(Jerusalem) After attacks that left 11 dead in the past two weeks in Israel, some of which are linked to the Islamic State (IS) organization, Israeli forces have stepped up raids and placed themselves on high alert for Ramadan , the month of Muslim fasting that began this weekend.
Posted at 8:33 a.m.
Why these fears around Ramadan?
Every evening, tens of thousands of faithful gather on the esplanade of the Mosques of Jerusalem for the tarawih, night prayers specific to the month of Ramadan.
Third holiest site in Islam, the esplanade of the Mosques – also called Temple Mount by the Jews – is located in the Old City in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian sector occupied since 1967 by Israel which remains the scene of clashes between police Israelis and Palestinian protesters.
Last year during Ramadan, nocturnal demonstrations in Jerusalem and clashes even on the esplanade had turned into 11 days of war between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, and Israel.
This year, the first nocturnal demonstrations left a dozen injured and came just after a wave of anti-Israeli attacks, including two linked to IS.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who spoke Tuesday evening with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the occasion of Ramadan, said that this period should be “a time of peace and serenity and not terror”.
What is the Hamas/Israel situation a year after the war?
Since the May 2021 war, rocket fire from Gaza has dropped drastically and the new Israeli government has increased the number of work permits in Israel for Palestinians from this territory under Israeli blockade and unemployed to around 50%.
Last week, the government announced that it would increase the number of permits from 12,000 to 20,000, hoping to breathe new life into Gaza’s economy, but also to push Hamas to avoid a new confrontation.
“We will implement (these measures) only if the security situation stabilizes again,” Israel’s defense minister said this weekend.
“I don’t believe there is an appetite on the part of Hamas for a confrontation, but the Islamic Jihad (another Palestinian armed group) is an unforeseen factor and I have more confidence that Hamas is trying to avoid an escalation than Islamic Jihad,” said an Israeli security source.
Why this emphasis on Islamic Jihad?
In the wake of an attack last week near Tel Aviv, which killed five people, Israeli forces carried out operations in and around Jenin, an area in the northern West Bank where the assailant was from.
In Jenin, Islamic Jihad has many fighters, at least three of whom were killed in exchanges of fire linked to Israeli raids.
This organization, described as terrorist by the United States and the EU in the same way as Hamas, has its headquarters in Syria and has close ties with Iran, considered by the Jewish state as its main financial support.
Established in the occupied West Bank, the Islamic Jihad also has thousands of members in the Gaza Strip without however managing the local government under the control of Hamas.
If Israel carries out new operations, “it risks leading to a military escalation, in particular with the Islamic Jihad, but I believe that it would be a slight escalation, because Hamas does not want a new confrontation”, underlines Moukhaimer Abou Saada, professor of political science at Al-Azhar University in Gaza.
Analysts are divided on whether Islamic Jihad could enable Israel’s enemy Iran to increase pressure to raise the stakes for renegotiating its nuclear program deal with the Israelis. Westerners.
Why this diplomatic ballet with Jordan?
Over the past week, the Israeli president and defense minister have traveled to Jordan to discuss with King Abdullah II, who has met the Palestinian president in Ramallah.
Jordan manages the Muslim holy places of the Old City such as the esplanade of the Mosques, access to which is however controlled by Israel. These exchanges aim to guarantee both freedom of worship and the security of the premises, and seek to prevent clashes from leading to a new military escalation.