Israel

During the month of September, the MENA region has witnessed some political unrest and instability, most notably in Jordan, Egypt and Israel. In Jordan and Egypt, people have been taking to the streets and protesting against the countries’ worsening economic conditions. In Israel, the crime rate is increasing with as many as four murders happening in a single day. 

In this blog, we go over the major incidents that occurred in Jordan, Egypt and Israel during this month with the aim of providing an incident and security response recap. 

During the past 5 years, crime rate has drastically increased in the Arab communities in Israel, and though there has not been much change in the past 2 years, crime rate percentage is alarmingly high. 

The Israeli legislative elections are to be held on September 17th, 2019 after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government in April 2019. Netanyahu was able to secure 60 seats in the Knesset but failed to reach the required number of seats (61) to form a government.

Related: Israeli Elections 2019: What Effect Will It Have On Regional Strategy?

Hezbollah field commanders announced on August 31^st that they were ready to take action in response to an attack by Israeli drones the previous week in Al Dahieh district of Beirut, Lebanon. According to Israeli reports, the attack drone allegedly hit a missile factory belonging to Hezbollah.

The clashes began on the 3^rd of May, 2019 after two Israeli soldiers were injured and four Palestinians were killed during the weekly protests at the Gaza-Israel border. The clashes entailed hundreds of rockets being launched from Gaza and numerous more targeted by Israeli Forces within the Gaza Strip. Israel also increased its military presence near the border in response. Eventually a ceasefire agreement went into effect on May 6^th, 2019. The exchanges of fire are outlined in greater detail below:

Friday, 3^rd of May

Israel’s general election is coming up on April 9^th and it could possibly facilitate a new era of politics in the region. Despite the fact that popular opinion still generally favors Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ruling center-right coalition, an opportunity for center-left challenger Benny Gantz rises in the midst of growing discontent. Whoever wins, however, will need to deal with brewing threats from Iran, Hezbollah and Palestine that could escalate to a major conflict as well as increasing criticism from U.S. Politicians regarding Israel’s ties with China.

On January 26th, Jordanian liaison officers delayed hundreds of Israeli tourists from entering the Baqoura/Naharayim site, while other sources reported that tourists were completely banned from entering the town. The incident followed Jordan’s announcement that was reported in October of 2018; of not renewing the lease in which grants Israeli farmers and military officers free access to Al-Baqoura which is a site adjacent to the Israeli-Jordanian Northern border. 

In 2018 RedCrow’s system recorded more than 500 incidents of settler-related “nationalist crimes” against Palestinians in the West Bank. Such incidents include vandalism, violence, and destruction of olive trees. Until mid-Dec 2018, there were 482 incidents of politically motivated crimes committed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) compared to 140 in 2017. It’s the highest number of incidents in four years.

On Friday, Jan 11th, 2019, Israeli warplanes launched multiple missiles towards Damascus. According to a Syrian military source, the attack took place at 11:15 PM (2115 GMT) when Israeli warplanes coming from the direction of the Galilee fired several missiles towards the vicinity of Damascus. The source claimed most of the missiles were intercepted by the Syrian air defense system and that the airstrike caused damage but no casualties. said a “ministry of transport warehouse at Damascus International Airport” was hit.

Executive Summary

On Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018, seven Israeli settlers were wounded near the settlement of Ofra NE Ramallah in a drive-by shooting. A footage of the shooting showed a moving vehicle slowing down and targeting settlers on the junction near the entrance of the settlement. After shots were fired from the vehicle, Israeli soldiers fired back at the car, which then fled and continued north on Route 60. This incident triggered a massive manhunt in search of the gunmen in nearby villages and even in Ramallah.