Ain El-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon. (Photo: via UNRWA website)
– Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is “Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak out”. Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website iswww.ramzybaroud.net
Trapped in the middle are 120 thousand people, the estimated population of Ain Al-Hilweh – and, by extension, all of Lebanon’s Palestinian refugees.
Ain Al-Hilweh is known as the “Capital of Palestinian Shatat.”
The term might not stir many emotions among those who do not fully understand, let alone experience the harrowing existence of ethnic cleansing and perpetual exile – and the tremendous violence which followed.
‘Shatat‘ is roughly translated into “exile” or “Diaspora”. However, the meaning is much more complex. It can only be understood through lived experience. Even then, it is still not easy to communicate. Perhaps, the Kafkaesque blocks of concrete, zinc and rubble, towered one on top of another and serving as ‘temporary shelters’ for tens of thousands of people, tell a small part of the story.
On July 30, violence in the extremely crowded Palestinian camp resumed, interrupted briefly after the intervention of the Palestinian Joint Action Authority, then resumed, harvesting the lives of 13 people, and counting. Scores more were injured and thousands have fled.
Yet, the majority of the refugees stayed, because several generations of Palestinians in Ain Al-Hilweh understand that there is a point where running away serves no purpose, for it neither guarantees life nor even a dignified death. The massacres of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in September 1982 were a testament to this collective realization.
Before writing this, I spoke to several people in South Lebanon and sorted through many articles and reports describing what is taking place in the camp now. Yet the truth is still blurry, or, at best, selective.
Many in Arabic media have largely relegated Ain Al-Hilweh to a symbolic representation of a rooted Palestinian pain.
Mainstream Western media was hardly concerned about Palestinian pain but focused mostly on the ‘lawlessness’ of the camp, the fact that it exists outside the legal jurisdiction of the Lebanese army, and the proliferation of weapons among Palestinian and other factions, who are engaged in seemingly endless, and supposedly inexplicable infighting.
But Ain Al-Hilweh, like the 11 other Palestinian refugee encampments in Lebanon, is a story of something else entirely, more urgent than mere symbolism, and more rational than being the outcome of lawless refugees.
It is essentially the story of Palestine, or rather, the destruction of Palestine at the hands of Zionist militias in 1947-48. It is a story of contradictions, pride, shame, hope, despair, and, ultimately, betrayal.
It is not easy to follow the timeline prior to the latest round of violence. Some suggest that the fighting began when an assassination attempt – blamed on Fatah fighters in the camp – was carried out against a leader of a rival Islamist group.
The attempt failed and was followed by an ambush, carried out by alleged Islamists who killed a top Fatah commander and several of his bodyguards.
Others suggest that the assassination of the General of the Palestinian National Security, Abu Ashraf Al-Armoushi was completely unprovoked.
Yet others, including Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, blamed outside forces and their “repeated attempts to use Lebanon as a battleground for the settling of scores.”
But who are these entities, and what is the point of such meddling?
It gets murkier. Though impoverished and overcrowded, Ain Al-Hilweh, like other Palestinian camps, is a greatly contested political space. In theory, these camps are meant to solidify and protect the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees. In practice, they are also used to undermine this internationally enshrined right.
The Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, for example, wants to ensure Fatah loyalists dominate the camp, hence laboring to deny Palestinian rivals any role in South Lebanon.
Fatah is the largest Palestinian group within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It dominates both the PLO and the Palestinian Authority. In the past, the group lost its dominance over Ain Al-Hilweh and other camps. For Fatah in Lebanon, it is a constant struggle for relevance.
Ain Al-Hilweh is important for the PA even though the PLO under Abbas’ leadership has largely disowned the refugees of South Lebanon and their Right of Return; it has focused mostly on governing specific regions in the West Bank under the auspices of the Israeli occupation.
Yet, Lebanon’s refugees remain important for the PA for two main reasons: one, as a source of validation for Fatah and, two, to stave off any criticism of, let alone resistance to, the Western-backed Palestinian camp, in Lebanon and everywhere else.
Throughout the years, hundreds of Ain Al-Hilweh refugees were killed in Israeli bombings, but also Palestinian-Lebanese and Palestinian-Palestinian infighting.
Israel did much of the killings to ensure Palestinian resistance in Lebanon is eliminated at the source.
The rest of the violence was carried out by groups that sought dominance and power, sometimes for their own sake, but often as proxy militias for outside powers.
Trapped in the middle are 120 thousand people, the estimated population of Ain Al-Hilweh – and, by extension, all of Lebanon’s Palestinian refugees.
Not all Ain Al-Hilweh’s inhabitants are registered Palestinian refugees. The latter is estimated by the UN refugee agency, UNRWA, at approximately 63,000. The rest fled there following the Syrian war, which swelled the population of the Lebanon camps and heightened existing tensions.
The entrapments of refugees, however, are manifold: the actual physical confinement dictated by the lack of opportunities and acceptance in mainstream Lebanese society; the great risks of leaving Lebanon as undocumented refugees smuggled across the Mediterranean, and the feeling, especially among the older generations, that leaving the camps is tantamount to the betrayal of the Right of Return.
All of this is happening in a political context, where the Palestinian leadership has completely removed the refugees from its calculations, where the PA only sees the refugees as pawns in a power play between Fatah and its rivals.
For decades, Israel has sought to dismiss the discussion on Palestinian refugees and their Right of Return. Its constant attacks on Palestinian refugee camps in Palestine itself, and its interest in what is taking place in the Shatat is part of its quest to shake the very foundation of the Palestinian cause.
Infighting in Ain Al-Hilweh, if not brought under total and lasting control, might eventually get Israel exactly what it wants: presenting Palestinian refugees as a liability to host countries and, ultimately, destroying the ‘Capital of Shatat‘, along with the hope of four generations of Palestinian refugees to, someday, go back home.
Ain al-Hilweh camp witnessed today a series of hit-and-run operations between factions affiliated with “Fatah” and Islamic groups along the Hittin axis.
These confrontations involved the use of machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, with one such rocket landing near the camp’s eastern highway. This highway, which connects the city to the south, has been temporarily closed to vehicular traffic due to the ongoing conflict.
Additionally, several rocket shells exploded over the airspace of Sidon, affecting areas like Darb al-Sim and Sirop. Unfortunately, stray bullets from the skirmishes led to an injury sustained by a civilian named Adnan al-Zaknoun in the Ain al-Hilweh reconstruction area. Furthermore, a vehicle was also struck in the Sidon neighborhood.
A number of Lebanese Army soldiers were injured as a result of a bombshell falling on their post in Jabal Al-Halib, and they were transferred to hospital for treatment while the army responded to the source of fire.
The Army Command had previously warned against targeting army positions during clashes inside Ain al-Hilweh camp, otherwise it would respond to the fire source.
Rocket shells and stray bullets have landed perilously close to areas neighboring the combat zones. An incident on the eastern highway resulted in its temporary closure as a precautionary measure, while a Lebanese citizen in the Taamir Ain al-Hilweh area was injured by stray bullets.
The security situation in Ain El-Hilweh camp remains tense, with sporadic clashes persisting until midnight on Sunday. A brief four-hour pause in hostilities followed, only to resume at four in the morning.
Diplomatic Efforts
These clashes persist despite extensive efforts and high-level diplomatic contacts. Numerous meetings, chaired by Palestinian Ambassador Ashraf Dabour, were held late into the night in an attempt to mediate a resolution.
The confrontations are primarily concentrated in the western axis of the camp, specifically in the Hittin Jabal al-Halib neighborhood.
The repercussions have extended beyond the camp’s borders, with shells impacting nearby areas, resulting in more casualties, material damage, and increased displacement of camp residents toward safer zones within the city of Sidon.
Moreover, several projectiles have overshot the battle zone, landing in the vicinity of the Lebanese University’s southern entrance in Sidon.
Palestinian medical sources have reported casualties among both combatants and civilians involved in the ongoing confrontations within Ain al-Hilweh camp. These individuals have been distributed among Al-Hamshari and Al-Rai hospitals, as well as within the camp itself.
In response to these developments, Major General Elias Al-Bisari, Acting Director General of Public Security, has urgently called for an emergency meeting at the General Directorate’s headquarters. This meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. The aim is to address the security situation in Ain al-Hilweh camp, especially in light of the absence of progress from previous negotiations and discussions in quelling the violence.
In a significant development, the municipality of Sidon has dismantled a recently established camp within the city. This camp was set up under the supervision of UNRWA to accommodate Palestinian refugees displaced by the clashes in Ain al-Hilweh camp. Its establishment had sparked political, ministerial, and security concerns regarding the potential long-term implications of such a camp’s presence at the northern entrance of Sidon.
Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, expressed his deep concern over the situation unfolding in Ain al-Hilweh camp.
Speaking during the annual general meeting of the Islamic Religious Education Association in Baalbek, Sheikh Qassem emphasized the urgent need for stability in the camps.
He called upon all residents to unite in support of the Palestinian cause and to actively mobilize against the common adversary, the Israeli enemy.
The recent outbreak of violence in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp has sparked debate on security concerns, external machinations, Palestinian civil rights, and the fundamental question of the right to return.
The deadly clashes that erupted in late July in the Ain al-Hilweh camp, a prominent Palestinian refugee settlement in southern Lebanon, have cast a hot spotlight on the long-neglected issues of Palestinian arms and the rights of Palestinians in Lebanon.
Despite years of relative quiet, Ain al-Hilweh, the largest among the 13 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, has been no stranger to such clashes over the past two decades.
The Lebanese authorities have erected a formidable concrete barrier around the camp in recent years – drawing comparisons to the Israeli apartheid wall in the occupied-West Bank – which was ostensibly built to fortify security and stymie the infiltration of jihadist elements into Ain al-Hilweh.
