
The militant groups in the West Bank have new capabilities
The 1967 Mideast War in Gaza: Israel’s Fate and Implications for the Future of the West Bank, Palestine’s Health
The shooting that killed three Israelis at the heavily fortified West Bank border crossing on Sunday occurred after three recent attempts by Palestinians to bomb the territory. Last month, Hamas and its ally, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, claimed an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in which the Israeli police said the assailant had come from the West Bank. Three Israeli police officers were killed in the southern West Bank less than two weeks ago.
The Petra News Agency reported that Jordan was investigating the shooting. The Arab nation made peace with Israel in 1994 but it is still unhappy with its policies toward the Palestinians. Large protests against Israel over the war in Gaza have happened in Jordan.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories the Palestinians want for a future state — in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but maintained control over its airspace, coastline and most of its land crossings. Along with Egypt, it imposed a blockade on Gaza after Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.
The five people killed in the airstrike in Gaza were first responders who work for the Hamas-run government.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused destruction and displacement of around 90 percent of Gaza’s population.
An Embedded Bomber in a West Bank Lockdown Zone: Signs of the End of G-forces in the West Bank
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to broker a cease-fire and the return of the hostages, but the negotiations have repeatedly bogged down.
“If you compare what’s been happening in recent weeks to what was happening over the past decade, you can see a more organized effort to carry out attacks,” said Ibrahim Dalalsha, the director of the Horizon Center, a research group based in Ramallah, in the West Bank. A bomber with a bomb in his backpack is a clear sign that there is a network that is supporting something like this.
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