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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://thecradle.co/article-view/26515/the-third-intifada-a-new-chapter-in-the-palestinian-struggle-for-liberation">thecradle.co</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The Third Intifada: A new chapter in the Palestinian struggle for liberation</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits"></div><div class="gmail-meta-data"><span style="display:flex">By <span style="margin-right:5px"></span><span style="display:flex"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;overflow:hidden;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0px none;margin:0px;padding:0px;max-width:100%"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0px none;margin:0px;padding:0px;max-width:100%"><img style="display: block; max-width: 100%; width: initial; height: initial; background: none; opacity: 1; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" alt="" aria-hidden="true"></span><img alt="" src="https://thecradle.co/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.thecradle.co%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F06%2Fali-abou-Jbara-300x300.jpg&w=96&q=75" style="inset: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: medium none; margin: auto; display: block; width: 0px; height: 0px; min-width: 100%; max-width: 100%; min-height: 100%; max-height: 100%;"></span><span style="margin-right:5px"></span><a href="https://thecradle.co/profile/126/Ali-Abou-Jbara" class="gmail-writer">Ali Abou Jbara</a> - </span></span>
June 29 2023
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p>The
occupied Palestinian territories have undergone a series of significant
changes since last year, with the most notable being the escalation of
resistance operations in the occupied West Bank. This development has
transformed the territory into a frontline between Palestinian
resistance and the Israeli occupation state, reminiscent of the
atmosphere during the Second Intifada over two decades ago.</p>
<p>That the occupation army has reactivated its assassination policy
through targeted air strikes against resistance figures has solidified
this line of argument.</p>
<p>The question that has been circulating for some time now is whether this signifies the <a href="https://thecradle.co/article-view/22525/palestinian-islamic-jihad-calls-for-third-intifada-against-israel">onset of a third Palestinian intifada</a>. Alternatively, a more realistic inquiry would be to determine when exactly the current uprising began.</p>
<p>Following the battle of <a href="https://thecradle.co/article-view/11011/hezbollah-irgc-present-in-joint-command-during-2021-sayf-al-quds-battle-hamas">Sayf al-Quds</a>
(“Sword of Jerusalem”) in May 2021, the frequency and organization of
resistance attacks significantly increased. What initially started as
individual actions by Palestinian youth groups evolved into coordinated
operations supported by various resistance factions across the West
Bank.</p>
<p><strong>Growing support for another Palestinian uprising</strong></p>
<p>The intensification of resistance operations led to over 28 Israeli
deaths by the middle of 2023, in comparison to 31 deaths the previous
year. This dealt a significant blow to the government of Benjamin
Netanyahu, who, alongside his far-right allies, boasted during their
election campaign that only they could prevent such attacks. However,
the passage of time proved otherwise for “Mr. Security” (as Netanyahu is
often referred to).</p>
<p>On 20 June, 2023, <a href="https://thecradle.co/article-view/26217">four Israelis were killed</a>
near the illegal Eli settlement in the West Bank. Just a day earlier,
during the storming of the Jabriyat neighborhood in the Jenin refugee
camp, a booby-trapped device exploded, injuring seven Israeli soldiers.
The operation, claimed by the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), compelled the Israeli army to deploy
combat helicopters for the <a href="https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/136358">first time since the Battle of Jenin in 2002</a>.</p>
<p>Israeli Channel 14 published statistics on the first six months of
2023. The report claims that 147 operations took place in the occupied
West Bank against the occupation forces and settlers, 80 percent of them
(120 operations) shooting operations. As for the entirety of 2022, a
total of 202 operations were carried out, 74% of which (150 operations)
involved the use of firearms.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the year 2021 witnessed 117 operations in total, 51% of
which (60 operations) were carried out with firearms. In just one week
of June 2013, 15 shootings were recorded in the occupied West Bank.</p>
<p>The numbers clearly indicate that resistance operations in the
occupied territories have been on the rise, along with the percentage of
the usage of firearms.<strong><br>
</strong><br>
Aside from resistance developments on the ground, Palestinian public
sentiment also suggests another intifada is imminent. In March, an <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinians-expect-new-intifada-erupt-according-polling">opinion poll</a>
conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research
revealed a significant increase in the percentage of individuals
supporting armed confrontations and an intifada.</p>
<p>Just over 60 percent in the West Bank expected the outbreak of a
third armed intifada, while almost 70 percent expressed support for the
formation of resistance factions, such as the Nablus-based <a href="https://thecradle.co/article-view/24619/lions-den-send-israeli-troops-fleeing-from-nablus">Lions’ Den</a>.</p>
<p>Another 70 percent of respondents also felt that “punitive measures”
by the occupation forces against Palestinians would lead to further
escalations and retaliatory attacks against Israeli soldiers and
settlers.</p>
<p>Under the current extremist Israeli government, attacks against
Palestinians have surged, exemplified by recent assaults by settlers on
the towns of <a href="https://twitter.com/saaed_bsharat/status/1671484144893804548">Turmusaya and Huwara</a>.