Fatah vs jihadists in Lebanon
On the morning of 29 July, in retaliation for the death of his brother, a Fatah gunman opened fire on a group of jihadistswho had recently returned from Idlib, Syria. Intent on assassinating militant Mahmoud Khalil, he fatally shot Khalil’s comrade instead.
The retaliatory gunfire that followed claimed the life of Fatah Brigadier General Abu Ashraf al-Armoushi and four of his companions in an ambush. The camp swiftly transformed into a battlefield, with Fatah and the Palestinian National Security – a PLO-affiliated military faction that collaborates closely with Lebanese security services – in gunfights against jihadist groups like ISIS, Fatah al-Islam, Jund al-Sham, and the Muslim Youth.
Machine guns roared, and mortars thundered as the clashes ravaged the camp, causing severe damage to Palestinian property. The impact of the skirmish even reached the streets of nearby Sidon, where shells left their mark.
The fighting claimed 13 lives, mostly from Fatah, while over 50 armed combatants and civilians were injured before a truce was declared. In its aftermath, Fatah emerged militarily weakened and disjointed, grappling with substantial losses. While the jihadists fought cohesively and without significant human losses, they depleted part of their weapons stockpile, which is difficult to replace quickly, and have been thrust into the national spotlight and come under increasing security pressure.
The Lebanese military also incurred setbacks in the fray, as a fortified position fell, and Lebanese soldiers sustained injuries, prompting the deployment of special forces around the camp to quell further escalation.
Palestinians caught in legal limbo
In recent years, Ain al-Hilweh has evolved into a haven for jihadists seeking sanctuary from Syria and Iraq’s turbulent conflicts, and from clashes with the Lebanese army in the northern city of Tripoli.
Few of these militants are Palestinians; the majority are Lebanese and Syrians. The irony for many Lebanese political parties who spoke to The Cradle is that jihadists continue to infiltrate the camp today, despite the tight security measures around it. Lebanese military sources also confirm that it is impossible to deny entry to people, no matter how stringent the security measures they take.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian population within the camps is ensnared in a labyrinth of “legal” persecution, a plight exacerbated by the reluctance of Lebanese authorities to bestow full civil rights – including citizenship – on Palestinians, in fear that this may inadvertently pave the way for their permanent resettlement within Lebanese borders.
Over the years, numerous laws have been proposed to grant legitimate rights to Palestinians who have lived in Lebanon for generations, but MPs don’t dare to bring these to parliament for a vote. The Christian political parties fear that bestowing these rights will further sway Lebanon’s demographic in favor of Muslims, given the Muslim majority within the camps.
Beyond the confines of the camps, armed Palestinian factions maintain their presence in stategic locations around Lebanon, mainly in the south. Notable among these is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), whose combatants are strategically positioned at the Naameh base along the coastal fringes between Beirut and the southern expanse. The group is also present in the Qusaya military base along the Lebanese-Syrian border. Similarly, Fatah al-Intifada, also known as the Abu Musa faction in honor of their founding leader Said al-Muragha who long opposed the leading Fatah faction, occupies positions near the Syrian border.
Pursuing justice and order in camp conflicts
In the past, these Palestinian military encampments served as key locations from which to repel Israeli advances and safeguard the Beirut-Damascus route in the Bekaa region. However, civilian urban growth around these bases, the maturation of Lebanon’s own indigenous resistance forces, and Israel’s impeded ability to attack Lebanon, have raised questions about the need for their continued presence. These developments have provided Lebanese politicians with a pretext to demand the decommissioning of the Palestinian factions – and even threaten the use of military force against them.
Despite the calm currently prevailing in Ain al-Hilweh, all sides warn that a new round of battles may erupt before control can be reestablished in the camp. Meanwhile, the Joint Palestinian Action Committee, which is made up of all Palestinian factions and enjoys official Lebanese cover, is working to implement the understandings stipulated in the final ceasefire.
In collaboration with the government-sanctioned Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, they are working to hand over the culprits responsible for the killing of Brigadier General Armoush – the Fatah member whose actions ignited the conflict – along with other individuals wanted by the Lebanese judicial system.
Fatah has publicly accused a group of jihadists of killing Armoushi, and has expressed dissatisfaction with the concord between Hamas and the jihadists. Meanwhile, Hamas blames internal conflicts between Fatah leaders for inciting the outbreak of clashes in the camp.
An Israeli hand in the conflict?
Sources in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) inform The Cradle that the recent events are part of a scheme to sow strife in Palestinian camps to benefit the Israeli enemy. The sources say that the Israelis and their local agents are using inter-Palestinian discord to subvert the Palestinian right of return and help uncover the Palestinian resistance’s weapons arsenal.
These sources further connect the latest clashes to the ramifications of the west’s decision to curtail financial support for UNRWA, the UN agency that serves Palestinian camps regionally, whose vital operations significantly waned during the tenure of former US President Donald Trump.
The clashes this time had a major political impact, given the political and security challenges that Lebanon is currently facing, daily violent confrontations with the Israelis in the Occupied Territories, the Fatah-Hamas struggle to control the West Bank, widespread speculation over a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal, and the notable lack of any “formal solution” to the conflict in Palestine.
Invariably, these critical events have also had internal implications on Lebanon’s political scene. Capitalizing on the chaos, traditional right-wing Lebanese Christian factions have renewed their opposition – not only against the weapons arsenals of the Palestinian factions, but also against the arms of the Lebanese resistance.
Last week the Lebanese army confiscated ammunition from an overturned truck belonging to Hezbollah in the Christian town of Kahale area, east of Beirut. Two people were killed after an exchange of fire between Hezbollah members and armed Christian residents.
A well-informed source within Fatah tells The Cradle that external actors orchestrated directives to the jihadist groups, with the explicit intent of provoking Fatah and tarnishing its reputation.
This calculated maneuver, it suggests, is part of an overarching scheme aligned with Israel’s objectives to destabilize and eventually dismantle the Palestinian camps in Lebanon:
“In 2007, the Nahr al-Bared camp was demolished after a war between jihadist groups and the Lebanese army. Today they are trying to do it again. Fatah is keen on the security of the camp more than everyone else. However, the wanted persons must be handed over to reduce tension.”
Conspiracy to dismantle the camp
Importantly, the jihadist scene within the camps is not monolithic in its intentions. Asbat al-Ansar, a formidable Al-Qaeda affiliate operating in Ain al-Hilweh, has abstained from engaging in acts of violence for several years. It maintains minimal relations with the Lebanese political forces, and enjoys a robust relationship with Hamas.
Mohammad al-Saadi, also known as Abu Mohjen and the de facto leader of this faction, has played a notable role in tempering tensions, despite being sought by the Lebanese judiciary in connection with the mid-1990s slaying of four judges in Sidon.
The increased prominence of jihadist groups in the refugee camps is considered suspicious by many in Fatah and other Palestinian factions, given that it bolsters a narrative that the camps are a haven for terrorists.
Some Palestinian jihadist groups have denied any connection to the killing of Armoushi, saying that the perpetrators are Lebanese jihadists – a claim The Cradle could not independently verify.
A source close to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a pivotal figure who has been closely involved in the truce efforts, informs The Cradle of a plan to destroy the refugee camp and involve the Lebanese army in clashes to undermine the right of return for Palestinians.
Disarmament debate
Regardless of the direct cause of the clashes between the jihadists and Fatah, the fallout invariably casts a pall over Palestinians in Lebanon. Instead of steering discourse toward securing Palestinian rights and integrating their arms into Lebanon’s defense strategy, the recent events have renewed calls for a compromising barter between their rights and their weapons.
In practice, civil rights without weapons may embolden Israel and its western allies to believe that the Palestinians have given up their right of return. On the other hand, weapons without rights – and without organizing them within a comprehensive defensive strategy – allow terrorist groups and right-wing forces to incite against the Palestinians.
For parties close to the Lebanese resistance, the demand for Palestinian disarmament is believed to be a prelude to the demand for the disarmament of the Lebanese resistance.
Recently, it was reported that the PFLP-GC handed over some of its weapons to the Lebanese army. But prominent sources in the group confirmed to The Cradle that this transfer involved obsolete weaponry, particularly batches of surface-to-surface missiles.The sources emphasize that handing over Palestinian arms is an issue related to the conflict with the enemy, and not a barter over Palestinian civil rights.
Ain al-Hilweh’s legacy of resilience
Members of various Palestinian factions tell The Cradle that, besides Israel, an increasing number of Arab and regional states are seeking to influence important West Asian issues, including that of the Palestinian presence in Lebanon. The financial support of Qatar for the jihadists is but one example; Doha’s salaries to these foreign militants, they say, are far higher than salaries paid by Fatah.
Suspicions also swirled around the visit of Palestinian intelligence director Majed Faraj to Beirut, which took place just days before the clashes erupted. These allegations are unsubstantiated, however, with no credible sources affirming a link between the visit and the subsequent turmoil.
Ain al-Hilweh remains an important symbol of resistance. When, in 1982, the Israeli military descended upon Beirut, the camp managed to stand firm against the onslaught, resolutely thwarting Israeli troops while inflicting many casualties upon their ranks.
Today, trapped within the vortex of Fatah-jihadist power dynamics, the question asked by many is: Will the internal clashes destroy the camp when the entire military might of Israel could not?
Ain Al-Hilweh is known as the “Capital of Palestinian Shatat.”
The term might not stir many emotions among those who do not fully understand, let alone experience the harrowing existence of ethnic cleansing and perpetual exile – and the tremendous violence which followed.
‘Shatat‘ is roughly translated into “exile” or “Diaspora.” However, the meaning is much more complex. It can only be understood through lived experience. Even then, it is still not easy to communicate. Perhaps, the Kafkaesque blocks of concrete, zinc and rubble towered one on top of another and served as ‘temporary shelters’ for tens of thousands of people tell a small part of the story.
