Israel and the West Bank
Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency reported that it had thwarted 480 Palestinian terrorist attacks targeting Israelis over the past year. Security officials monitor social media accounts, informants reports, and family connections feeding the data to complex artificial intelligence algorithms to help the government identify the most likely perpetrators of terrorist attacks.
An IDF soldier shot and killed a Palestinian brandishing a knife near the Elias Junction, east of Hebron on November 5. According to a military statement, troops saw the “terrorist attempting to stab civilians.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah II announced in late October he would not renew part of a 24-year-old peace agreement that allows Israel to annex two areas near the West Bank, know as Naharayim and Zofar.
Gaza
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terrorist group close to Iran, claimed responsibility for launching at least 20 rockets from Gaza into Israel on October 26. Iron Dome intercepted 10 of the projectiles with the other ones landing in uninhabited areas. The IDF initiated retaliatory airstrikes on the launch facilities, according to a government statement.
Mediators from the Egyptian government traveled to Gaza to defuse tensions between Israel and Hamas after months of Palestinian rioting at the border. A deal could include Israeli commitments to ease the movement of people and goods into the enclave in exchange for a halt to Palestinian violent protests at the border. The Cairo delegation also facilitated intra-Palestinian dialogue between Fatah and Hamas.
Hamas’s Qassam Brigades announced that one of its fighters was killed in an accidental explosion on November 1st. A Palestinian media source said Daoud Rezeq Eid Jneid unintentionally detonated a grenade at the Hamas defense headquarters in northern Gaza.
Haaretz reports that Israel will allow Qatar to transfer funds directly to Hamas, enabling the terrorist organization that runs Gaza to pay the salaries of specific civil services employees in the enclave. The Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority has refused to transfer money to the Islamist group to pay for government employees in Gaza due to an ongoing dispute about control over the territory.
Lebanon
Western diplomatic sources revealed that Israel’s deputy national security adviser warned Beirut that it should take action against Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure. According to the reports, Jerusalem has been closely watching Iran in Southern Lebanon as helps Hezbollah convert “dumb” rockets into guided missiles.
Golan Heights
Hundreds of members of the Arab-Druze community living in the Israeli Golan Heights city of Majdal Shams attempted to block roads leading municipal polling stations in late October as Israel held local elections. A vocal minority of Druze identify more with the Syrian nation-state and waved Syrian flags before police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
