BICOM

What happened? Three suspected Palestinian militants were killed during an Israeli counter-terrorism raid in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin yesterday.

• The IDF said that its forces entered the camp to arrest terrorist suspect Khaled a-Hija when its troops came under “accurate fire” and responded in kind.
• The local wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) later claimed responsibility for engaging Israeli troops with gunfire and explosives.
• The dead have been named as Sidqi Zakarneh and Tariq al-Damej, both 29, and Atta Shalabi, 46
• Khaled a-Hija was apprehended, as were suspects Ahmad Jaradat and Daajef Bages in other raids in Jenin.
• The IDF confirmed that forces also conducted separate counter-terrorism raids in Bethlehem and in the West Bank towns of Abu Dis, Bitut, Silwad, Anata, Ein, Nabi Saleh, and Bayt Rima.
• Further suspects were arrested in Hebron, Ramallah, Mahafiaa, Jabal Shamali and Bayt Furik, and illegal vehicles confiscated in the towns of Yata and Khirbet Carme.
• Near the West Bank village of Aboud, 16-year-old Diaa Muhammad Shafiq al-Rimawi died in an incident in which the IDF says its troops opened fire after stones and bottles of paint were thrown at them.
• Elsewhere in Jenin, troops arrested the father of Moujahid Mahmoud Hamed, who died after firing on an IDF post near the settlement of Ofra on Wednesday.
• The IDF reported that no injuries to its troops were sustained during the various operations.

Context: Jenin, in the Palestinian Authority-controlled Area A, has long been regarded as a hotbed of militant activity and is a frequent flashpoint for clashes between militants and the IDF.

• Yesterday’s events echo similar incidents last week in which troops returned fire after being fired upon during an arrest raid in the city. Members of both PIJ and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade were killed.
• These incidents follow further fatal West Bank clashes between Palestinians and the IDF in the last month, including in Beit Ummar near Hebron, and in Beit Rima and Al-Mughayyir, both near Ramallah.
• The past year has seen a significant increase in both Palestinian terrorism and Israeli counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank.
• The period has seen over 280 terror attacks (up from 91 in 2021), claiming the lives of 30 Israelis.
• Having long armed and supported both Hamas and PIJ in Gaza, Iran has turned greater attention to growing the capacity and influence of proxies in the West Bank in the last 12 months.
• PIJ in the West Bank has received significant funding from Tehran, which it has used to establish a series of local battalions whose personnel includes members of other, ostensibly rival, Palestinian factions.
• Late November saw the first bomb attacks in Israel since 2016, with explosives in two locations near the entrance to Jerusalem claiming the lives of two Israelis.
• In the face of this increase in what the IDF terms “popular terrorism” emanating from the territory, it has responded with “Operation Breakwater”.
• 3,000 arrests have been carried out and over 500 attacks thwarted, according to Israeli Military Intelligence.
• Analysts estimate that around half of the IDF’s troop resources are currently allocated to addressing West Bank threats.
• Some 150 Palestinians have been killed, the majority during clashes with the IDF.
• There has also been a significant rise in nationalist-motivated crime by right-wing Israelis against Palestinians.

Looking ahead: Despite ongoing security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the pattern of the past year points to the latter’s declining authority in the West Bank.

• Its policies of formal opposition to armed resistance and cooperation with Israel security are said to be reducing the Authority’s already waning popular appeal.
• On Wednesday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement affirming, though with caveats, his commitment to these policies.
• “Security coordination is a part of the agreements. When it comes to security coordination our approach is to fight terrorism no matter where,” Abbas said. “I do not support armed Palestinian resistance, but that could change. It could change — tomorrow, the next day or some other time. Everything changes.”
• The influence of Hamas, PIJ, and other armed groups, meanwhile, continues to grow.
• The impact of the likely appointments of far-right figures Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir to portfolios with authority over civilian administration in the West Bank and the West Bank Border Police, respectively, remains to be seen. Outgoing Defence Minister Benny Gantz recently warned of the chances of an even greater escalation accompanying Ben Gvir’s appointment.