Risk of intifada in the face of new wave of violence in Israel
The last hours have seen an increase in clashes between Israelis and Palestinians that has cost the lives of at least 32 people in the Gaza Strip, including several children, and 3 Israelis. The launching of rockets from Gaza against Israel by Hamas militants had in the first hours targeted areas of Jerusalem with a forceful Israeli response against different targets in Gaza. In the late afternoon, Hamas rockets fired at Tel Aviv in an unprecedented initiative that further increased tension and Israeli retaliation against an 8-story building that was destroyed, after the Israeli army warned its occupants to to be evicted.
Israelis and Palestinians face each other again in a new wave of violence. Over the past week, at least 205 Palestinians and 17 Israeli police officers were injured in police clashes on the esplanade of the iconic Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, as reported by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The toll was the result of Israelis evicting 40 Palestinians from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in the East Jerusalem area. According to an Israeli court ruling issued in January this year, the court issued an order upholding the Israeli settlers' claim that several Palestinian families had been evicted from their homes in the same district.
This ruling has sparked Palestinian outrage, with daily demonstrations since last week on behalf of families at risk of eviction, resulting in arrests, violent clashes and injuries. Jewish settlers have been claiming these homes as their own since 1948, when the state of Israel was formed. However, these families have been living there legally since the 1950s, when the jurisdiction was under Jordanian law.
Faced with this situation, acting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assured that they will impose "law and order in a firm but responsible manner" and will continue to "safeguard freedom of worship for all religions, but we will not allow violent protests".
Tensions have been escalating over the course of the holy month of Ramadan. Almost a month ago, the Israeli authorities blocked the notorious Damascus Gate, the main access to the Old City, leading to protests for several days in a row. Similarly, Palestinians demonstrated against Israeli-imposed measures restricting Islamic worship due to health measures taken because of the COVID pandemic.
In this regard, countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Pakistan have condemned the violent responses by the Israeli police. Jordan has issued a statement to Israel calling the "forced evictions" of Palestinians in Jerusalem "unacceptable". It stressed that these acts are a violation of human rights and international law.
EIn this regard, a Supreme Court hearing on a Palestinian appeal was scheduled for last Monday, but the Israeli Justice Ministry delayed the court hearing as a result of the violence.
These riots have coincided with one of the Jewish community's holy celebrations. Jews have been celebrating Jerusalem Day, a day on which they commemorate Yom Yerushalayim, the day on which Israel conquered part of East Jerusalem in 1967 during the Six Day War.
To mark the day, far-right settler groups are reportedly planning a march through the Old City, where the 22,000-strong Muslim quarter is located alongside the Christian, Jewish and Armenian quarters. The far-right party politician Otzma Yehudit tweeted on Monday that Israel had "lost sovereignty" in Jerusalem.
In this vein, Israeli security forces stormed the Esplanade of the Mosques in the Al-Aqsa compound during prayer on the last Friday of Ramadan. Following resistance from a crowd reluctant to disperse in order to demonstrate against the eviction of Palestinian families, hndreuds of riot police responded with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets.
The police deployment stormed the esplanade of the mosque, but did not enter directly into the holy shrine. However, a stun grenade hit the mosque, which at the time housed a number of refugee demonstrators.
Al-Aqsa is one of the holiest sites in Islam, but also in Judaism as it is located on what is known as the "Temple Mount", a holy site according to the Torah.
The Red Crescent reports that more than 200 people were injured in the police clashes, 88 of them reportedly requiring hospitalisation. In this context, Hamas is said to have given an ultimatum of a few hours for Israeli security to leave the esplanade and to release the detainees of recent days. The authorities' failure to react led to a clear Hamas response: a new attack on Jerusalem by 150 rockets fired from Gaza. After firing seven shells into the East Jerusalem area, one of them hit a house while another managed to be intercepted by the Iron Dome, while the rest fell in the open. The army began firing at launchers in northern Gaza, launching Operation "Guard the Walls".
In this regard, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) responded with attacks on "numerous Hamas terrorist targets in Gaza, including: 2 rocket launchers, 2 military posts, and 8 Hamas terrorist operatives".
According to health sources in Gaza, 20 Palestinians, including 9 children, were killed in the army's retaliatory attacks. Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Cornicus told reporters that they are "in the initial phase of our response against military targets in Gaza".
On the other hand, Netanyahu warned in a statement published by El Mundo that "the terrorist groups in Gaza have crossed a red line. We did not want an escalation, but whoever chose to provoke it will feel the strength of our arm".
This firing of projectiles into Israel is a historic event that had not taken place since the 2014 war. The political chaos in Israel translates directly into the poor relations between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Benny Gantz, which augurs the possibility that a new government led by centrist leader Yair Lapid will be formed in the coming days. Israel has held four elections in two years without success or a political solution.
During the course of the day, Gantz approved the mobilisation of 5,000 reservists to reinforce the army's deployment in central Israel.
What is the birthplace of Christianity for Christians, the promised land for Jews and the destination where Mohammed rode into a dream for Muslims, is a land that has been the site of conflicts where conquerors and conquered have been alternating their flags in the name of a God who has not appealed to violence in any of the sacred commandments of the three monotheistic religions. However, these new attacks seem to foreshadow a new violent episode in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that begins to augur a fifth intifada.