Monday was undoubtedly among the most bewilderingly dissonant days in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: As the Israeli leadership, joined by US officials, feted the US embassy’s move to Jerusalem, and as tens of thousands of Israelis welcomed back Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai in celebrations in Tel Aviv, the Gaza Strip suffered one of its most doleful days in remembrance.
Sixty Gazans were killed by IDF fire as soldiers sought to prevent demonstrators from breaching the Israeli border.
The timing of the events was not coincidental, of course, and is tied to the opposing Israeli and Palestinian narratives: The US embassy’s relocation was set for May 14, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment. On May 15 every year Palestinians mark what they see as the Nakba, or “catastrophe” of the establishment of the Jewish state.
Thus a day of festivities for Israelis became doubly rueful for the dozens of Gazan families of those killed, as well as those of the gravely wounded, whose lives will change forever.
At the end of such a day of jubilation on one side and grief on the other, it seems the rift between the two peoples has only been torn wider, and hatred has only grown.
In the late afternoon Monday, in at least one protest tent near the border, Hamas operatives in civilian clothing walked around and instructed protesters: “Go home.”
It was an unexpected plot twist, coming shortly after the Israeli military struck several Hamas targets in the Strip, and at a time when it was already clear that dozens of Palestinians had been killed and more than 2,000 wounded.
And in the evening one of Hamas’s Gaza leaders, Khalil al-Hayya, held a press conference in which he spoke in seemingly pacific tones, once again describing the riots as “a nonviolent march.”
It was a somewhat surprising statement from an organization that has always espoused “military resistance” — meaning terror and rocket attacks against Israel — particularly after more than 50 people had been killed by IDF fire. In fact, many in Gaza had believed ahead of Monday’s events that if the death toll were high, Hamas would renew its rocket fire against Israel.
Shortly after al-Hayya spoke, the committee organizing the Gaza protests called for a continuation of the weekly demonstrations, with a particular focus on June 5 — Naksa Day, when Arabs mark the defeat in the 1967 Six Day War.
This response in Gaza to the worst single day of bloodshed since the 2014 war in the territory shows that despite the massive toll, Hamas is in no hurry to escalate the situation.
But on Monday afternoon, there came a point when Hamas almost lost control.
At a time when events were clearly headed toward escalation — with Israel intensifying its airstrikes and more and more Palestinians showing willingness to rush toward the fence and sacrifice their lives — it appeared that someone in Hamas’s leadership did some course correction, giving the order to stop the demonstrations, at least for the day, and to lower the intensity a bit.
At this juncture Hamas prefers a temporary freeze on its traditional “resistance” tactics such as rocket fire and armed attacks in favor of controlled rallies.
This is unsurprising, as it is clear that these popular demonstrations have netted Hamas quite a few achievements: They have come to the fore of Palestinians’ internal political discourse, while also refocusing the attention of the international community on Gaza. Meanwhile Israel is bearing the brunt of the blame for the deaths, with very little condemnation of Hamas (other than from Washington).
Without actual results or a change in Gaza’s situation, and with a decline in motivation among the populace, it can be assumed that at some point Hamas will be tempted to revert to its basic warring instincts.
This could be demonstrated in a military escalation, through renewed rocket attacks; or by attempts to carry out attacks in the West Bank, which would lower the risk of open conflict in Gaza while winning points with the Palestinian public which now demands revenge.
The Israeli military’s spokesman on Monday evening said the level of violence in Palestinians protests earlier in the day along the Gaza border was “unprecedented,” as dozens of Gazans were reportedly killed and hundreds more injured in the riots.
However, despite the fierceness of the clashes, the spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, said the Hamas terror group, which rules the Gaza Strip, appeared to have failed to bring out protesters in sufficient numbers to be considered a political victory.
Manelis said Hamas deployed 12 separate terror “cells” to try to breach the border at different spots, and that they were ordered to confront and try to kidnap Israeli soldiers. All those efforts failed, he said on Hadashot TV.
The TV report said that at least 10 of those killed had been identified by the IDF as Hamas members.
Hamas, and the IDF, anticipated that over 100,000 people would participate in Monday’s demonstrations along the border fence. But ultimately, the army calculated that 40,000 people took part, though Manelis acknowledged the final tally may be higher.
Manelis said Hamas attempted to convince and pressure Palestinians to come to the border protests, tried to bribe them by offering “$100 per family that comes,” and threatened people by accusing them of being “collaborators” if they did not attend the protests.
Despite those efforts, Manelis said, “Hamas failed.”
Manelis said the IDF was expecting protests to continue on Tuesday and potentially for several additional days.
He cited three attempted attacks by armed men against Israeli forces during the riots — two teams of gunmen who opened fire at IDF soldiers and one group that tried to plant an improvised explosive device along the border — as the main proof of the riots’ ferocity, during a phone briefing with journalists.
“This is unprecedented in terms of the level of violence, compared to previous weeks,” he said.
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