On July 30, violence in the extremely crowded Palestinian camp resumed, interrupted briefly after the intervention of the Palestinian Joint Action Authority, then resumed, harvesting the lives of 13 people and counting. Scores more were injured, and thousands have fled.
Yet, the majority of the refugees stayed because several generations of Palestinians in Ain Al-Hilweh understand that there is a point where running away serves no purpose, for it neither guarantees life nor even a dignified death. The massacres of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in September 1982 were a testament to this collective realization.
Before writing this, I spoke to several people in South Lebanon and sorted through many articles and reports describing what is taking place in the camp now. Yet the truth is still blurry or, at best, selective.
Destruction caused by heavy clashes between Palestinian factions leave a street in Ain al Hilweh in ruin, August 2, 2023. STR | AP
Many in Arabic media have largely relegated Ain Al-Hilweh to a symbolic representation of a rooted Palestinian pain.
Mainstream Western media was hardly concerned about Palestinian pain but focused mostly on the ‘lawlessness’ of the camp, the fact that it exists outside the legal jurisdiction of the Lebanese army, and the proliferation of weapons among Palestinian and other factions, who are engaged in seemingly endless, and supposedly inexplicable infighting.
But Ain Al-Hilweh, like the 11 other Palestinian refugee encampments in Lebanon, is a story of something else entirely, more urgent than mere symbolism and more rational than being the outcome of lawless refugees.
It is essentially the story of Palestine, or rather, the destruction of Palestine at the hands of Zionist militias in 1947-48. It is a story of contradictions, pride, shame, hope, despair, and, ultimately, betrayal.
A Palestinian refugee runs past burning tires during a 2019 protest in Ain al-Hilweh against a decision by Lebanon to impose work restrictions on Palestinians. STR | AP
It is not easy to follow the timeline prior to the latest round of violence. Some suggest that the fighting began when an assassination attempt – blamed on Fatah fighters in the camp – was carried out against a leader of a rival Islamist group.
The attempt failed and was followed by an ambush carried out by alleged Islamists who killed a top Fatah commander and several of his bodyguards.
Others suggest that the assassination of the General of the Palestinian National Security, Abu Ashraf Al-Armoushi, was completely unprovoked.
Yet others, including Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, blamed outside forces and their “repeated attempts to use Lebanon as a battleground for the settling of scores.”
But who are these entities, and what is the point of such meddling?
It gets murkier. Though impoverished and overcrowded, Ain Al-Hilweh, like other Palestinian camps, is a greatly contested political space. In theory, these camps are meant to solidify and protect the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees. In practice, they are also used to undermine this internationally enshrined right.
A general view of Ain al-Hilweh in the Lebanese southern port city of Sidon. Marwan Naamani | AP
The Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, for example, wants to ensure Fatah loyalists dominate the camp, hence laboring to deny Palestinian rivals any role in South Lebanon.
Fatah is the largest Palestinian group within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It dominates both the PLO and the Palestinian Authority. In the past, the group lost its dominance over Ain Al-Hilweh and other camps. For Fatah in Lebanon, it is a constant struggle for relevance.
Ain Al-Hilweh is important for the PA even though the PLO under Abbas’ leadership has largely disowned the refugees of South Lebanon and their Right of Return; it has focused mostly on governing specific regions in the West Bank under the auspices of the Israeli occupation.
Yet, Lebanon’s refugees remain important for the PA for two main reasons: one, as a source of validation for Fatah and, two, to stave off any criticism of, let alone resistance to, the Western-backed Palestinian camp, in Lebanon and everywhere else.
Throughout the years, hundreds of Ain Al-Hilweh refugees were killed in Israeli bombings, but also Palestinian-Lebanese and Palestinian-Palestinian infighting.
Israel did much of the killings to ensure Palestinian resistance in Lebanon is eliminated at the source.
The rest of the violence was carried out by groups that sought dominance and power, sometimes for their own sake, but often as proxy militias for outside powers.
Trapped in the middle are 120 thousand people, the estimated population of Ain Al-Hilweh – and, by extension, all of Lebanon’s Palestinian refugees.
Not all Ain Al-Hilweh’s inhabitants are registered Palestinian refugees. The latter is estimated by the UN refugee agency, UNRWA, at approximately 63,000. The rest fled there following the Syrian war, which swelled the population of the Lebanon camps and heightened existing tensions.
The entrapments of refugees, however, are manifold: the actual physical confinement dictated by the lack of opportunities and acceptance in mainstream Lebanese society; the great risks of leaving Lebanon as undocumented refugees smuggled across the Mediterranean, and the feeling, especially among the older generations, that leaving the camps is tantamount to the betrayal of the Right of Return.
All of this is happening in a political context, where the Palestinian leadership has completely removed the refugees from its calculations, where the PA only sees the refugees as pawns in a power play between Fatah and its rivals.
For decades, Israel has sought to dismiss the discussion on Palestinian refugees and their Right of Return. Its constant attacks on Palestinian refugee camps in Palestine itself and its interest in what is taking place in the Shatat is part of its quest to shake the very foundation of the Palestinian cause.
Infighting in Ain Al-Hilweh, if not brought under total and lasting control, might eventually get Israel exactly what it wants: presenting Palestinian refugees as a liability to host countries and, ultimately, destroying the ‘Capital of Shatat,’ along with the hope of four generations of Palestinian refugees to, someday, go back home.
Smoke rises from buildings in Ain Al-Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, near the southern coastal city of Saida, during clashes on August 19, 2017. (AFP)
Some families report that they are too afraid to leave their homes despite having limited lifesaving supplies, including food and water.
A press release issued by Save The Children on Thursday read that about 20,000 people, including an estimated 12,000 children, have been displaced from the Ain Al-Hilweh refugee camp in Saida, Lebanon, as a result of clashes that have been ongoing since Sunday.
According to the press release, many children have shown signs of distress and anxiety since the clashes broke out.
Some families told the NGO that they are too afraid to leave their homes despite having limited lifesaving supplies, including food and water.
Others said they have fled the camp and took shelter in nearby schools.
Some other families reported that they are facing challenging conditions as many children have been temporarily separated from their parents in the process of seeking shelter.
Malak Joudi, a protection and advocacy officer working with Save the Children’s partner, Nabaa, said, “We are currently supporting about 76 families – more than 300 people – in schools outside the camp who have fled from gunfight. With limited resources, the schools are grappling with overcrowding as we strive to accommodate and care for these displaced families and children. Despite the challenges, we are committed to providing them with the essentials they need, such as hygiene kits and blankets.”
“One family we are caring for has a daughter who sustained injuries from the violent clashes in the camp, and their youngest daughter witnessed the incident. As a result, the youngest daughter is experiencing severe distress and fear, constantly asking about her sister’s condition. We are providing the necessary support … to help the young girl cope with her experiences and emotions,” Joudi added, noting that some families are worried about when they will be returning home.
George Jreij, Area Manager for Save the Children, said, “We are seeing high numbers of children and families who are experiencing distress and uncertainty given the continued clashes. Many families fled the violence with no time to pack or prepare for displacement. We have been providing emergency cash assistance to the families impacted by the escalation to ensure they are able to meet their basic needs.”
“Families have identified diapers and mattresses as their key necessities right now, as well as psychological and emotional support. We have also delivered nearly 200 emergency hygiene kits and are ready to scale up our response,” he further noted
Recent updates reveal that calm has been restored in the camp after intermittent clashes broke out in some of the camp’s neighborhoods, Al Mayadeen‘s correspondent reported on Thursday.
Gunfire erupted on Wednesday night after a ceasefire was reached between the Fatah movement and extremist groups in the camp. Explosive projectiles were also fired, some of which fell in several locations outside the camp in Saida, Lebanon.
One person was killed on Wednesday pushing the death toll to 12, including the Palestinian National Security Forces commander, Major General Abu Ashraf Al-Armoushi, who was assassinated on Sunday, leading to intense clashes within the camp. Reports say that over 60 people have been injured as a result of the events most of whom have been discharged after receiving treatment at medical facilities.
A leader of Fatah Munir Al-Maqadhi confirmed to Al Mayadeen that an official Lebanese-Palestinian consensus for a ceasefire has been reached after investigations into the assassination of Al-Armoushi were launched. Al-Maqadhi noted that the issue of armed presence within the camp cannot be addressed under the current tense circumstances.
Lebanese MP Osama Saad calls on Palestinian factions in Ain Al-Hilweh to reconsider the prospect of weapons regulation.
Work is underway to establish a permanent ceasefire in Ain El-Hilweh Lebanese MP for Saida district Osama Saad told Al Mayadeen on Wednesday.
“The terms of the agreement, including the handing over of the killers of Major General Abu Ashraf al-Armoushi, will be implemented after the ceasefire is established,” Saad confirmed in an interview.
“All Lebanese and Palestinian parties must work to uncover the perpetrators and hand them over to the Lebanese authorities to prevent any foreign agendas from unfolding.”
Saad denied during his interview for Al Mayadeen that there was any link between the presence of the head of Palestinian intelligence, Major General Majed Faraj, in Beirut and what happened in Ain al-Hilweh, stressing that his visit is regular.
Saad also commended the role which the Lebanese army is playing noting that the resolution to the clashes in Ain Al-Hilweh would be political and not military.
“The events in Ain Al-Hilweh come at a critical time. They are linked to the national situation [in Lebanon], the situation in the region, and the Israeli determination to target Palestinians wherever they are.”
“The Zionist enemy is escalating against Lebanon and Palestine, and we must not help it in fomenting strife inside the camps for what is in the Israeli interest.”
