Middle East Monitor / November 23, 2021
The Israeli government “will not allow Hamas to get foothold in Jerusalem,” Arabs48 reported Defence Minister Banny Gantz saying yesterday.
Gantz’s remarks came following a shootout that took place in Jerusalem on Sunday where a Palestinian teacher and Israeli soldiers were killed and four Israelis were wounded.
Hamas claimed that the Palestinian teacher, Fadi Abu Shkeidem (42) was one of its leaders in the Palestinian holy city.
“Hamas is trying to ignite the situation inside Israel, mainly in the West Bank,” Gantz said. “This is a dangerous attempt. It failed. We will never allow Hamas to turn the West Bank into a new Gaza, and we will not allow it to get foothold in East Jerusalem.”
Earlier yesterday, Israeli intelligence claimed that 50 Palestinians from Hamas had been arrested as they were part of a wide network of Hamas infrastructure that planned to carry out attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
In a statement, the Shabak claimed that 50 activists from Hamas were arrested along with arms and materials enough for making four explosive belts were seized in the occupied West Bank.
Hamas did not comment on the claims.
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Palestinian, Jewish settler killed in Jerusalem shooting
Al-Jazeera / November 21, 2021
The Palestinian man reportedly used a submachine gun and a knife to carry out an attack.
Occupied East Jerusalem – Israeli occupation forces shot dead a Palestinian man after he carried out a shooting and stabbing attack that killed a Jewish settler and wounded three others, including two police officers.
The armed confrontation began at 9am local time (07:00 GMT) on Sunday morning in the Old City, at the Bab al-Silsila (Chain Gate) to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian man was identified as 42-year-old Fadi Mahmoud Abu Shkheidem, a resident of Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp.
Hamas said in a statement Abu Shkheidem was politically affiliated with the Gaza-based armed movement that governs the occupied Gaza Strip.
The settler, in his 30s, suffered a head injury and succumbed to his wounds after being transferred to hospital, Israeli media reported.
Another Jewish settler, a 46-year-old, was in stable condition, according to a statement by Hadassah Medical Center. Two police officers, aged 30 and 31, were also lightly wounded.
Abu Shkheidem reportedly used a submachine gun and a knife to carry out the attack. Israel’s minister of public security said Abu Shkheidem’s wife had traveled overseas three days ago.
Dozens of occupation forces began raiding the Shuafat refugee camp, which is closed off on all sides by Israel’s separation wall, at about 12:30pm (10:30 GMT), and stormed his home.
They caused widespread destruction in the house and arrested several of Abu Shkheidem’s family members, including his daughter.
Special forces were seen using tear gas in confrontations with youth surrounding the home, and forcibly preventing individuals, including journalists, from filming.
Occupation forces began their withdrawal from Shuafat refugee camp two hours later.
In contravention of international law, Israel occupied and annexed the eastern part of Jerusalem and applied domestic law onto it following the 1967 war. Most of the international community considers East Jerusalem occupied territory and does not recognize Israeli sovereignty claims or illegal settlements there.
According to local media, Abu Shkheidem worked as a teacher at the Al-Rashidiya boys’ public high school, the oldest and only one serving the Old City’s Muslim Quarter, near Bab al-Zahra (Herod’s Gate). Occupation forces raided the school following the attack.
Sunday’s developments in occupied East Jerusalem come after the killing of a 16-year-old Palestinian boy, Omar Abu Asab, by an armed Jewish settler, after he allegedly stabbed two Israeli paramilitary border police officers in the Old City.
SOURCE: AL-JAZEERA
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Israel announces Hamas arrests, day after deadly shooting
AP / November 22, 2021
Israel’s internal security agency said Monday that it had arrested more than 50 members of a Hamas cell in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem in recent weeks that were involved in planning attacks on Israelis.
The announcement came a day after a Hamas gunman killed an Israeli man and injured four others in a shooting near a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City.
The Shin Bet said it had uncovered the Hamas cell in recent weeks in the West Bank and that it was planning several attacks in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel. It said the militants “were involved in establishing a terror infrastructure and money, armaments, weapons and material for preparing explosives were apprehended.”
The Israeli man killed in Sunday’s attack, 26-year-old Eliyahu Kay, was buried in Jerusalem on Monday. At least one other person injured in the attack remained hospitalized.
The attacker was identified as a 42-year-old Palestinian man from East Jerusalem who belonged to Hamas. He was shot dead by police at the scene.
Hamas, an Islamic militant group praised Sunday’s attack and confirmed the shooter was one of its members. But it did not say whether the shooting was an operation organized by the group or whether the gunman had acted alone.
Israel and Hamas have four wars since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, most recently an 11-day battle last May.
