Israel, PA officials disagree over source of West Bank violence
Despite the recent spate of attacks, Palestinian security officials argue that neither Fatah nor Hamas are interested in escalating the situation with Israel and emphasize that Israeli policies create continuous frustration among West Bank residents.
“We still think that the recent terror attacks in Israel are the actions of lone wolf attackers; they have no organizational infrastructure even though we are seeing a type of activity that is more complex than in the past,” Gen. Adnan Damiri told Al-Monitor in an interview. The Palestinian Authority (PA) security services spokesman's assessment, shared by other high-ranking PA officials, stands in stark contrast to some Israeli opinions that the recent wave of terror attacks may have organizational backing.
In the first 10 days of Ramadan, a number of terror attacks have occurred, including the June 19 murder of Danny Gonen near the Dolev settlement, the June 29 attack near the Shvut Rahel settlement that killed young Malachi Rosenfeld and other drive-by shootings. According to some views held in Israel, these attacks testify to a rather high operational level of planning and organization and are not necessarily the work of a lone wolf who carries out a random attack out of despair and frustration.
My colleague Ben Caspit quoted a senior Israel Defense Forces officer as noting the possibility of “a more well-trained local organization that operates systematically in the territory.” Nevertheless, Caspit also quotes sources in the security apparatus who say there is no "intifada energy" in the territories, but "public mood-dependent terror attacks.” According to Caspit’s security sources, it would seem that the condition of the West Bank residents is rather satisfactory, and that they have no reason or impetus to complain. “Look around you,” a high-level Israel security source told Caspit. “Tell me, who in the region has a Ramadan table as abundant and relaxed as those of the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria?”
Clearly, Israel’s optimistic assessment is that the wave of violence was partly "inspired" by the month of Ramadan and likely to pass with the Eid al-Fitr festivities concluding it in a bit more than two weeks. However, according to Palestinian security sources, this assessment shows that Israel is clearly divorced from the reality on the ground. The situation of most of the Palestinians in the West Bank territory, they claim, is more complicated and sensitive than the comparison to the skimpy and meager Ramadan tables of their Palestinian brethren in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan would suggest.
