Journalist and political analyst Nawaf al-Amer predicted that in its response to the qualitative escalation of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank, Israel will avoid a military operation that could make the Palestinian resistance forces an alternative to the PA.
Al-Amer said that Israel will not respond to the resistance operations with a military operation that may lead to a reversal of the situation in the Palestinian political arena, knowing that the other alternative will be the resistance forces, saying that the expected operation will be less than the operation "defensive wall" and more than the operation "breakwater".
For his part, military and strategic expert Major General Fayez al-Duwairi ruled out Israel's resort to a large-scale military operation, attributing the reason to the Israeli government's keenness not to overthrow the Palestinian National Authority, pointing out that there is a division within Israel over the way to respond to Palestinian resistance operations, as the Israeli army is reticent to launch an expanded military operation in the northern West Bank, while the political house is witnessing a division in this regard.
Despite the Israeli security grip on the ground and the incitement rhetoric by the far-right government, the Palestinian resistance was able to carry out qualitative operations, the latest of which was an attack in the settlement of "Eli" in the West Bank, in which 4 Israelis were killed and 4 others were injured.
Commenting on the performance of the Palestinian resistance, Al-Duwairi said – in his interview with the episode (2023/6/21) of the program "Beyond the News" – that the resistance expanded the framework of its operations in 2023, so that it became higher and more dangerous compared to the previous years, and imposed itself on the interior, on the regional agenda and on the Palestinian National Authority, which made its popular incubator increase and expand.
Al-Duwairi spoke about the Jenin Brigade, the Lions Den and other organizations that he said were out of the factions' mantle, but they need organization, mature leaders and national policies, while stressing that resistance action is against the direction of the authority.
There is no harmony between power and resistance
Nawaf al-Amer went in the same direction by saying that the political incubator of the Palestinian resistance is not available in light of the PA's bet on the settlement project, and its belief that the idea of resistance poses a threat to its project, ruling out in the same context the possibility of unifying political efforts with the resistance or harmony between them at this stage, considering that the settlement option was not a popular, national or factional option, and by virtue of the regional and international pressures exerted on the authority of Mahmoud Abbas.
While describing the PA as a functional authority under the Oslo Accords, and that it is under external pressure and receives instructions and orders, the "Beyond the News" guest called for the Palestinian resistance to be mature, aware of what it is doing, and where it is going.
Dan Shaftan, head of the Center for National Security Studies at the University of Haifa, told Beyond the News that Israel would suppress Palestinian operations in the West Bank, accusing Palestinians of using "violence."
It is noteworthy that the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the death of a Palestinian in the settler attacks on Turmus'ayya (northeast of Ramallah). While Al Jazeera correspondent reported that large numbers of armed settlers attacked this town on Wednesday afternoon and burned a number of houses and vehicles, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces.