Today, Friday, the Israeli occupation forces carried out a new campaign of arrests in the West Bank, while American intelligence sees incidents in the Palestinian territories similar to what happened during the second intifada more than 20 years ago.

The campaign took place in separate areas of the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, and resulted in the arrest of 8 Palestinians. The Israeli army said that its forces, in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet) and the border guards of the Israeli police, were searching for what it described as suspects.

In turn, the Palestinian News Agency said that the eight Palestinians were arrested in the areas of Jenin, Tulkom, Hebron and Jericho, after their homes were raided and searched.

The agency added that clashes broke out between Palestinians and the occupation forces in the Arroub camp, north of Hebron, and in the Aqbat Jaber camp, south of Jericho.

Limited clashes also erupted near the Shuafat military checkpoint, east of occupied Jerusalem, where young demonstrators fired fireworks near an Israeli military tower.

The new arrests come as the atmosphere of escalation still hangs over the Palestinian territories following the recent Israeli operations that left martyrs in the Jenin camp and other areas, which were followed by two operations in occupied Jerusalem that left Israelis dead and injured.

In Gaza, on Thursday, Israeli planes bombed resistance sites, and the latter responded by bombing the settlements around the Gaza Strip with several missiles.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Israel and the Palestinian territories this week, and called for calm and an end to escalation.

The second intifada

Meanwhile, CIA Director William Burns said Thursday that his recent talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders have made him more concerned about the potential for violence between the two sides.

Israeli police arrest a Palestinian in the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem (French)

Burns added during a speech at Georgetown University in Washington that he is also concerned that what is happening today bears many similarities to the facts of the second Palestinian intifada.

For her part, Victoria Nuland, US Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs, said that the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories is worrying.

In response to a question about discussing US security plans with the Palestinians, Nuland said that the Americans discussed with the Israelis and Palestinians strengthening security aspects in the West Bank.

In the context, the White House said in a statement that US President Joe Biden discussed with Jordanian King Abdullah II yesterday, Thursday, at the White House, mechanisms to reduce tensions, especially in the West Bank, adding that Biden reaffirmed the US position strongly supporting the two-state solution.

According to the statement, the US President stressed the urgent need to preserve the historical status quo in the holy sites in Jerusalem.

Palestinian exile

In turn, Ahmed Al-Deek, the advisor to the Palestinian Foreign Minister, denied that the US Secretary of State had put forward any security plan or initiative to stop the escalation during his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last Tuesday in Ramallah.

Burns (left) met with Abbas in Ramallah and discussed ways to stop the escalation in the Palestinian territories (Anadolu Agency)

Al-Deek said in contact with Al-Jazeera that Abbas assured Blinken of his adherence to the need to stop the "unilateral and retaliatory" Israeli measures, including the killing of Palestinians, the invasions, the "piracy" of Palestinian funds and the demolition of homes.

Yesterday, Thursday, the Axios website quoted US and Israeli officials as saying that the US Secretary of State pressured the Palestinian President to accept and implement an American security plan during his visit.

According to Axios, the plan aims to restore Palestinian Authority control over the cities of Jenin and Nablus in the northern West Bank, and includes training a special Palestinian force that will be deployed in this area to confront what it called militias.

The site stated that the Israelis supported the American plan, while Palestinian officials had reservations about it because it did not contain demands from Israel to reduce its army's incursion into Palestinian cities.

In response to the recent Jenin camp massacre - in which 10 Palestinians were killed - the Palestinian Authority announced that it had stopped coordination with the Israeli side.