Israel and the West Bank
Palestinian violence against Israelis entered its third month with continued riots, stone throwing and unrest. According to the IDF, since September 14th there have been 65 stabbings, eight shootings, and eight car rammings. The Israeli army extended its heightened presence in areas around Hebron, with added foot patrols, checkpoints, and night time raids.
The Knesset passed stricter penalties for Palestinians accused of throwing rocks at Israeli security personnel in hopes of deterring future riots. Stone throwers could face up to three years in prison and lose access to social security benefits. The parents of minors accused of throwing stones could also lose benefits if a child is convicted.
A Palestinian gunman killed two Israelis when he shot the vehicle they were traveling in near Hebron on November 13th. The Rabbi and his son were traveling to the settlement of Othniel with three other people in their car. Shin Bet arrested Shadi Ahmed Mataua, 28, for the murders a few days later in an evening raid on his home, recovering the gun used in the attack.
Israeli soldiers stand at the scene of a Palestinian shooting attack near the West Bank city of Hebron on November 13, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) |
Shin Bet, the IDF, and the Israeli police performed an overnight raid on November 9th in the West Bank city of Qalqilya, capturing 24 Hamas operatives accused of planning terrorist attacks. The government declined to release the names of those detained but also seized $9,000 in the raid.
Israeli security forces intercepted a shipment of the banned chemical TDI at the West Bank crossing of Tarqumia on suspicion that it would be used to make rocket fuel in Gaza. Over 118 gallons of the dual-use liquid was registered as soybean oil.
IDF troops shot and killed three Palestinians during an exchange of gunfire in the West Bank town of Kalandiya. The Israeli military’s engineering unit was destroying the home of Mohammed Abu Shaheen at the time. Shaheen had been part of a Hamas terror cell responsible for shooting and killing Israeli citizen Danny Gonen earlier this year, as well as other attacks against Jews.
Gaza
The Israeli Air Force launched retaliatory airstrikes against Hamas terror infrastructure in Gaza after militants launched a rocket from the enclave on November 8th. The projectile landed in the Shaar Hanegev region but there was no reported damage or injuries. Iron Dome intercepted another rocket launched from Gaza towards the same area on November 17th.
A member of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, died in an apparent explosion on November 15th. Amir Hamad al-Zaharani, 25, was killed and three others injured when a rocket-propelled grenade they were working with detonated.
Sinai
A suicide bombing on November 4th killed four police officers in North Sinai’s provincial capital of el-Arish. Islamic State took responsibility for the bombing, which injured five other civilians, according to local reporters.
Egyptian police killed Ashraf al-Gharabli, a suspected leader in the Islamic State’s Sinai branch, as they executed an arrest warrant for him in northern Cairo on November 9th.
The Egyptian military announced it had destroyed the entrance to more than 24 tunnels leading to Gaza in a renewed crackdown. The army often plants explosives or floods the underground passageways with water to prevent Hamas and other armed groups from smuggling people, goods, or weapons.
Islamic State’s Sinai branch released a 14-minute video online titled “And Then They Will Be Vanquished” that showed a masked man threatening the Egyptian military. The unknown man says Israel uses the Egyptian government as a tool against Islam and promised to target future attacks at Jews.
Unknown terrorists shot and killed seven men and a four-year-old child in el-Arish on November 11th. A source said that the civilians had been cooperating with security forces in the area.
Egyptian police recovered the bodies of 15 African migrants who were reportedly shot near the border town of Rafah on November 15th. Eight people, who are believed to be Sudanese, survived the incident and authorities claim to be investigating the attack.
An official with the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health said that an 18-year-old fisherman was shot and killed by the Egyptian navy as the man worked “normally” at sea on November 5th.
Reuters reported that Egyptian security officials said that they killed 24 Islamic State members and captured eight others who found hiding inside a cave. However, a military spokesman denied the incident took place.
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo warned its staff not to travel to Sinai as a “precautionary measure” following the bombing of Metrojet flight 9268.
