The Palestinian Statehood Bid: Preparing For Violent Unrest

The Palestinian Statehood Bid: Preparing For Violent Unrest

by Sarah Ann Haves

EXCLUSIVE

This week the world is focused on deliberations being
conducted at the United Nations in N.Y., trying to determine the outcome of the
proposed Palestinian bid for statehood. 
Few are paying attention to what will happen after international leaders
have packed their bags and gone home. 
Few are concerned by the increased level of protests by both
Palestinians and Israelis living in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and East
Jerusalem. 

The international press corps has paid little attention to
the IDF call-up of reservists who are preparing for emergency orders. And,
there have been few reports about IDF troops training in riot control in the
event of possible violent activity leading to a Palestinian third Intifada
(uprising). 

All eyes, instead, are looking at the diplomatic war
currently going on in N.Y., and not the military conflict that could follow
closely on its heels. Behind the scenes in Israel, with tensions running high,
the IDF is feverishly trying to coordinate its military operations in the
territories because IDF commanders want to prevent an outbreak in hostilities
as a result of unmet expectations on both sides of the conflict. 

Not only have the Palestinians become emboldened by the
prospect of international approval of statehood, Israeli Arabs living inside
villages and towns within the Jewish state are showing signs of aggression,
too.

While the world observes various statesmen arriving in N.Y.,
more and more Hamas flags are being raised in Hebron. The city is already at a
boiling point of unrest between Israelis and Palestinians living there.  The introduction of new terrorist cells into
an already fragile street scene in Hebron could cause an eruption that would be
hard to contain by IDF troops operating inside the city.

Though there hasn’t been true unity between the Palestinians
in the West Bank and those living in Gaza, Hamas has been given greater freedom
to roam the streets of Hebron which is under partial Palestinian control. Since
the so-called unity agreement between Fatah and Hamas was signed earlier this
year, the Palestinians have begun to turn a blind eye towards the formation of
new terror cells that want to renew suicide bombings against Israel.

In June of this year, Israel’s security services, in
coordination with the IDF, exposed a Hamas terror cell in Hebron that was in
its final stage of preparing a terrorist attack against Israeli citizens.  The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, a military
wing of Hamas, directed the operations of the Hebron terror cell.  The cell had been instructed to try and
kidnap an Israeli soldier as a bargaining chip. They were also waiting to be
equipped with weapons that would help them carry out the attack. These weapons
were to be smuggled into Hebron from the Gaza Strip via the Sinai in
Egypt.  Israeli forces caught wind of the
impending attack because there are still IDF troops operating in the West Bank
in areas that are under joint Israeli-Palestinian control.  These troops are able to get the intelligence
needed to stop a terrorist attack, even in its final stage.

Information released by the Israeli Intelligence and
Terrorism Information Center revealed that the Hebron network also had a branch
in Jerusalem. This is the same terror cell that conducted a terrorist attack at
a bus station near the International Convention Center in Jerusalem on March
23, 2011. A British Christian was killed and 47 Israeli citizens were injured.

On August 21, 2011, one of the terrorist cells operating in
Jerusalem planned to carry out a suicide bombing in the northern Jerusalem
neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev.  The
would-be suicide bomber was detained by Israeli security forces on the Temple
Mount. In a home in East Jerusalem, the security forces found a large explosive
charge that consisted of a fire extinguisher covered in metal pellets and
filled with explosives.  This was what
the suicide bomber planned to use in his assault.  The same Jerusalem terror cell he was involved
in was planning to conduct shooting attacks in the Gush Etzion area, including
attempted kidnappings of Israelis living there.

Dozens of Hamas members operating inside Hebron and
Jerusalem have now been detained as a result of their planned terror operations
against Israeli civilian population centers. 
Interrogation of these cell members has shown that some of the
logistical assistance was provided by Hamas headquarters in Syria, as well as in
the Gaza Strip. 

A disturbing factor is that recruiting and operations for
the terrorist attacks were being directed by a Hamas military operative
currently residing in Saudi Arabia.   It proves that these are not isolated plans by
lone haters of Israel, but well-developed and coordinated actions conducted by
those with ties to Sunni radical Islamists.

It is apparent that these terror groups who support jihad against Israel are planning a
hostile takeover of West Bank cities and towns. 
They could initiate provocations during popular demonstrations by Palestinians
supporting statehood, and by Israelis opposing it. They could also try and
carry out a suicide bombing to draw attention away from future Palestinian
diplomatic activity towards statehood.

What’s important to clarify is that these terror groups, operating
under the direction of militant Sunni leaders, want to destroy Israel. They are
not interested in a peaceful solution of the Middle East conflict; nor do they
care about a partial diplomatic solution that might help Palestinians living in
the West Bank and East Jerusalem fulfill their dream of statehood.

So while international leaders in New York are engaged in
discussions at the UN, looking to see which nation will vote in favor of
Palestinian statehood, and which nation will not, the world should not lose
focus on what could happen the day after these deliberations are completed.  It could be an explosive outcome that many aren’t
prepared for.  It could turn the current
diplomacy into a powder keg of violence, furthering instability in the Middle
East. This would increase the bloodshed and suffering already being experienced
by people living in the region.

“Do not keep silent, O God!  Do not hold Your peace; and do not be still,
O God!  For behold, Your enemies make a
tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken
crafty counsel against Your people.  And
consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, ‘Come and let
us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered
no more.’ For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a
confederacy against You.”     

Psalm 83:1-5

Ms. Haves is a news analyst, reporting on political, diplomatic, military and spiritual issues in Israel and the nations.

(c) 2011 Messianic Vision all rights reserved. This article is not reproducible except with permisson from Messianic Vision.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright ©1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.