These attacks resulted in the death of two Palestinians and the
destruction of numerous homes and vehicles, all under the watchful eye
of the Israeli occupation forces.</p>
<p><strong>This intifada will be different</strong></p>
<p>Over the past year, the Israeli occupation forces killed 167
Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank, 50 in the Gaza Strip, and
four in the occupied Palestinian territories. The grim reality continues
for Palestinian prisoners, with approximately 4,700 individuals,
including more than 500 Jerusalemites, enduring <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/05/israel-opt-death-of-khader-adnan-highlights-israels-cruel-treatment-of-palestinian-prisoners/">harsh and inhumane detention conditions</a>.</p>
<p>Among them, about 700 are suffering from various illnesses, and
tragically, four prisoners have lost their lives due to the occupation’s
policy of medical negligence. Furthermore, the year 2022 witnessed the
arrest of 7,000 Palestinians, including 850 children and 160 women.</p>
<p>On the other side of the conflict, the number of settlers killed in
Palestinian resistance attacks has risen to 31 this year, a significant
increase compared to 5 in 2019, 3 in 2020, and 4 in 2021. This surge in
Israeli casualties evokes memories of 2002, when the Israeli army
launched Operation Defensive Wall in the West Bank in an attempt to
suppress resistance and quell martyrdom operations.</p>
<p>The Israeli Prime Minister at the time, <a href="https://www.ihrc.org.uk/war-crimes-and-criminals-some-thoughts-on-ariel-sharon/">war criminal</a>
Ariel Sharon, dubbed the month of March as “black,” when 105 Israelis
were killed, including 26 soldiers, in martyrdom operations. Under the
illusion of ending the Al-Aqsa Intifada (which he <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170928-remembering-the-second-intifada/">provoked</a> in the first place by visiting the mosque’s compound), Sharon gave the green light for an invasion of the West Bank.</p>
<p>According to Daoud Shehab, a spokesperson for the PIJ, there have
been attempts in the West Bank to extinguish the national spirit and
create a new generation that embraces coexistence with the occupation
and normalizes its presence. However, these efforts have proven
unsuccessful. Shehab tells <em>The Cradle</em> that, “Today, it has been proven that all these attempts failed.”</p>
<p>In a March <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/new-intifada-young-palestinian-fighters-rise-west-bank-boils-2023-03-14/">report</a> by <em>Reuters,</em>
it was argued that any new Palestinian uprising will be completely
different from previous ones, as it will be disconnected from
traditional Palestinian leadership, yet informed about Palestinian
suffering through social media.</p>
<p>The report highlighted the escalation of “spontaneous” armed attacks
in the West Bank against the occupation forces and settlers, the
endeavor of some young people to announce their affiliation with
Palestinian factions, and the emergence of armed groups such as the
Lions’ Den and <a href="https://thecradle.co/article-view/15712/in-the-west-bank-resistance-rises-as-the-pa-crumbles">Jenin Brigade</a> are all indications that something out of the ordinary is happening.</p>
<p><strong>The Nablus-Jenin nexus</strong></p>
<p>The Lions’ Den has garnered widespread popular support, transforming
into more than just a group of individuals. It has become an idea that
unites Palestinian across political parties and affiliations. Together
with the Jenin Brigade, these groups pose a significant threat to the
Israeli army, which can no longer storm Nablus and Jenin without
encountering armed resistance.</p>
<p>Moreover, both groups have transitioned from a defensive stance to an
offensive one – taking the initiative in attacking occupation
checkpoints and settlements surrounding the two cities in an
unprecedented manner not seen since the Second Intifada.</p>
<p>Confrontations with enemy soldiers have evolved beyond gunfire, now
involving the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), raising
serious concerns among the Israeli army and the Shin Bet security
service. On 14 March, Haaretz newspaper <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-03-14/ty-article/.premium/megiddo-blast-could-herald-a-new-era-of-palestinian-bomb-making/00000186-dcdd-d25f-a59f-ffff20a00000">reported</a> the growing unease within the army and Shin Bet regarding the rising attempts to manufacture local IEDs:</p>
