The violent events that took place in the city of Nablus and spread into the northern West Bank following the arrest of the Hamas terrorist Mouseb Ishtayeh in Nablus by the security forces of the PA led to the revelation of Hamas’ plan to shake the stability of the PA and bring about the end of Abu Mazen’s rule through civil uprisings by the residents of the West Bank.
Mouseb Ishtayeh is an operative of the military wing of Hamas who participated in several shooting attacks against IDF forces and Israeli civilians who visited Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, he also purchased large quantities of weapons and ammunition and was wanted by the Israeli security forces for a long time, Officials in Nablus claim that Israel tried to assassinate him 4 times but failed.
According to sources in Nablus, his arrest by the PA was agreed upon in a security meeting between representatives of the IDF and the CIA and Hussein al-Sheikh, Abu Mazen’s designated successor.
Following his arrest, the military wing of Hamas mobilized all its operatives in the northern West Bank so that they would work to shake the Palestinian Authority’s rule on the ground.
The military wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip sent messages on the WhatsApp application to its operatives in Nablus and Jenin with instructions to attack with firearms and stones all the headquarters of the PA in the north West Bank and its detention facilities in order to bring about the release of all detainees so that they can participate in the civil uprising against the PA.
Security officials in the PA claim that Hamas led to the creation of a situation of security chaos in the city of Nablus while the PA acted carefully to thwart the Hamas conspiracy.
The strategy of Hamas together with the Islamic Jihad is to create security chaos in the entire northern West Bank that will gradually spread to the center and south as well.
Munir al-Jaroub a senior Fatah activist in the West Bank accused Hamas of being behind the security escalation in Nablus and the attacks on headquarters and facilities of the PA.
“Hamas is acting from narrow political considerations to serve its allies in the region”, he said.
“What happened in Nablus was not a protest but an ignition of security anarchy”, he added and called on Hamas not to cross the lines in a way that would lead to the shedding of Palestinian blood.
Hamas tried to show that he PA can no longer maintain the security situation in the West Bank.
The PA accuses that Hamas’ plan is to help Israel divide the West Bank and the Gaza Strip into 4 areas so that in the future it can take control of them:
the cities of Jenin and Nablus, the Gaza Strip, the Hebron area and the Ramallah and Jericho areas.
Behind this plan stand Iran and Hezbollah who want the West Bank to become the new battlefield and they are transfer a lot of funds to the young generation in the West Bank so that they can buy weapons and ammunition and carry out attacks against Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas is trying to add fuel to the incendiary that exists in the West Bank and is not interested in reconciliation with the PA.
It is working in the field to increase the anger of the Palestinian street against the PA.
The situation in the West Bank is different from the situation in the Gaza Strip in 2007, when Hamas expelled the Palestinian Authority from the Gaza Strip and took control of it by force.
The IDF forces are the sovereign in all the West Bank areas and bear overall security responsibility, Hamas does not have enough military power in the West Bank to deal with the IDF forces,
It is the presence of IDF forces in the West Bank that feeds the oxygen to Abu Mazen’s regime and allows it to continue breathing and prevents Hamas and the other terrorist organizations from taking control of the Muqataa in Ramallah and overthrowing Abu Mazen’s rule.
Israel and the PA have a common interest in continuing to maintain Abu Mazen’s rule, the Israeli Shin Bet has captured during the past few years a number of Hamas terrorist cells that planned to overthrow the PA rule through a series of terrorist attacks that would destabilize the PA, Abu Mazen received regular updates from Israel on the issue and thanked her for that.