Smoke billows during clashes between Fatah movement and Islamists inside the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern coastal city of Sidon on July 31, 2023. At least six people were killed on July 30, in clashes in south Lebanon’s restive Palestinian refugee camp, said Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah movement and a source at the camp. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
After 3 days of fierce clashes that left around 80 deaths and injuries in Ain Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, a ceasefire agreement was concluded before it collapse again.
Al-Manar reporter indicated that clashes in the camp have been renewed with fire shots and artillery shells heard across the region.
The Palestinian Joint Action Committee had formed two delegations to visit both sides of the conflict in order to maintain the concluded ceasefire.
In addition to the human losses, the armed clashes ahev left much damage as well.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah indicated Tuesday that the incidents occurring in in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain Al-Hilweh are painful because they leave unfortunate repercussions for Sidon and its vicinity, the South, and all of Lebanon.
Sayyed Nasrallah called for an immediate halt of hostilities, urging all parties in the camp to exert efforts in order to reach a ceasefire.
Fatah official Abbas Zaki and PFLP official Maher Al-Taher comment on the meeting of leaders of the Palestinian factions in Egypt.
Commenting on the meeting of the leaders of the Palestinian factions in the Egyptian city of El Alamein, Abbas Zaki, a member of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement, pointed out that the Israeli occupation did not leave any justification for preserving any agreement with it.
In an interview for Al Mayadeen, Abbas stressed that there are some sides that benefit from the Palestinian division and financed it and do not want to overcome the differences.
He stressed that Palestinian factions “must give ourselves some hope, especially since this stage requires overcoming all differences and the past to start a new beginning.”
On his part, Maher Al-Taher, the head of international relations in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), told Al Mayadeen that the goal of the Egypt meeting is to create a form of procrastination, with the continuation of the current situation, making reference to the Palestinian Authority in particular.
Al-Taher considered that the latest meeting did not yield any results, adding, “Why did the Palestinian Authority not implement what was previously agreed upon?”
The PFLP official accused the Palestinian Authority of pursuing a policy of “procrastination and indecisiveness,” claiming that the latter does not seek to implement the discussed files.
He said there are developments at all levels, whether at the international, regional, or Palestinian level, underlining that the Palestinian people “shall never surrender.”
Earlier on Sunday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas thanked Egypt and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for hosting the meeting of Palestinian factions in the Egyptian city of El Alamein.
In the concluding statement of the meeting, Abbas considered the event a first and important step to complete the Palestinian dialogue, hoping that it would achieve the desired goals as soon as possible.
On his part, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, said during the meeting that the Palestinian people “are facing an exceptional stage in the course of the struggle with the enemy, which requires us to think collectively and take exceptional decisions in the face of Zionist policies.”
In his speech, Haniyeh stressed the importance of continuing such meetings until the completion of the comprehensive national formula, noting that the Israeli occupation government “wants to put an end to the struggle by all means possible, which is evident in its terrorist attacks on the Palestinian people.”
It is noteworthy that the Egypt meeting was boycotted by three Palestinian factions, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement, in protest of the continuation of political detention in the occupied West Bank.
Mohammad Al-Hindi, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) speaks during an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen TV, Beirut, Lebanon, July 25, 2023.
n an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen deputy chief of the PIJ, highlights the firm stance of the movement on the case of Palestinian Resistance fighters detained by the Palestinian Authority.
The Deputy Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Mohammad, Al-Hindi, in an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen, affirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to assert an image of a victory through which he could make a show of Israeli deterrence, but his plan failed in Jenin and its camp, achieving nothing.
PIJ Deputy Secretary-General Mohammad Al-Hindi to #AlMayadeen: " Netanyahu wanted the image of a victory through which he could affirm Israeli deterrence, but his plan failed in #Jenin and its camp, and achieved nothing."#Palestinehttps://t.co/tbBp1pBSQU
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 25, 2023
He emphasized “the unity of the Palestinian people and their factions” as “the foundation of Resistance,” as proven in the Battle of the Fury of Jenin, in which various factions in the city cooperated to defend Jenin from the Israeli occupation’s = incursion. Al-Hindi confirmed that during this battle, the Al-Quds Brigades – Jenin Brigade shared weapons and funds with fighters of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and other factions.
He also stated that “the Palestinian people currently possess good military capabilities, manufacturing their weapons in Gaza and the West Bank.”
PIJ Deputy Secretary-General Mohammad Al-Hindi to #AlMayadeen: "The #Palestinian people are currently equipped with good military capabilities, and are manufacturing their weapons in #Gaza and the #WestBank, as they did before." https://t.co/fgZBysAqzc
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 25, 2023
In his interview with Al Mayadeen, Al-Hindi asserted that the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, “proved that it can deter and confront the occupation,” adding that its military capabilities in Gaza and the West Bank have vastly improved.
Al-Hindi believed that “resistance in Palestine has become an individual, collective, and factional decision,” adding that “Al-Quds Brigades are at the forefront of the confrontation.” He further noted that “the battle [to free Palestine] is long and ongoing, and we realize that the price for ending the occupation in the West Bank is high, but we also believe that victory is on our side.”
PIJ will not attend the meeting of Secretaries-General in Cario
Regarding the Palestinian Authority, the Deputy Secretary-General stressed that the project of the [Palestinian ] Authority is based on compromise and negotiations [with the occupation] has failed, and the rise in settlement activity bears testament to this.”
PIJ Deputy Secretary-General Mohammad Al-Hindi to #AlMayadeen: "The PA's project, which is based on compromise and negotiations, has failed, and the increase in Israeli settlements is evidence of that."#Palestinehttps://t.co/2yBldimxEv
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 25, 2023
Al-Hindi added that the PA, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has no role to play on the political level, but rather its role is limited to security matters.
Moreover, the official criticized the security apparatuses of the Palestinian Authority arrested Resistance fighters simply because they resist the occupation, without any legal charges raised against them.
PIJ Deputy Secretary-General Mohammad Al-Hindi to #AlMayadeen: "The PIJ will not participate in the meeting of Resistance Secretaries-General in Cairo if the #Palestinian Authority does not liberate detained #Resistance fighters." https://t.co/w5bdSJIxrw
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 25, 2023
Al-Hindi, in his exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen, referred to a promise made by officials in the Palestinian Authority to release detained Resistance fighters in preparation for Abbas’s visit to the Jenin camp. However, this promise, he said, was not fulfilled.
He announced that the PIJ will not participate in the meeting of the secretaries-general in Cairo unless the PA releases the detained resistance fighters, adding that “Palestinian factions are making efforts to bring the points of views of [the Palestinian] Islamic Jihad and the [Palestinian] Authority closer together to ensure the success [of a possible] meeting”
PIJ Deputy Secretary-General Mohammad Al-Hindi to #AlMayadeen: "The #Palestinian factions are making efforts to bridge the points of view between the PIJ and the Palestinian Authority in order to make the #Cairo meeting a success."#Palestinehttps://t.co/lVEVVsmzPF
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 25, 2023
Moreover, the Deputy Secretary-General that the PIJ continues to communicate with its counterparts in the Fatah movement in hopes securing a release of the detainees.
He also revealed that the head of the General Intelligence Service of the PA, Major General Majid Faraj, called the Secretary-General of the PIJ, Ziyad Al-Nakhalah, but they did not meet in person.
Al-Hindi pointed out that the PIJ “has made various efforts to bring Fatah and Hamas closer, further stating that the movement welcomes any rapprochement between them.
Internal Israeli crisis to the benefit of Palestine
Regarding the ongoing political crisis in “Israel,” Al-Hindi said that the occupation is facing significant division between the Easterner and WesternerJews [Mizrahi and Ashkenazi jews], which concerns the United States.
PIJ Deputy Secretary-General Mohammad Al-Hindi to #AlMayadeen: "Israel faces a real crisis amid a great split between Easterners and Westerners, and this upsets the #UnitedStates." https://t.co/FKSzvGd2YL
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 25, 2023
Al-Hindi predicted that the phenomenon of reverse migration in “Israel” is bound to increase due to the turbulent situation in the occupation’s society. This turbulence and changes on the administrative levels, along with other developments in the region, especially the Iran-Saudi reconciliation, come in favor of the Palestinian people, according to Al-Hindi.
PIJ Deputy Secretary-General Mohammad Al-Hindi to #AlMayadeen: "The successive rounds of fighting in #Gaza and the #WestBank are a prelude to a major battle in which all battlefields will unite." https://t.co/rdZ52DEpdn
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 25, 2023
The Deputy Secreatry-General asserted that reunifying political opponents in “Israel” is difficult, and if Netanyahu considers launching an aggression on Palestinian cities to divert attention from the internal Israeli crisis, the Resistance in Gaza and the West Bank will respond and deter the occupation.
In protest over abusive policies that are being implemented on the direct orders of the extremist Minister of “National Security”, Itamar Ben Gvir, Palestinian prisoners in “Israeli” detention centers launched a mass hunger strike.
Below is an infographic shedding light on the most prominent leader of the “Volcano of Freedom or Martyrdom” protest.
Despite being in conflict with armed resistance factions in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority forces have also collaborated with them, posing a challenge to those who seek to divide Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has reportedly agreed to implement a controversial US proposal aimed at restoring its control over northern West Bank areas that are currently dominated by newly formed Palestinian resistance groups. However, the plan, lacking an understanding of the realities on the ground, may have unintended consequences.
During US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Israel in late January, reports allege that PA President Mahmoud Abbas was pressured to accept a new security plan drafted by US security coordinator Michael Fenzel. According to Israeli and American sources, the proposal involves the formation of a special PA force tasked with combatting armed groups in restive areas like Nablus and Jenin.
The PA is losing control
Since 2021, the formation of new resistance factions, including the Jenin Brigades and Lions’ Den, has challenged the authority of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF) on the ground in the West Bank. These armed groups have gained public support and power, making it difficult for the PASF to maintain security control in the latter’s strongholds.
