YOSSI MELMAN:Palestinian rebellion underway/13- year-old Palestinian killed in clashes with security forces/Islamic Jihad threatens to renew suicide bombings against Israelis/Israeli aircraft strike Hamas terror targets in Gaza after rocket fire

Analysis: Palestinian rebellion underway
YOSSI MELMAN /J.Post/10/05/2015
The experts in the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the IDF, as well as media analysts, continue to argue over the definition. What should we call the violence? Intifada? Not an intifada? Grassroots terror? Stone intifada? The sad truth is that the name doesn’t matter. What’s important is the reality, and no less important – the recognition of that reality. And the reality is that the West Bank and Jerusalem are burning. They have been burning for several months, even for as long as a year. The Palestinians are on a path to confrontation. There are already clear signs of an uprising. It started with stone-throwing – an average of more than 100 incidents a month. And stones can kill, as we have seen on a few occasions in the past year, including in the latest incident in Jerusalem on Rosh Hashana eve. It continued with the addition of Molotov cocktail throwing – about 10-15 incidents a month. And most recently, there has been increased use of firearms and knives, as in the case of the murder of the Henkin family and the attack on Saturday in Jerusalem’s Old City. In short, the situation is extremely volatile. Any incident, even the most marginal, can turn into a strategic mega-terror attack that will draw an Israeli response which will send the situation spiraling out of control. We can only imagine the horror scenario that would have developed if the Henkin’s four children were killed along with their parents, or if Iron Dome were to miss a rocket from Gaza that lands on a southern town and causes multiple injuries. These are scenarios that could lead to an Operation Defensive Shield 2 or Operation Protective Edge 2. Not to mention what would happen if Jewish extremists were to carry out another terror attack like the murder of the Dawabshe family in Duma. The Israeli government continues to stick to the status quo as if nothing has changed. Some government ministers – chief among them Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked – have attacked the government for not doing enough. Meaning, they are blaming themselves for this helplessness without taking responsibility. At most, they offer solutions which are akin to offering chicken soup to a dead man or Tylenol to a cancer patient. Such as to increase the number of checkpoints or to prevent Palestinian cars from traveling on certain roads (which is a bad idea that will make it easier for terrorists, who will know that every attack is an attack on a Jewish car). These are the tactical solutions of the small-minded. There is no willingness to deal with the bigger picture – the strategic reality. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has extended his hand and offered Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to meet and start negotiations without pre-conditions. But we’ve already been in this movie. Abbas and the Palestinian leadership do not believe Netanyahu. They remember the Netanyahu that speaks in favor of the two-state solution, and later, prior to elections, takes it back, and has now once again gone back to the starting point. The Palestinians have had enough of these suggestions or minor “good will gestures.” They want to know where the negotiations will lead. Abbas and the Palestinians have also contributed to the situation. They did not take advantage of the settlement freeze some five years ago. Just like Israel, they are not willing to compromise. However, it is still a mistake for the Israeli government to take the position that there is no solution to the situation. It’s clear that the status quo is dying, one way or the other. It may be a massive Palestinian uprising or the resignation of Abbas, or the Palestinian Authority dismantling itself, or announcing the canceling of the Oslo Accords, as Abbas has threatened, or all of these things together, at the same time.

