinian, Israeli and foreigners, threw stones at the IDF soldiers (IDF Spokesman's website, November 6, 2010).
Safa News Agency website, November 6, 2010
Left: Palestinians holding a banner protesting the Balfour Declaration (Safa News Agency website, November 6, 2010). Right: Palestinian adolescents burn pictures of Israeli leaders during a demonstration near the Israeli village of Karmei Tzur (Safa News Agency website, November 6, 2010).
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On Friday, November 5, the routine weekly demonstrations were held in the Arab villages of Bila’in, Ni’lin and Nebi Salah (northwest of Ramallah), attended by Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners. Demonstrators threw stones at the Israeli soldiers (IDF Spokesman's website, November 5, 2010).
Safa News Agency, November 5, 2010
Left: A Palestinian youth throws a stone at IDF soldiers during a demonstration near the Israeli village of Karmei Tzur (Safa News Agency website, November 6, 2010). Right: A masked Palestinian youth throws a stone at IDF soldiers during a demonstration near the Arab village of Ni’lin (Safa News Agency, November 5, 2010)
The Peace Process
Statements about Continuing the Negotiations and Freezing Construction in the Settlements
Senior members of the Palestinian Authority continued issuing declarations about the negotiations with Israel, freezing construction in the settlements and Palestinian options:
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Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas again claimed that the Palestinians intended to appeal to various international factors, among them the United States, the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, for recognition of a Palestinian state. However, he said that he would use the option only as a last resort if Israel refused to freeze construction in the settlements. He denied that the failure of the negotiations would result in his resignation and the dismantling of the PA, but said that if the Palestinians reached a national reconciliation he would not be a candidate in the next elections (Al-Anbaa, November 4, 2010).
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Saeb Erekat, head of the PLO's negotiating department, again demanded from senior officials in Washington that construction in the settlements be frozen. He said that the Palestinians were willing to give the American administration an extension of two or three weeks (beyond the month given him at the Arab League summit meeting in Libya on October 9) to convince Israel to freeze construction in the settlements (Ynet, November 6, 2010).
Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas' political bureau, again proclaimed that "Palestine belongs to the Palestinians and there is no place in it for Israel." He called on the Palestinian Authority not to rely on the United States because President Obama, especially after the midterm Congressional elections, "is weak and cannot do anything for the Palestinians." He called for the "resistance" (i.e., terrorism) as an alternative to negotiations. He appealed to the United States, claimed that the "resistance" (i.e., the terrorist organizations) would not wait for the Americans, but "will restore Palestine with their own muscles, their strength and their reliance on Allah" (Al-Jazeera TV, November 5, 2010).
Al-Jazeera TV, October 30, 2010
Khaled Mashaal speaking at the Al-Quds Institute in Damascus on October 30, where he rejected the negotiations with Israel and expressed hope for a renewal of terrorism (the "resistance") in Judea and Samaria (Al-Jazeera TV, October 30, 2010).
Anti-Semitism from Mahmoud al-Zahar, Senior Hamas Figure
Senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Zahar gave an anti-Semitic speech entitled "The Jews have no future among the nations [of the world]."2 He claimed that the Jews were expelled from Europe because "they betrayed, stole and corrupted" the European counties and that "just as the European peoples tore the Jews up by the roots, so will the Palestinians expel the Jews from all their lands until they disappear." He called on the Palestinians to close ranks and "together, with blood, we will be able to liberate our lands and holy places" (Al-Aqsa TV, November 5, 2010; Jerusalem Post, November 6, 2010).
Developments in the Gaza Strip
The Crossings
This past week between 150 and 212 trucks carrying goods entered the Gaza Strip every day (Website of the Israeli government coordinator for the territories, November 9, 2010). Ra'ed Fatuh, chairman of the de facto Hamas administration's committee for coordinating shipments into the Gaza Strip, said that Israel intended to allow building materials into the Strip for the electric company and UNRWA (Ma'an News Agency, November 3, 2010).
The de facto Hamas administration's crossings and border authority said that since the Rafah crossing was opened at the beginning of June, 53,227 Gazans used it to leave the Strip and 55,452 used it to enter. During October 7,629 left and 7,321 entered. The past week pilgrims from the Gaza Strip began leaving through the Rafah crossing for Mecca. Only pilgrims will be allowed to use it this week (Filastin Al-Yawm, November 2, 2010; Safa News Agency, November 3, year).
Safa News Agency website, November 3, 2010
Bus carrying Palestinian Hajj pilgrims from the Gaza Strip on their way to Mecca
waits at the Rafah crossing (Safa News Agency website, November 3, 2010)
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle spent a number of hours in the Gaza Strip. He was not reported to have met with representatives of the de facto Hamas administration. After his visit he denounced the closure of the Gaza Strip and called for it to be lifted, saying that it "strengthened the extremists and weakened the moderates." He said that Germany supported the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip and that the European Union wanted the Gaza Strip to be able to import and export goods. However, he noted that Hamas "is not a partner" for the German government (dw-world.de website, November 9, 2010).