On 31 March, 2022, the Israeli government launched ‘Operation Break the Wave’, which led to frequent Israeli night raids on West Bank villages and communities. Despite the high death tolls among Palestinians in the West Bank, Israel has failed to curb the rising rate of resistance attacks and operations against its soldiers and illegal settlers. In fact, the armed struggle is only growing in size and scope.
In February, CIA director Bill Burns expressed concern that the situation in the West Bank today is beginning to resemble the climate of the Second Intifada of the early-to-mid 2000s. The loss of security control by the PA is a cause for concern for Washington, and the CIA has been working with both the PA and Israel in order to stabilize the situation.
While the PA has not officially commented on the plans for forming a special task force to deal with the armed movements, reports suggest that they have accepted the US’s “Fenzel Plan.” Although not publicly disclosed at the time, an official from the PA’s ruling Fatah party, Abbas Zaki, referenced a private security summit scheduled to take place in Aqaba, Jordan.
At this summit, delegations from Jordan, the US, Egypt, and Israel signed an agreement on implementing the Fenzel Plan and improving security ties between Israel and the PA. The Fatah official told Saudi media outlet Asharq that a recent violent raid on Nablus, resulting in the murder of 11 Palestinians, was “a stab in the back for the mediation efforts to reach calm and sign an agreement of de-escalation.”
The Aqaba meeting was highly controversial given that PA President Abbas had previously ordered an end to his security forces’ collaboration with Israeli military and intelligence, known as “security coordination.” This decision was made in response to the killing of 10 Palestinians in the Jenin Refugee camp in late January.
The decision by the PA to accept US assistance in combating armed resistance groups in the West bank is seen as a betrayal by many Palestinians, who expressed their support for these fighters in recent polls.
In fact, demonstrations condemning the PA’s attendance at the Aqaba security summit took place throughout the West Bank, with the Jenin Brigades armed group even calling a press briefing and urging the public to protest.
Ongoing attempts to contain the armed struggle
A source from within the PA’s Preventative Security Force (PSF) spoke to The Cradle under the condition of anonymity. According to the source, the PASF is already actively pursuing members of the Lions’ Den armed group, and any support from the US would only add to their efforts:
“We are doing our job and following orders to protect them [the Palestinian fighters] from being killed by the Israelis, we know that if the occupation army comes for them they won’t let them live and so it is better for us to capture them alive or to bargain with them to hand over their weapons.”
“There have been cases where our forces pursued fighters but failed to arrest them, and after this, the Israeli military murdered them. Our goal is not to harm them, just to capture them,” the source added.
Another source, who has detailed knowledge of the relationship between the PA’s security forces and the armed groups in both Jenin and Nablus, shed light on the complexities of the situation. According to the source, a significant number of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces’ (PASF) cadres are currently active in the Jenin Brigades, with some of them coming from families of high-ranking PASF members.
The Lions’ Den has reportedly received firearms training from Khaled Tbilah, a second lieutenant in the PA’s security forces, which video evidence appears to corroborate. The same source claimed that Oday al-Azizi, known to the Israeli intelligence as a member of the Lions’ Den, is actually one of the leaders of the group while currently serving as a PASF officer.
Azizi was arrested by the PA, but was allegedly allowed to leave their custody at any time, unlike other detainees held in PA detention, such as Musab Shtayyeh, who is a Hamas party member and is held against his will. This suggests that the PA is administering preferential treatment to Lions’ Den members based on political affiliation.
Azizi, the source claims, is married to a woman from a prominent family that is loyal to President Abbas and is affiliated with a group called the Fatah Tanzeem. The Tanzeem, although also connected to the Fatah Party, holds a completely different outlook than the more active Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which makes up the ranks of a number of the armed groups in the northern West Bank.
Popular resistance challenging the PA
Although multiple sources clarify that the PASF does not directly control the armed groups, it still maintains connections with them. The concern from the PA is that if the resistance factions gain too much power in an area like Nablus, it could spread to other cities like Ramallah.
The military parade in Jenin on 3 March showcased the strength of the resistance with hundreds of fighters present. Surprisingly, Mohammed Jabareen, a PA security force colonel, was seen posing for photos with fighters at the parade.
Additionally, a central and unifying figure who has voiced public support for the armed struggle in Jenin is Fathi Khazem, who held a position with the PA security forces during the Second Intifada. Khazem has urged members of the PASF to fight against the Israeli army – his commands carry an oversized authority that others making similar calls simply do not have.
On the flip side, the formation of a new Palestinian resistance group called the Tulkarem Battalion has led to direct intervention by the PASF in an attempt to stem its growth, which in turn has provoked further anti-PA demonstrations.
This highlights the fact that the PA is employing varying strategies in different areas to deter the rise of armed groups. Geography matters: Nablus city, for instance, is surrounded by illegal Israeli settlements that provide constant fodder for clashes, whereas in Jenin, a more isolated area, the groups pose less of an immediate threat.
An informed source from Nablus, who has contacts inside the armed groups, tells The Cradle that there is no real solution in sight for the PA:
“Other than convincing the armed groups to lay down their weapons through bribes of different kinds, there is no way to deal with the groups. Maybe they can try to make the groups look like criminals so that they lose some popular support.”
The Fenzel Plan seeks to train thousands of PASF members in US-owned facilities in Jordan to combat the Palestinian resistance. If implemented in a poorly-informed or ill-calculated manner, the project could lead to massive bloodshed in the West Bank and further inflame popular sentiments against the PA.
‘Peace Bands’ 2.0?
Israel has historically used a variety of local collaborator forces in order to maintain its dominance over the populations it occupies. Preceding Israel’s existence, however, during the 1930’s, the British mandate authorities also employed a strategy of using local collaborator forces in order to suppress the Palestinian resistance bands during the Arab Revolt (1936-9). This strategy is somewhat more relevant to today’s Fenzel Plan.
The Fasa’il al-Salam, or “Peace Bands” were formed with the aid of Britain’s Palestine mandate authorities; receiving arms, funds, and training in order to combat Palestinian militias that were largely under the command of the Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini.
During the latter stages of the Arab Revolt against British rule in Palestine – and despite having taken control over much of the country from the Palestinian resistance – the British military was unable to secure many of the mountainous and rural areas where the rebel leaders reigned. Like today, Jenin and Nablus were also strongholds for the Palestinian revolt back then.
As one of the many strategies employed by British authorities to crush the revolt, the establishment of pro-British bands did have its successes. In Mathew Hughes’ book Britain’s Pacification of Palestine, he writes:
“While the peace bands would never have grown as they did without British help, they never would have happened in the first place had Palestinians been united.”
During this period, when the strategy of dividing Palestinians to fight each other was employed, the divide between the Nashashibi family faction and those loyal to Hajj Amin al-Husseini was heavily utilized by the British to create its collaborator forces.
While the peace bands of the late 1930s were rooted in Palestinian societal-family structures, those kinds of familial rivalries do not exist for a PASF force to be based on today. The Jenin Brigades are instead rooted in the urban working class and refugee communities that were displaced to West Bank refugee camps during the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948.
The US-envisioned special tactical force PA units will have no roots inside Jenin or the Old City of Nablus, where Palestinian resistance fighters reside. Another advantage that the peace bands had in their formation was positive press; in 1938, Raghib Nashashibi requested a loan from the Jewish Agency to pay newspapers to provide favorable coverage that would gain them adherents. No such media environment exists in the occupied Palestinian territories today.
A crisis within the PA
The issues facing the PA go beyond its lack of control in the northern West Bank. Today, the much-weakened governing body faces a comprehensive crisis on the security, legitimacy, and economic fronts. At 88 years of age, Abbas is amongst the oldest leaders in the world, and many are anticipating his resignation or death in the near future.
Palestinian author and journalist Ramzy Baroud argues that “the Palestinian Authority has suffered a division crisis from the very beginning,” despite Abbas’ ability to somehow keep the PA together:
“Under Abbas, the disunity took on multiple dimensions, unlike under Yasser Arafat, who was able to maintain a nominal level of unity amongst Palestinians,” Baroud explains. He also demonstrates that Abbas widened divisions between the PA and Hamas, the socialist parties, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
“Even worse, he invested into the division of Fatah itself, with the party breaking into three main branches; there is the Marwan Barghouti branch, which is the more revolutionary branch and is more or less consistent with the ideas of Yasser Arafat; then you have the Mohammed Dahlan branch, which is the branch that is more clan-based and is the branch that more or less represented Gaza; there are also a number of sub-branches within the dominant Mahmoud Abbas branch.”
When Mahmoud Abbas’ reign ends, potential successors include Majid Farraj (head of PPS) and Hussein al-Sheikh (secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization).
However, the transition of power will pose an immense challenge given the chaos and indecision facing the PA, and Fatah’s internal divisions could cause further issues. Now, this crisis becomes even more complicated by the massive rise of armed resistance groups and attempts to crack down on them.
Two anonymous sources have claimed that following the late January Israeli army raid on Jenin camp, which killed 10 Palestinians, a high-ranking PASF official intervened to order a halt to any PA pursuit of resistance fighters in the area.
If true, this suggests that there may be more than a few PA officials frustrated with the current approach towards the armed movements and that this issue is one that the PA cannot afford to miscalculate, especially as calls for a Third Intifada intensify.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle
The member of the Fatah Central Committee says that the UN resolution to refer “Israel” to the criminal court is highly important.
Ahmed Halas, member of Fatah Central Committee in an interview on Al-Mayadeen.
Member of the Fatah Central Committee, Ahmed Halas, said in an interview with Al-Mayadeen on Saturday that, “the decision of the United Nations General Assembly to refer ‘Israel’ to criminal prosecution is of great importance.”
Halas emphasized that “the Palestinian position is the only thing capable of putting an end to the Israeli aggression,” stressing that “the international community is a catalyst.”