<blockquote><p>“During the second intifada, in the first years of this
century, terrorist groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were
intensively involved in preparing explosive charges and explosive belts,
which were the most lethal and effective weapons against Israel.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Despite operating under siege and facing numerous challenges, the
resistance groups have succeeded in transforming the occupied West Bank
into a battlefield where the occupation army faces attrition.</p>
<p><strong>The De-facto Intifada </strong></p>
<p>Under the current Israeli government, the Palestinian people’s
awareness of the occupation’s plans for Judaization and settlement is
growing, along with their determination to confront the far-right.</p>
<p>On 13 March 2023, the spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades, Abu Hamza, called for a <a href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/palestinian-territories/1678775841-islamic-jihad-calls-on-israeli-arabs-to-start-another-intifada">renewed intifada</a>, stating:</p>
<blockquote><p>“We call on all the fighters among our people and the
free people in the West Bank and in Israel to mobilize for this war, so
that there will be an overall intifada that will create the basis for
the end of our enemy and its expulsion from all of Palestine.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Hamas refugee affairs official Issam Adwan agrees on the likelihood of another uprising, informing <em>The Cradle</em>
that “the people are the ones who resist and the pace will increase …
neither the Palestinian Authority [PA] nor the Israeli occupation will
be able to curb it.”</p>
<p>Developments are not restricted to the situation on the ground –
Israel sends political messages to the Palestinian people, from which
one can understand that the only option to liberate the land is through
‘revolutionary violence.’</p>
<p>In addition to the continuation of building settlements and the
seizure of Palestinian property in Jerusalem and the West Bank, Hebrew
media revealed on 26 June 2023 that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
informed the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in the Knesset that
the idea of a Palestinian state must be “eradicated.”</p>
<p>His statement expresses the systematic Israeli policy towards the
Palestinians for 3 decades – that the only option before them is to
surrender. But recent events have revealed that the Palestinian people
reject kneeling.</p>
<p>In February, CIA Director William Burns expressed his concern over the situation in the West Bank <a href="https://thecradle.co/article-view/21094/palestine-reliving-events-that-led-to-second-intifada-cia-chief">resembling the prelude</a>
to the second Palestinian intifada, signaling Washington’s apprehension
about the Palestinian Authority losing control. He stated that the CIA
is working in coordination with the PA and Israel to achieve stability.</p>
<p>However, it is not necessary for the current circumstances to
resemble those preceding the previous two intifadas for them to be
labeled as such. Clear distinctions existed between the first and second
intifadas. The first, which erupted in December 1987, started as a
popular struggle primarily characterized by stone-throwing incidents and
became known as the “Stone-throwing Uprising.”</p>
<p>In contrast, the Second Intifada involved armed acts of resistance,
whether in Gaza, the West Bank, or through special operations in the
1948 territories. It witnessed the participation of both the public and
the Palestinian resistance factions, along with a significant portion of
the official PA apparatus.</p>
<p>Israel closely monitors the developments in the Palestinian landscape
and is deeply concerned about the level of confrontation with the
occupation. The “<a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4712071,00.html">Intifada of Knives</a>”
that emerged in 2015 has transformed into acts of resistance that are
affecting Israelis across all of Palestine. While a precise name for the
current situation may not yet exist, it is evident that a new uprising
is in the making – and its true nature will become clearer with time.</p>
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