Following the visit, senior Hamas figure Ayman Taha called on the German foreign minister "to turn his calls for an end of the siege into action." He said that the European delegations' visit to the Gaza Strip was "proof of positive international involvement in the events in the Gaza Strip and of the [good] attitude toward the Hamas movement" (Qudsnews website, November 8, 2010).
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle visits an UNRWA school in
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle visits an UNRWA school in
the Gaza Strip (Safa News Agency website, November 8, 2010)
During the visit, Hamas administration deputy foreign minister Ahmed Yussef called on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit the Gaza Strip, because, he said, "such a visit will be of utmost importance" (Fars News Agency, Iran, November 8, 2010).
Flotillas to the Gaza Strip
Pro-Palestinian French Organize to Purchase a Ship
Preparations continue for the so-called Freedom Fleet 2 flotilla. The Palestinian media reported that approximately 60 organizations were collecting donations to send a French ship to the flotilla. According to Thomas Sommer-Houdeville, coordinator of the La Campagne Civile Internationale pour la Protection du Peuple Palestinien (International Civilian Campaign for the Protection of the Palestinian People, CCIPPP), whose center of activity is in France, participating in the purchase of the ship are "three leftist parties, three workers' organizations and a number of human rights organizations." He said that a number of French Parliament members had already expressed their willingness to join the flotilla (Al-Jazeera TV, November 4, 2010; Al-Ayam, November 5, 2010).
Logo of the French campaign to purchase a boat
Logo of the French campaign to purchase a boat
(CCIPPP website, November 9, 2010).
Statement Made at a Ceremony Attended by a Yemeni Parliamentarian
During the Viva Palestina convoy's visit to the Gaza Strip, a member of the Yemeni Parliament who had been aboard the Mavi Marmara presented Ismail Haniya, head of the de facto Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, with a dagger similar to the one he had with his on board the ship. The presentation was made at a festive ceremony. The master of ceremonies said that it was similar to the one taken by force by IDF soldiers after it had "wounded two of them" (Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, November 7, 2010).
The Palestinian Arena
Street in Nablus Named for Dalal al-Magribi
On November 3 a festive ceremony was held in Nablus at which a street was named for Dalal al-Magribi, one of the Fatah terrorists who carried out the massacre on the Coastal Road in 1978 (which left 37 Israelis dead and 71 wounded). Since the attack, Dalal al-Magribi has become a kind of national heroine whose action was praised to the skies by Yasser Arafat and whose memory has been perpetuated by the Palestinian Authority. The ceremony was attended by young members of the Fatah movement. Rashida al-Magribi, the terrorist's sister, praised the initiative and called for her body to be returned and for additional efforts to build a square in her name in Ramallah.
Naming a street for in Nablus for Dalal Magribi (Al-Quds, November 3, 2010)
Naming a street for in Nablus for Dalal Magribi (Al-Quds, November 3, 2010)
Note: In March 2010 an official Palestinian Authority ceremony was supposed to have been held to dedicate the Dalal al-Magribi square in the town of Al-Bireh near the offices of the PA's political guidance bureau. A short time before the ceremony the Palestinian announced that it had decided not to hold it "for technical reason." The Al-Bireh municipality reported it was because of pressure Israel brought to bear on the PA (Reuters, March 10, 2010). Eventually the PA allowed the ceremony to take place, but it was not official and was held by Fatah with the participation of a senior organization member.3
Filastin Al-Yawm -- A new Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Satellite Channel Broadcasting from Lebanon
Palestinian satellite channel Filastin Al-Yawm logo
Palestinian satellite channel Filastin Al-Yawm logo
On November 4, 2010 a new satellite TV channel called Filastin Al-Yawm broadcast its first trial programs. They included news read by a female newscaster wearing a headscarf (hijab) and various short propaganda movies with anti-Israel themes. The channel broadcasts from Beirut via the Egyptian Nilesat satellite and inter-Arab Arabsat satellite, in which Saudi Arabi is the dominant partner.4
To date the channel has not formally affiliated itself with any organization. Its broadcasts were reviewed by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's website and by various forums, according to some of which it was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad communications channel. Hamas’ daily Felesteen also reported on the new channel (Felesteen, November 3, 2010). It said that its launching had been announced in November 2009 and that it was supposed to begin broadcasting from London in February 2010. It also reported that it was not possible to broadcast from there and for that reason it moved to Lebanon. In a different Felesteen article, Hamas-affiliated Mustafa Sawaf congratulated the new channel, saying that it was "an important event in the Palestinian media arena and especially in the resistance [i.e., terrorist organization] media" (Hamas’ daily Felesteen, November 3, 2010).
1 The statistics do not include the mortar shells fired at IDF soldiers patrolling the border fence which fell inside the Gaza Strip.
2 The title is taken from a book written by him entitled No Future among Nations. It was issued in 2008 by the Algerian publishing house Dar al-Khaldunia
3 For further information see the March 21, 2010 bulletin, Turning Shaheeds into Role Models: Fatah unofficially inaugurated the Dalal al-Magribi Square in Al-Bireh, named after a Fatah terrorist who participated in the mass-murder attack on Israel’s Coastal Road (1978)
4 http://www.2napal.com/vb/showthread.php?p=111160 .
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