The official added that the “American role in the United Nations is more hostile than the Israeli position towards the Palestinian cause.”
ما مدى أهميّة أن تحصل دولة #فلسطين على تصويت الجمعيّة العامة لـ #الأمم_المتحدة لتفعيل دور محكمة العدل الدوليّة في قضايا الاحتلال؟
He also pointed out that the “United States exerted pressure and blackmail against many countries to prevent them from voting in favor of the resolution.”
“The time has come to stop talking about Palestinian national unity,” and “we must move to practical steps, away from who will achieve more gains, and the signed unity agreements carry the same content,” Halas added.
Earlier today, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution requesting an opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal implications of “Israel’s” illegal occupation of Palestine and its “practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people,” despite the occupation’s strained efforts to incite and lure several countries in order to prevent the ICJ’s advisory opinion.
Last week, the resolution, titled “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories,” was approved by the UN General Assembly Fourth Committee with 98 votes in favor, 17 votes against, and 52 abstentions.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), situated in The Hague and commonly known as the World Court, is the highest UN court dealing with international issues. Its decisions are binding, but the ICJ has no authority to enforce them.
The resolution was passed by the General Assembly by a vote of 87 to 26 with 53 abstentions. Russia and China voted in favor of the resolution.
Unsurprisingly, “Israel”, the United States, and 24 of their allies voted against the resolution, most notably the United Kingdom and Germany, while France was one of the 53 nations that abstained.
It is worth noting that the UN General Assembly asked the ICJ to give an advisory opinion on the “legal consequences of Israeli occupation, settlement, and annexation – including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures.”
MEMBERS OF THE LIONS’ DEN HOLD THEIR WEAPONS NEXT TO A FLAG FLYING THE LIONS’ DEN LOGO DURING A MEMORIAL SERVICE OF MOHAMMED AL-AZIZI AND ABDUL RAHMAN SOBH WHO WERE KILLED BY ISRAELI FORCES, IN THE WEST BANK CITY OF NABLUS ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2022. (PHOTO: SHADI JARAR’AH/ APA IMAGES)
The Lions’ Den was relatively unknown outside of Nablus until a few months ago but today they have gained hero-like status across Palestine — for leading a revival of armed resistance against Israeli colonialism. This is their story.
The streets of the Old City of Nablus are quieter than usual.
The typically bustling streets, filled with the sights, smells, and sounds of one of the oldest markets in Palestine, are almost unrecognizable. Most shops and businesses are shuttered; those who are open are noticeably somber, a far cry from the usual animated calls of street vendors advertising their wares to crowds of shoppers passing by.
“This is not common to Nablus,” Abu Ayyad, 72, told Mondoweiss as he sat inside his shop, packaging halkoum sweets — a Nabulsi version of Turkish Delight which he has been making and selling from his shop in the al-Yasmina neighborhood for over 60 years.
Bullet holes riddle the old stone buildings and the rusting iron doors that line the streets. Some of the destruction dates back to the first and second Intifadas. But the newer cars parked along the cobblestone streets, covered in bullet holes and broken glass, remind passersby of the freshness of these wounds.
“What’s happening now in Nablus reminds me of the level of destruction that happened in 2002 when the Israeli forces invaded Nablus,” Sameh Abdo, 52, a resident of the Old City told Mondoweiss as he passed through the narrow alleyways of the al-Yasmina quarter.
“The destruction of the city, the homes, the buildings. We haven’t seen this type of devastation in years,” he said.
Down the road, one man sits outside his shop, piled with old radios, speakers, and other odds and ends. He smokes his cigarette in silence, soaking in the words of the song blasting on one of the newer speakers in his collection. It’s an anthem dedicated to lions.
There are little to no foreigners present, a new reality created by design, not by accident. The presence of anyone or anything unknown to the locals here is considered a potential threat, and understandably so.
Over the past few months the residents of the Old City have grown increasingly wary and suspicious of any foreign presence in their streets. Too many times, undercover Israeli forces entered the city in disguise, after the blood of the young men who have made these streets their home.
Such was the case on Monday, October 25, just after midnight. The streets were quiet, and in the cover of night, Israeli undercover special forces entered the boundaries of the city. Their targets were a group of young men, armed and ready in their hideout in the al-Yasmina quarter of the Old City, but seemingly unaware of the danger that lurked around the corner.
They call themselves the “Lions’ Den”, Areen al-Usud in Arabic. A novel armed resistance group, relatively unknown outside of Nablus until a few months ago, the young fighters have gained hero-like status across Palestine.
In the streets of Nablus’ Old City, however, the lions are more than just mythical heroes. They are the brothers, sons, and friends of the people here. They are people’s neighbors — neighbors who watched them grow up, once kids buying snacks from the shop down the road, and causing a ruckus with the other neighborhood kids.
Now those cubs are lions, and they have taken it upon themselves to do something many believed to be impossible after decades under the boot of the Israeli occupation and its partners in the Palestinian Authority: reviving popular armed resistance.
The origin story
The emergence of the Lions’ Den into the Palestinian public consciousness can be traced back to the summer, when a stoic, narrow-faced and handsome young man cut through a crowd of thousands of people in the middle of the city of Nablus — his rifle in his right hand, the casket of his friend on his left.
As he marched through the crowd in the funeral procession for his fallen comrades, passersby saluted the young man. In a viral video, one man struggles to grab his hand, still wrapped tightly around his rifle, and kisses it. The young man’s face did not flinch.
شهيد يودع شهيد … الشهيد إبراهيم النابلسي في وداع رفيق دربه الشهيد ابو صالح قبل عدة ايام. pic.twitter.com/wQjA56HbxS
— Hisham Abu Shaqrah | هشام أبو شقرة (@HShaqrah) August 9, 2022
The young man was Ibrahim Nabulsi, just 18 years old at the time. Known locally as the “Lion of Nablus,” with a mysterious reputation as a fierce fighter who had managed to evade several arrest and assassination attempts by the Israelis, the young Nabulsi skyrocketed into popular fame and admiration after his showing at the funeral.
At the time, Nabulsi and his comrades were part of a group who called themselves the Nablus Brigades, Katibet Nablus in Arabic, operating out of the Old City. They had been active for months, conducting shooting operations across the northern West Bank.
Modeled after the Jenin Brigades to the north, the group was formed in early 2022, and was comprised primarily of young men formerly aligned with the Saraya Al-Quds (Al Quds Brigades), the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement.
But many of the group’s members and leaders hailed from different political factions. Nabulsi had formerly aligned himself with the Fatah movement; others had origins with Hamas, and even the leftist Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Like the Jenin Brigades, the Nablus Brigades were cross-factional, and while they had money coming in from various sources, they did not officially align themselves with one political party. They were fighting in the name of Palestine, and no one else.
The Israeli government’s first major operation targeting the Nablus Brigades happened in February, when Israeli special forces raided Nablus and ambushed a vehicle, showering it with bullets and extra-judicially assassinating three Palestinian resistance fighters which Israel claimed were wanted.
The three were Ashraf Mubaslat, Adham Mabrouka and Mohammad Dakhil. There was a fourth passenger — some reports said he was injured and arrested by the army, others said he managed to escape. Many speculated him to be Ibrahim al-Nabulsi.
At the time, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (the military wing of Fatah) claimed the three as its members. But they had recently broken off from Fatah, carrying out a number of shooting operations across Nablus in another name. Israeli defense officials were describing them as a “renegade” cell.
Around the same time, Israel’s military apparatus launched Operation Break the Wave, an open-ended massive operation across the occupied West Bank to “thwart terrorism activities,” and growing armed resistance in Jenin and Nablus.
In April, Israeli army chief of staff, Aviv Kochavi, warned: “Our mission is simple—we need to stop terrorism and to restore safety and a sense of security. We will do whatever it takes, whatever is necessary, for however long and wherever needed, until both safety and the sense of security are restored.”
Yet despite the increase of deadly Israeli military raids in Nablus and Jenin, the number of operations and armed resistance activities, whether through organized groups or independently, continued to rise. Rather than break the wave, Operation Break the Wave seemed only to be conjuring a tsunami.
At the end of July, months after Operation Break the Wave began, the Israeli army launched a massive raid on the al-Yasmina neighborhood in the Old City of Nablus. It was the first time since 2002 that the army was conducting a raid in the area, targeting who they said were Palestinians suspected of carrying out a shooting operation targeting Israeli soldiers and settlers as they raided Joseph’s Tomb a month before.
During the raid, resistance fighters fired heavily at Israeli forces, as they barricaded themselves inside the home of Mohammad al-Azizi, who is widely known to be the founder of the Lions’ Den. Israeli forces surrounded the home, bombarding it with explosives and gunfire, overpowering the fighters inside.
After a three-hour shootout, Mohammad al-Azizi, 25, and Aboud Suboh, 28, were killed in the raid, as they reportedly provided cover for their fellow comrades to escape. Israeli media reported that one of the primary targets of the raid, Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, had evaded capture once again.
While both al-Azizi and Suboh were claimed as members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, locally they were known to be some of the earliest members of the Nablus Brigades. It was at their funeral on July 24 that Nabulsi, donning a flak jacket and his rifle, paid tribute to his fallen comrades, further propelling his status as an icon in the city.
Across the West Bank, Palestinians circulated videos and photos of Nabulsi at the funeral. Suddenly, the Lion of Nablus and the group he fought with were becoming household names outside the bounds of their city.
It was only two weeks later that Nabulsi would meet the same fate as his fellow fighters. During a raid on the Old City on August 9, Nabulsi was killed while fighting the Israeli army. Two other members of the brigades who were fighting alongside Nabulsi were killed during the raid: Islam Sbuh, 32, and Hussein Jamal Taha, 16.
