On Sunday night there was one moment, particularly delicate, when reality threatened to explode in a big way. The nightmare of most Palestinians and Israelis was knocking on the door, but was stopped at the last moment. It was a few hours after the murder of the brothers Hillel Weigel Yaniv from Mount Bracha at Havara junction. Young Jews had a hard time conquering their pain and went on an act of revenge against the villagers.
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Images from the attack spread rapidly on news networks and websites. The videos were difficult to watch, especially if you are a Palestinian citizen. Imagine a Hebrew settlement on fire because of a raid by Arab rioters. Families sat in their homes and did nothing, while an angry mob raided the neighborhoods and set them on fire. The attack also extended to nearby villages, albeit with limited intensity.
In a short time, news arrived about the dead man, a 38-year-old father of five, from the village of Zatara near Hawara. He was shot in the stomach and died in the hospital. Ziad Ralav, a resident of Hawara, whose house was set on fire by Israelis, told me the next day that for one moment he thought that he and his family were going to their deaths. The flames took hold of the door and threatened to consume the wings of the house, and beyond the doorway dozens of Israelis gathered, determined to take revenge. He didn’t know whether to stay home or run away. After minutes of terror he decided to leave the house behind and go out into the street. The settlers, as he called them, had already moved on to the next destination.
Unknown parties recognized the potential of public outrage and rushed to take advantage of it. Most of the time these are not private individuals, but local radical leaderships – “Gov Aryot” for example, or emissaries of various factions, led by Hamas and others. In the past they used mosques and loudspeakers placed on their minarets, today their main activity is on social networks.
They called on the crowds in the cities and villages to come out and clash with the soldiers and settlers in order to wipe out the disgrace of Hawara. The words of encouragement were worded as in battle. “There are chants even in the occupied interior,” the message spread. “The face” is the nickname for Israel. In other words, even in the concentrations of Arabs in Israel, similar chants were apparently heard.
In the strip, dozens of young people went to the border fence, made noise and set tires on fire. One group east of Gaza City, and the other tens of kilometers away, east of Khan Yunis. These demonstrations are initiated by the Hamas government, and they are not spontaneous. The purpose behind them is twofold. To send a message of solidarity to the Palestinians in the West Bank, and a second message to Israel: if things get worse, you might meet us too.
The call was not answered. The motivation in the Palestinian public was weak. Scared of the flames that rose from Hvara, the crowds preferred to stay at home and postpone the date of their payment to another day. At the same time, the IDF and the police began pouring forces into the Hawara sector and took control of the situation. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called on the angry people to leave the work to the enforcement agencies. The Palestinian Authority also contributed to calm. Dozens of young people arrived at Joseph’s Tomb with the intention of setting it on fire, and were forcefully and tear gassed by Palestinian policemen These photos were also spread at breakneck speed on the Palestinian side, accompanied by the envelope of slander as usual.
Everyone and their role
That night in Hvara, new rules were established. On both sides, it is the street and not the leadership that is leading the battle. He brings out radical young people and pulls the government officials by the nose. But the main thing is not that. That night, the Palestinian camp laid out the plan of action for the day when, for them, the great conflict would flare up. Although the attempt failed, it was not discarded. He will wait for the next opportunity.
The plan is simple and its basic lines have been formulated publicly. Israel will be attacked spontaneously in several Palestinian arenas at the same time, with an escalation that will start with a spark. Throughout the West Bank, Arabs will collide with Jews, harm, ambush, beat and set fire to. Within Israel, in the mixed cities, young people will work to unburden the yoke. On the southern front, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad will contribute their share by firing rockets. To these must be added the prisons, where thousands of security prisoners from all organizations are housed. For them, the prison is a military camp. A combination of representatives of all organizations that houses both commanders and soldiers.
For the Palestinian leadership outside, whether it is the PA or the other factions, the prison is considered a power base. Lebanon, where Hamas has established a small military apparatus for itself, may also receive a contribution in the form of rocket barrages. The means there are admittedly modest, and the Lebanese are not happy to bring upon themselves an Israeli reaction, but if the flare-up is widespread, their hesitation will be easy.
This is what those Palestinian arsonists wanted to bring about at the beginning of the week. They were not satisfied with this and even flooded the WhatsApp and Telegram groups with training videos for snipers. How to approach the target, how to hide, what to do and what not to do. There is no shortage of weapons in the PA’s territories. Many are hoarding in their homes.
This is not the first time this plan of action has been attempted. Unofficially, it was launched by the top of Hamas at the Guardian of the Walls events in May 2021. It was even given a catchy title – “Unity of the arenas”.
According to this idea, all the Palestinian arenas will conduct a simultaneous campaign against Israel. The West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Lebanon and the interior. A violent struggle, breaking the yoke, which will burden Israel greatly, will cause its citizens to bleed and its leaders to accuse each other of impotence. Individuals and armed, each one and his role, some with weapons and some with stones. Hogia are building on loopholes on the other side. About the fact that it is not possible to place a policeman on every citizen. About the active movement of settlers on the roads of Iosh, about the police who are busy in one large arena and have difficulty diverting forces to other arenas, and about an army that will be forced to function in several arenas at the same time.
In order for this fire to be ignited, the Palestinian side needs two buttons to be pressed at the same time. On Sunday, one of them was activated. The second is the Temple Mount. Imagine if on the same night that Hvara burned, riots would have flared up in East Jerusalem as well. The Holy Basin is a reservoir of fuel, an immediate means for Likud ranks. For them, it is a basic condition for any flare-up.
Aren’t the Palestinians afraid of the results of the plan? It is clear that Israel will react harshly. The general public is indeed afraid, but the operators, if you can call them that, see precisely at this time an opportunity to strike. They want a strong Israeli response, because it has the power to encourage more and more Palestinians to respond. In the worst case they will punish Israel for years of rigid control, and in the best case they will extract concessions or benefits from it. Our enemies, like our friends, are glued to screens these days and closely follow what is happening in the Knesset and on the streets. The former draw encouragement and see division as a great weakness that must be exploited.
talk about “revolution” again
Yesterday, a Dvedvan unit raided a house near Jericho and arrested the squad that murdered Ilan Ganels on Monday. The spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, Hazem Kassem, responded in his own way. “The great revolution in the West Bank will continue in a way that the occupation will not know how to expect,” he declared. The use of the word “revolution” is not uncommon in Hamas, and it has been brought up in the discourse in recent weeks. This is a strictly secular expression, which has its origins in Marxist theory. It was adopted by the Palestinian fronts and the Arab regimes during the Cold War era.
By saying “revolution”, the leaders of the PLO, the Fronts and the other Arab leaders were referring to the day when the oppressive West would collapse, and the disadvantaged peoples on earth would receive the rights that were taken from them. As far as Palestine is concerned, that day has not come. themselves from their failure, adopted a current expression associated with their time – “intifada”.
Political buzzwords, especially in times of need, are not chosen at random. Here too, Hamas seeks to reduce gaps with the others. Capture the arenas and unite the ranks, because in the revolution, as they say, everyone has a role.
The writer is the commentator on Arab affairs of Gali IDF