There’s no such thing as spontaneous violence – especially in the West Bank. A glance of recent headlines is enough to know why.
The near-daily reports of Palestinian gunmen opening fire on soldiers and Israeli civilians come as the IDF continues with its crackdown on terrorism and weapons flood the streets and as the Palestinian Authority loses more and more control.
Did operations break the wave of terrorism?
Operation Break the Wave began in April after a wave of deadly terrorist attacks by Palestinians and Arab-Israelis killed 20 people.
Thousands of counterterrorism operations have been carried out by the IDF, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the Israel Police. The wave of violence has since subsided, with no deadly attacks since May. Nevertheless, a shooting attack on a bus carrying troops in the Jordan Valley on Sunday could have easily ended with casualties.
More than 1,000 wanted Palestinians have been detained, and hundreds of weapons have been seized. But the suspects are not giving up without a fight.
Echoes of the Second Intifada
The IDF has likened the intense operation to Operation Defensive Shield, which was launched in the West Bank in 2002 to put down the Second Intifada. There has been an increase in gun battles between Israeli security forces and Palestinian militants.
The heavy clashes come as the IDF continues to thwart the smuggling of weapons, including handguns and US-made assault rifles, from Syria and Iraq through Jordan into Israel as part of Magen Hanegev (Negev Shield.)
While hundreds of these weapons have been confiscated, many more are able to make their way into the hands of Palestinians in the West Bank who have used them against Israeli civilians and troops.
The security establishment has focused its sights on the northern West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin, where the majority of the attackers came from and where terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have a stronger grip than the PA Security Forces.
Hamas has made it clear that it prefers an outbreak of violence in the West Bank than in the Gaza Strip. It continues to build terrorist networks to carry out attacks, including shootings and bombings against Israeli targets.
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