In a voice message shared widely on Palestinian social media, purportedly recorded by Nabulsi and sent to his comrades shortly before he was killed, a calm and collected Nabulsi can be heard saying:
“I love you so much. If I am martyred, guys, I love my mother. Take care of the homeland after I’m gone, and my final will to you, on your honor: don’t let go of the rifle — on your honor. I’m surrounded, and I am going towards my martyrdom.”
In his death, the Lion of Nablus was solidified as an icon, and the group he fought with became firmly implanted in the public consciousness. Following the killing of al-Nabulsi, the Den of Lions, now void of its founder and first fighters, began appealing to the public for protection.
LIONS’ DEN OFFICIAL TELEGRAM ACCOUNT PHOTO (PHOTO: TELEGRAM ACCOUNT OF AREEN AL-USUD)
Two weeks after the killing of Nabulsi, a new Telegram channel was created alongside a photo of Mohammad al-Azizi and Aboud Suboh holding up their rifles. Overlaid on top of the photograph was a new logo, reminiscent of the symbols used to represent the Fatah and Islamic Jihad armed wings. But this new symbol, showing the Dome of the Rock sitting underneath two crossed rifles, alongside an icon of an armed fighter in the middle of a map of Palestine, did not belong to any of the established political factions.
Plastered across a black banner was the name of the group in Arabic, underneath it a short line of text that read: “The official representative channel of the Lions’ Den.”
Gaining popularity
On September 2, in a memorial for al-Azizi and Suboh, the Lions’ Den made their first official appearance as a group in the Old City, drawing crowds of thousands. A militant from the group, clad in black military gear from head to toe, face covered in a black balaclava and sporting a black bucket hat, stood on the stage facing the throngs of people. Flanked by fighters with upraised weapons on either side, he read out the charter of the Lions’ Den.
“We salute those who have walked in the footsteps of al-Yasser and Yassin and Abu Ali Mustafa and Shikaki,” he said, referring, respectively, to the Fatah founder and late President, Yasser Arafat, the Hamas founder, Shaikh Ahmad Yassin, and the PFLP former Secretary General, Abu Ali Mustafa. “We have come here today, 40 days after the death of the Den’s lions, and in light of the burning revolution of our people in Jerusalem, in Gaza, in Jeningrad [Arafat’s Second Intifada-era stylization of Jenin after Stalingrad]…we have come to tell you that the spark began in the Old City [of Nablus] when our leader Abu Ammar formed the first cells of the revolution in the al-Yasmina neighborhood [during the Second Intifada].”
LIONS’ DEN LEADERS ADDRESS A MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MOHAMMED AL-AZIZI AND ABOUD SUBOH IN THE WEST BANK CITY OF NABLUS ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2022. (PHOTO: SHADI JARAR’AH/APA IMAGES)
The charter went on to preach a message of independent resistance, free of the shackles of the old political factions. They vowed to continue to conduct operations across the West Bank targeting Israeli army positions and settlers. They addressed the PA security forces, who have a thorny history with armed groups in the Old City of Nablus, emphasizing that the group’s focus was confronting the Israeli occupation, not the PA.
In the following weeks, the group announced that it had conducted dozens of operations targeting Israeli army and settler positions across the West Bank, primarily in the Nablus area. On October 11, the den claimed responsibility for a shooting operation that left one Israeli soldier dead near the illegal Shave Shomron settlement in the Nablus district.
As the group stepped up their operations, the popularity of the Lions’ Den continued to soar. Over the course of two months, the group amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on platforms like Telegram, with their official channel boasting over 230,000 followers — more than any other Palestinian political faction. On TikTok, montages of the group’s fallen fighters cut together to the tune of the Lions’ Den anthem flooded fan accounts dedicated to the group.
While social media can often feel disconnected from the real world, the popularity of the Lions’ Den online was even more tangible in the streets than it is online.
In the alleyways of the al-Yasmina neighborhood, just one day after the October 25 raid that killed three members of the group, including senior fighter Wadee al-Hawah, young Palestinians from outside the city crowd the alleyways.
Some young folks eagerly ask shopkeepers where the home of the “hero martyr” Wadee al-Hawah is. A man points up to a crumbling facade of an old stone second-floor home. The youth ask if they can go up to the house, but they’re stopped by a group of stoic young men blocking the entrance at the door. So they pull out their phones instead, joining crowds of passersby taking photos of the home where the Lions’ Den leader was killed.
A few steps down the road, a woman salutes to a memorial for the slain fighter Tamer al-Kilani, who was assassinated on October 23 in the same spot where photos of him now lay, adorned with Palestinian flags. Another young mother tells her son to stand in front of the memorial to take a photo.
“Salute him, dear,” she says, as the young boy raises his right hand to his forehead.
Back down the road, outside the old radio repair shop, Jamal Hamou, 57, turns up the speakers blasting the Lions’ Den anthem. When asked what he thought of the group, he beat his fist to his chest, over his heart, a wide grin spreading across his face.
JAMAL HAMOU (PHOTO: AKRAM AL-WAARA/MONDOWEISS)
“The Lions’ Den, to the people of the Old City and outside of it, means everything to us,” he said. “These are our sons, our brothers, our boys. They have done something that so many before them tried and failed to do. They represent trustworthiness and honor, and they have made us proud, may God protect them, and bless those who have passed.”
Around the corner from Hamou’s shop, the famous Al-Aqsa Sweets, known across Palestine for its Nablus knafeh, is riddled with bullet holes. Usually packed to the brim with hungry customers, the shop is relatively empty. No one is in the mood for sweets, one of the owners tells Mondoweiss.
“I have worked here since I was five years old. I have lived here my whole life, I was here during the first and second Intifadas,” Basil al-Shantir, whose family owns the shop, told Mondoweiss. “What is happening right now is different. During the intifadas there was much more destruction on a larger scale, but what is happening now is not insignificant,” he said.
“The Lions’ Den is barely a few months old, but they have taken over the public consciousness in a way that is unprecedented.”
POSTER AT MEMORIAL FOR WADEE AL-HAWAH, MASHAAL BAGHDADI, HAMDI QAIM, ALI ANTAR, AND HAMDI SHARAF (PHOTO: AKRAM AL-WAARA/MONDOWEISS)
Israel threatened
A few kilometers outside of the Old City, the day after the deadly raid on the Old City, thousands of Palestinians gathered at the memorial for the “moons of Nablus,” the five Palestinians who were killed.
It was a typical scene for a martyr’s memorial, held for three days after someone is killed by the occupation. Posters of Wadee al-Hawah, Mashaal Baghdadi, Hamdi Qaim, Ali Antar, and Hamdi Sharaf lined the entrance and walls of the local community center where the wake was being held. Family members of the deceased lined up at the door, greeting mourners who had come to pay their respects.
But this memorial was different in one small, but distinguishable regard. It was largely devoid of any symbols marking the political affiliation of the martyrs, a typical feature at the funerals of Palestinian martyrs.
Inside, Mazen Dunbuk, 40, a spokesperson for the Fatah movement in Nablus’ Old City, sat down for lunch, customarily served in honor of the martyrs.
“Young people are thirsty for resistance, for armed resistance, and for a change of the status quo of the past 20 years. And this is what Israel is scared of.”
Mazen Dunbuk
“The funeral of the five martyrs was one of the biggest seen in Palestine in years,” he said. “This is a sign to the [Israeli] occupation, and to the Palestinian leaders, that the public support for these young men is huge,” Dunbuk told Mondoweiss.
Aware of the reputation his political party holds, as the majority part of the increasingly unpopular PA government, Dunbuk said matter-of-factly: “We know that people are tired of the different political factions, they want a united resistance. Nothing is more evident of that than the popularity of the Lions’ Den,” he said.
“Young people are thirsty for resistance, for armed resistance, and for a change of the status quo of the past 20 years,” he said. “And this is what Israel is scared of.”
The threat that the group poses to Israel was evident in the military apparatus’ focus on destroying the group at all costs. In the wake of the October 11 operation that killed one Israeli soldier, the army enforced a more than two-week closure of the entire Nablus district, affecting the lives of more than 400,000 Palestinians.
In the span of just a few days in the last week of October, the army conducted several raids and operations targeting members of the Lions’ Den and their areas of operation. In addition to the targeted assassinations of Tamer al-Kilani and Wadee al-Hawah, several members of the group or those affiliated with them were arrested, including the brother of Ibrahim al-Nabulsi.
The return of Israel’s use of targeted assassinations against resistance members evoked more memories of the first and second intifada, indicating to locals that the army was ramping up its operations to quash the group.
But while the army has snuffed out the lives of several of the Lions’ Den’s leaders and senior members, what it has so far failed to do is squash the influence that the group has wielded over Palestinians, primarily young people, across the West Bank who have been inspired by their messages of independent resistance, unaffiliated with the political parties of yesterday.
And for Israel, that is where the group’s most dangerous aspect lies.
In terms of actual casualties, the Lions’ Den itself has not claimed a significant number of deaths or injuries of Israeli settlers or soldiers. Most of its operations targeting Israeli positions across the West Bank have resulted in some injuries, though not always.
Yet the group’s influence has inspired more “lone-wolf” operations across the West Bank that have proved destructive for Israel. In the nine days since the Israeli military assault on Nablus that killed al-Hawah, at least six operations were carried out across the West Bank by individual Palestinians not officially affiliated with the Lions’ Den or other armed groups.
In the operations, which targeted both settlers and Israeli military positions, several soldiers were wounded, and even one settler was killed. And most notably, Udai al-Tamimi, a young man from Shu’fat refugee camp, killed an Israeli soldier stationed at the Shu’fat military checkpoint in a drive-by lone wolf shooting, and the massive manhunt that ensued lasted for ten days and put the entire camp under siege, before Tamimi himself came out of hiding and attacked and injured Israeli guards stationed outside the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim — notably far away from where the manhunt’s efforts were focused — before he was shot and killed by the guards.
