Occupied Jerusalem -

The armed clash waged by Jerusalemite Fadi Abu Shkhaydam and the Israeli occupation forces - near Bab al-Silsila at the entrances to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque last Sunday - revived Israeli fears of the growing popularity of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the city of Jerusalem, where the outlet was identified as one of its prominent elements in the city. And the movement called him in an official statement.

Israeli talk about the movement’s popularity in Jerusalem has increased since the recent Israeli attack on Gaza, which came after the Palestinian resistance directed its missiles at Israeli targets in response to the settlers’ incursions into Al-Aqsa, and then widespread confrontations began in support of Jerusalem and a refusal to deport the residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood last May.

It reflects Israeli warnings of the rise of Hamas;

The conflict surrounding Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the need to defend it, which is believed to have been entrenched in the mentality of Palestinians and young people in particular, following the recent events in Jerusalem and with the escalation of the occupation authorities’ attacks on faction activists and youth movements against its measures to deport the residents of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods.

The Israeli political discourse has escalated talk about the growing popularity of Hamas in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa (Al-Jazeera)

Intimidation to strike the Islamic tide

Salih Lutfi, a researcher in Islamic movements, believes that the Israeli government deliberately at this stage talks about the escalation of Hamas' popularity in Jerusalem, in the context of intimidation and incitement that is consistent with its policy to confront the Islamic tide in historic Palestine, in preparation for striking it and setting it back decades.

Lutfi recalls the Israeli practices that - after the second intifada (from 2000 to 2004) - aimed at striking the Islamic project in Jerusalem and the Palestinian interior, closing and banning institutions and associations belonging to the Islamic movement that were active in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, and prosecuting and prosecuting its leaders and criminalizing their work.

According to the researcher, this policy was in harmony with the actions of the Palestinian Authority and its security services in dismantling the charitable societies that formed the civil and political infrastructure of Hamas in the West Bank.

Lutfi attributed the Israeli intimidation to the popularity of Hamas and intimidation of it, for internal reasons in the far-right government led by Naftali Bennett, which seeks to use the “scarecrow of the Islamic trend” to establish its status and necessity among the Israelis, as well as with the normalized Arab regimes, and with the American administration, which is the government described as “fragile.” and weak."

But on the other hand, Lutfi, a researcher in Israeli affairs, also believes that it is not possible to isolate the Israeli intimidation - which revolves around the growing popularity of Hamas and its incitement - from the populism that dominates the extreme right in Israel, which has become a major trend in power.

The researcher says that the Bennett government is in harmony with the active settlement associations in Jerusalem, and with their agenda, plans and ideologies that depend on the ideology and current of religious Zionism.

Therefore, Lutfi believes that the Israeli incitement against the Islamic movement in Jerusalem aims to impose occupational, Judaizing and settlement policies in the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque and to implement plans for displacement and demolition in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan.

He stressed that "the Islamic presence in Jerusalem and Palestine in general is very strong and is not linked to one faction over another."

Lutfi does not rule out that the occupation authorities will continue to take harsh measures against Hamas in the coming days, especially in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the interior, which will necessitate confrontation with the Palestinians, which may escalate at an unprecedented pace.


The escalation of the conflict in Jerusalem

From an Israeli point of view, Yoav Shtern - the Israeli journalist specializing in Arab and Palestinian affairs - believes that the armed clash carried out by the Jerusalemite Fadi Abu Shchedim - whom Hamas said is one of its supporters - indicates an unprecedented escalation in the pace of the conflict between Hamas and Israel in Jerusalem.

Shtern says - to Al Jazeera Net - that "the growth of this conflict was reflected in the recent war on Gaza, which was sparked by Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and "Sheikh Jarrah", adding that "Hamas had the final say, and the Bab Al-Silsila operation confirmed its growing popularity in the city."

Shtern described the operation as "qualitative" and "different from its predecessors", as it came in the manner of an armed clash between the Israeli forces and the perpetrator of the operation, who used weapons and live bullets, killing and wounding Israelis, in contrast to previous operations in which Palestinian attackers used knives without being able to inflict dead.

According to Shtern, the Israeli security establishment considers this qualitative shift in the form of Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem extremely dangerous.

He says that "the Bab al-Silsila operation was planned by a person affiliated with Hamas, who was at the same time a teacher in a school affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Education and under the supervision of the Jerusalem Municipality (an Israeli administration), while the previous operations were carried out without planning and spontaneously, and most of them were thwarted by the Israeli police."

The clash in which Abu Shkhaydam led to his death after he killed a settler and wounded 4 others in the Old City (Reuters)

intelligence failure

It is true that the process reflects from the Israeli point of view - according to Shtern - a fundamental change in Hamas' plan to manage the conflict in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, "but this does not mean the movement's dominance over the Jerusalem scene, as he says.

Shtern added, "For the Israelis, there is a consensus that the success of the operation came due to an intelligence failure that prevented it from being foiled."

However, the Israeli journalist believes that what is happening in Old Jerusalem, in particular, is an attempt by Hamas to change the equation and the balance of power and enhance its penetration among Jerusalemites, while Israel seeks to tighten its control and promote the unchallenged imposition of its sovereignty in Greater Jerusalem.

Shtern believes that this conflict will intensify and intensify, but until then he believes that every pole in it, whether Hamas or the Israeli security establishment, will seek to achieve achievements on the ground and establish its presence and presence.

The Israeli journalist ruled out that any party would be able to finally settle the conflict in his favor in Jerusalem, stressing that the Israeli security services will intensify their campaigns against Hamas elements in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and will severely strike the Palestinian organizations "which pose a threat to Israeli national security."