13- year-old Palestinian killed in clashes with security forces
Ynetnews/Elior Levy, Yoav Zitun/Published: 10.05.15/Palestinians claim Abdel Rahman Abdullah shot in chest during intense clashes between security forces and Palestinian rioters, marking the second Palestinian death in clashes since Sunday night. A 13-year-old Palestinian was killed in clashes with security forces Monday at the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem, marking the second Palestinian death in 24 hours of intense clashes.According to Palestinian sources Abdel Rahman Abdullah suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, and died soon thereafter at the nearby Beit Jala hospital. The IDF said in response that it was looking into reports that a Palestinian was killed by IDF gunfire, but mentioned that troops were actively attempting to suppress a violent and illegal protest in the area, during which rocks were thrown at security forces. The IDF was able to confirm that ruger rifle rounds had been used against a primary agitator, in addition to other non-lethal means. Military officials added that violent incidents have become a daily occurence in the area, including attacks perpetrated by Palestinians near Rachel’s Tomb and the Aida refugee camp, which included the throwing of an improvised explosive device at border patrol troops on Sunday night. Abdel Rahman Abdullah in the hospital after clashes with Israeli security forces. Abdel Rahman Abdullah in the hospital after clashes with Israeli security forces. Clashes in general have intensified in the past 24 hours, with security forces responding to several incidents across the West Bank. The deaths follow several particularly severe security incidents including a Thursday night attack during which a Palestinian assailant murdered Na’ama and Eitam Henkin in their car, in front of their children. Another attack took place in Jerusalem on Saturday night, when a Palestinian killed two Israelis and wounded two others, including an infant. Later that night, a Palestinian man stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli in Jerusalem’s Old City. Both assailants in the respective attacks were neutralized by security forces. The drastic decline in the security situation and increasing tensions over the temple mount during the Jewish holidays has lead many to speculate regarding a third Intifada, or Palestinian uprising. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday night that he had ordered new steps meant to prevent terrorism after a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Defense. The prime minister stated that, “We are waging a war to the death against Palestinian terrorism. I’ve ordered a series of additional steps in order to prevent terror and to deter and punish the attackers.”

Islamic Jihad threatens to renew suicide bombings against Israelis
JPOST.COM STAFF/10/05/2015/Amid an upsurge of violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank that has raised concerns over a possible Third Intifada, Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad on Sunday threatened to renew suicide bombing attacks against Israeli citizens and soldiers. A chilling video released by the group’s armed al-Quds Brigades entitled “Letter number 1,” shows a member of the group purportedly preparing for a suicide bombing – the gruesome act which claimed the lives of hundred of Israelis during the Second Intifada. In the professionally edited footage, which made rounds on social media on Sunday, sweeping views of the flashpoint Temple Mount compound and clips of turmoil are interspersed with frames of a terrorist assembling an explosive belt. The nearly minute-long video ends with the depicted terrorist, dressed in an IDF uniform with a large black backpack, approach a bus station and wait alongside Israeli soldiers as a bus approaches. The scene then fades out and the words “Al-Quds Brigades” and “Letter number 1” appear in bother Arabic and Hebrew, apparently as a seminal warning. The video was released after Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the killing of an off-duty IDF soldier and rabbi in the Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday. The Al-Quds Brigades labeled the attack as a “heroic attack.”Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced a series of punitive measures aimed at deterring Palestinians from carrying out attacks similar to the spate of deadly assaults which killed four Israelis in the last week.

Israeli aircraft strike Hamas terror targets in Gaza after rocket fire
J.Post/10/05/2015 /After two rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel late on Sunday night, the Israeli Air Force responded by targeting terror infrastructure belonging to Hamas in the northern part of the coastal Palestinian territory, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said. “The IDF will not tolerate such attacks from terror organizations on Israeli territory and it will continue to act firmly against any attempt to breach the quiet in the communities in the South,” an IDF statement read. The IDF said it held the Hamas terror organization responsible for the earlier rocket attacks. The Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade, a Salafist organization affiliated with Islamic State, claimed responsibility for the rocket attack on Israel. One of the rockets fired at Israel on Sunday exploded in an open area in Eshkol Regional Council, causing no injuries or damage, and the second failed to cross into Israel, though it triggered warning sirens. The rocket that failed to cross into Israel set off sirens in the Sha’ar Hanegev region, sending residents fleeing for cover. The rocket that did explode in Israel did not set off sirens as it was headed towards an unpopulated area, army sources said. This latest attack adds to the tensions that have risen to the surface in light of the Palestinian terrorist attacks that have claimed the lives of four Israelis in Jerusalem and the northern West Bank these past few days.Last month, the IAF struck targets in the Gaza Strip after a number of rockets were launched at western Negev towns.
**Noam Amir contributed to this report.