The atmosphere in recent weeks in the West Bank is an atmosphere of terror and violence, however, it cannot yet be said that this is a new intifada.
It is a strong wave of terrorism that is sweeping the West Bank, the attacks are being carried out by new terrorist groups in the Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarm areas that have taken over almost the entire northern West Bank and pushed the PA forces out of it.
The residents in the West Bank show no signs that they are interested in a new intifada, most of the residents want to continue to make a decent living and work within Israel’s territory, unlike the second intifada, the PA’s security forces continue security coordination with Israel and do not actively participate in terrorist attacks against Israel except for a few isolated cases.
Even the Fatah movement, which is the main faction in the PLO, is not participating in the wave of terrorism, except for a few activists, PA Chairman Abu Mazen fears that a new intifada in the West Bank will undermine the stability of his rule and the process of transferring power to his close associate Hussein al-Sheikh, but he is cautious not to confront the armed terrorists for fear that this would lead to a civil war.
The “lone wolves” join the terror wave
Last night Mohammed Tabanja, a senior terrorist in the “Lion’s Den” group in Nablus, turned himself in to the PA.
He is the 15th terrorist from the group to turn himself in to the PA.
The successful actions of the Shin Bet and the IDF against the “Lion’s Den” led to its disintegration, the terrorists fear for their lives and do not want to die.
This indicates that the renewal of the policy of targeted killings and raids by special forces on the terrorists hiding in the heart of Palestinian cities create deterrence.
However, the attack in Kiryat Arba in which an Israeli citizen was murdered and five other civilians were wounded by a Hamas terrorist from the Hebron area and the attack in the Jordan Valley indicate the continuation of the wave of terrorism and its spread from the north of the West Bank to the south.
These attacks were carried out by lone terrorists, so-called “lone wolves” in security jargon, a phenomenon that culminated in 2015 in the “Knife Intifada”.
The joining of the “lone wolves” to the terrorist wave alongside the organized armed groups is very dangerous because it is very difficult from an intelligence point of view to thwart attacks carried out by individual terrorists.
The attacks in Kiryat Arba and the Jordan Valley overshadowed the recent successes of the IDF and the Shin Bet in the war against the “Lion’s Den” group in Nablus.
Another worrisome phenomenon is the spread of the wave of terrorism from the north of the West Bank to the south, the security forces are now trying to prevent further attacks in the Bethlehem and Hebron areas to try and isolate the south of the West Bank, which has been relatively quiet until now, from the phenomenon of terrorism.
If Hebron wakes up to more terrorist attacks, this could completely change the situation from a security point of view in the West Bank because Jews live in the heart of Hebron and in the nearby Kiryat Arba, Hebron joining the wave of attacks will give a boost to terrorism and significant support for the violent phenomena and may lead to a new intifada.
In the Hebron area there are huge amounts of weapons and ammunition to be used mainly for clan conflicts.
The IDF reinforced the city of Hebron with additional forces, but the Hamas organization is making a considerable effort to exclude more attacks from the Hebron area.
The renewal of terrorism in the Hebron area will further stretch the activities of the IDF forces from the north of the West Bank to the south and they will have to fight terrorism on a wider front.
