AMMAN —
Diplomatic efforts to ensure a calm
Ramadan this year in the occupied Palestinian
territories failed to prevent a new cycle of violence from breaking out.
اضافة اعلان
Following a series
of attacks by
Palestinians, carried out inside Israel in the past few weeks by
lone attackers with no clear affiliation to militant groups, Israel launched a
wide-ranging “security” operation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem earlier
this week. So far, the Israeli operation has resulted in the killing of at
least four Palestinians, including two women, and the arrest of more than 100
Palestinians. Israel is also threatening to storm the Jenin refugee camp at any
moment, but the most serious escalation could take place late Thursday and
early Friday as radical Jewish settlers and politicians have called for
storming
Al-Aqsa Mosque to mark the Jewish Passover.
This would be a
recipe for carnage, observers say.
Professor of
international relations and conflict resolution Hasan Al- Momani told Jordan
News that there is a fertile ground for escalations that would lead to a
military confrontation, but it is difficult to predict whether a confrontation
will be triggered by another “lone wolf” Palestinian attacker or if the Israeli
response will spark a violent Palestinian reaction.
“There have always
been Israeli provocations, either by government forces or by Jewish extremist
groups, at Al Aqsa Mosque, which always create tension. As we saw last year,
there was a military confrontation between Hamas and Israel due to the events
at Al-Aqsa mosque,” Momani said.
He added that
Jerusalem is always at the center of tensions as both Israelis and Palestinians
see the city and holy places as a test for legitimacy.
Momani added that
Israeli extremist groups are interested in increasing tensions and creating a
new reality in Jerusalem and at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The current
Israeli government, he said, might not be able to control these extremist
groups since far-right Prime Minister Naftali Bennett wants to save his
coalition and the only way to do that is by appeasing these groups.
According to
Momani, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is being marginalized, especially now
that the West is busy with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Political analyst
Amer Al-Sabaileh told Jordan News that there is a real danger of war breaking
out “due to escalations and violations”. He noted that some Jewish groups want
to use religious festivities to create political and religious crises, “which
could result in a confrontation”.
“All previous
diplomatic efforts were good, but not enough to affect the ambiguous scene in
Palestine and Israel,” Sabaileh said.
He added that the
international community is currently occupied with the Ukrainian conflict,
“therefore the Palestinian-Israeli issue might not be at the center of
attention. However, there could be attempts by the international community to
calm the situation down”.
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