Separate from the armed operations seemingly inspired by the group, the Lions’ Den has forgone the traditional model of hosting dressed-up press conferences or issuing curated public statements that are filtered through standard media outlets and rendered into soundbites, carving out instead a mode of communication with the broader Palestinian community, using public platforms like Telegram to speak directly to Palestinians, always signing off “your brothers in the Lions’ Den.”
On October 16, almost a week after Israel closed off the city of Nablus, the Lions’ Den appealed to Palestinians for a night of disruption, inviting people from across the West Bank to shout from their rooftops and make noise in the streets in response to reports in the Israeli media about army promises to “finish off” the armed group “from the root.”
“To all citizens, to our fathers, mothers, siblings, and children,” the statement read. “Come out tonight on the rooftops at exactly 12:30 a.m. Let us hear your cheers of Allahu Akbar [God is Great]. We want the last sound we hear to be your voices,” the group wrote.
And Palestinians responded to the call: from Nablus, and extending to Ramallah, Tulkarem, Hebron, and Jerusalem.
On the same day, the Lions’ Den released a statement, reaffirming that the group did not belong to any political party, and had “turned its back on all disputes and rivalries.
“The fact that they are independent is drawing more youth in, and Israel knows that the danger of the group lies in their political independence,” Basel al-Shantir told Mondoweiss outside his knafeh shop in the Old City. “Because when you do not belong to an official party, you cannot be pressured or blackmailed into bad deals and watered-down agreements.”
Back at the memorial for the five martyrs killed on the 25th, a young man sits solemnly in the corner of a quiet room. He identifies himself as a member of the Lions’ Den.
“Wadee and the others have done something, they’ve created something that the Palestinian political factions have been unsuccessful in doing for decades,” the young man, who requested anonymity, told Mondoweiss.
“They brought people together, to create one united resistance, without political factions,” the young man continued. “Entire nations have tried to do this and failed.”
When asked why he and other young men were inspired to take up arms, he said: “we are under occupation, and this occupation is killing us everyday. Wadee and the others woke up every day to news of more martyrs, more settler attacks, and more of our homeland being stolen.”
“When we fight we are demanding our dignity, something our own government has failed to do for 30 years.”
The role of the PA
On the night of October 26, shortly after the first day of the memorial for the five martyrs in Nablus came to a close, news broke that four members of the Lions’ Den had turned themselves over the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF).
One of the men, Mahmoud al-Bana, a top commander in the Lions’ Den who was injured in the raid the night before, wrote a statement on Facebook, addressing the Palestinian people about his decision to hand himself into the PA.
“My comrades were martyred by my side, and I was wounded with them several times, and my martyrdom was declared more than once,” al-Bana wrote. “By God’s power and kindness, I am alive today.”
“Today, after consulting with my brothers in the struggle, myself and my comrades-in-arms, it was agreed with our brothers in the [Palestinian] security services to surrender ourselves in order to protect us from this brutal occupier,” he said.
As controversy erupted across Palestinian social media over the fighters’ decision to turn themselves in, the Lions’ Den released an official statement, saying that “whoever surrenders himself, this is their decision and choice.”
In another statement the next day, the group said that those who believed the Lions’ Den was disbanding were “living under an illusion.”
But the impact of the fighters’ decisions to hand themselves over to the PA could not be denied, as the streets and the internet buzzed with talk of the future of the Lions’ Den. Would the group survive the next inevitable Israeli attack? Or would there even be a Lions’ Den to fight by that point?
One certainty remained clear: the Israeli government were not the only ones that wanted the Lions’ Den off the streets, and out of the Palestinian public consciousness for good.
In late September, as the Lions’ Den continued to gain popularity in the West Bank and steadily upped their operations, PA security forces raided the city of Nablus in order to arrest two Lions’ Den fighters who were wanted by Israel, Musaab Shtayyeh, 30, and Ameed Tbeileh, 21.
One Palestinian, 55-year-old Firas Yaish, was killed, while several others were injured. The raid sparked fierce confrontations and widespread backlash, as Palestinians criticized the PA’s ongoing security coordination with Israel, and what they viewed as their own government’s attempts to quash Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation.
“For us it’s the battleground, and for them the diplomacy,” a young 20-year-old fighter told Mondoweiss on the evening of September 20, as PA forces clashed with local youth in the city the day after the arrest of Shtayyeh and Tbeileh.
After the September 19 raid and the subsequent public backlash, the PA stayed relatively silent on the subject of the Lions’ Den, opting instead for a policy of quiet neutralization, working behind the scenes to offer fighters of the Lions’ Den amnesty in the ranks of the PASF in exchange for putting down their weapons, and agreeing to serve time in PA prisons.
Similar to the deals struck with former fighters with the armed wing of Fatah after the Second Intifada, the PA was offering these young men safety — safety from the inevitable: imprisonment, or more likely, death, at the hands of the Israelis. And as the Israeli military upped its attacks on the group through targeted assassinations and large-scale raids, the PA’s proposition became even more appealing.
On October 31, a week after al-Bana and three others handed themselves over to the PA, another senior fighter in the Lions’ Den, Mohammad Tabanja, reportedly followed suit. A source within the PA told Mondoweiss that at least a dozen members of the Lions’ Den had already turned themselves over to the PASF. Mondoweiss could not independently confirm that number.
Three days later, in the heart of the Old City, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh held a press conference, surrounded by dozens of journalists and foreign diplomats — a sight the Old City had not witnessed in months.
Shtayyeh’s statements largely addressed Israel’s ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territory, criticizing the “collective punishment” policies imposed on the Palestinian people. While Shtayyeh made no mention of the Lions’ Den or of armed resistance, a second message was clear from his appearance in the Old City: the PA had restored “order” and control to the city, at least on the surface.
PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER MOHAMMED SHTAYYEH VISITS NABLUS ON NOVEMBER 3, 2022. (PHOTO: SHADI HATEM/APA IMAGES)
As the future of the Lions’ Den hangs in the balance, so does the trajectory of the current Palestinian mobilization. The current moment is defined largely by such groups and the influence they wield, inspiring others to take up arms against the occupation. So it is without a doubt that the future of the group will affect the outcome of the current moment, as well as whether the wave of armed resistance we are witnessing will continue to swell, or slowly subside and fade into the distance.
On November 1, the same day the most right-wing, extremist government in Israeli history was elected into power, the Lions’ Den released their most recent statement.
“The most important thing is to you, and everyone who believes that our fire has subsided: a volcano is brewing.
For those who call for peace, look at their elections and you will see their choices.
As for the resistance fighters from the Lions’ Den, or from the blessed factions, or our lone wolves — strike them everywhere. What kind of life is this, that we live in peace with those who abuse our blood and the blood of our children, men, and sisters?
Your brothers, the Lions’ Den.”
Mariam Barghouti is the Senior Palestine Correspondent for Mondoweiss.
Yumna Patel is the Palestine News Director for Mondoweiss.
ثمانية عشر عاماً مرّت على وفاة ياسر عرفات في مِثل هذا اليوم من عام 2004. ثمانية عشر عاماً ظلّ خلالها هذا الملفّ أشبه بلُغز مستعصٍ على التفكيك، وصندوق أسود عصيّاً على الولوج إليه. إلى الآن، لا نتائج واضحة معلَنة لعمل لجنة التحقيق التي كانت قد شُكّلت برئاسة توفيق الطيراوي عام 2010، لكنّ اشتداد صراع الخلافة بين «أولاد فتح» أدّى إلى انكشاف الكثير من المستور، وتسرُّب عدد كبير من الوثائق السرّية التي لم يَجرؤ أيّ منهم على إنكار صحّتها. وإذ يبدو جليّاً أن ثمّة مخطّطاً واضحاً، من وراء هذه التسريبات، لإزاحة الطيراوي من المشهد السياسي، وإخلاء الجوّ لحسين الشيخ وماجد فرج اللذَين يريدان الاستئثار بتِركة أبي مازن وحدَهما لا غير، فإن الوثائق تُظهر أن أبا عمار تعرّض لعملية اغتيال سياسي ومعنوي، كان محمود عباس و«شُلّته» شديدَي الضلوع فيها، سبقت تصفيته الجسدية، وهو ما يجلّيه قول الراحل في أيامه الأخيرة: «وُصلولي… خلّي الكرسي ينفعهم، شعبي والتاريخ لن يرحمهم». وإذا كان التاريخ «لن يرحم» بالفعل رأس السلطة الفلسطينية الحالي، الذي قضى على كلّ ما تبقّى من إرث ثوري، واستعدى مكوّنات المجتمع كافّة، واستحدث سُنّة الطرد من «أمّ الجماهير»، فهو، على العكس من ذلك، سيحفظ لأبي عمار، على رغم كلّ المآخذ على نهجه الحافل بالتناقضات، وعلى رغم «خديعة أوسلو» التي ثبت أنها لم تكن سوى غطاء لتوسّع المشروع الاستيطاني، أنه القائد العسكري الذي لم يُسقط «السلاح من يده»، وتلك لوحدها أعادتْه إلى وجدان الناس، مبرَّأً من كلّ «خطيئة وطنية»، وطنياً فلسطينياً كـ«يوم ولدتْه أمه»
غزة | طوال ثمانية عشر عاماً، بقيت واقعة تصفية الرئيس الراحل، ياسر عرفات، ملفّاً غامضاً، لم يطّلع عليه أحد. وحتى الحديث عن الكشف عن قتَلته أخَذ في السنوات الأخيرة منحى المناكفات الحزبية بين الأقطاب…
أضحت عبارة «الذي قَتل عرفات هو مَن استفاد من غيابه عن المشهد»، لازمة كرّرها العشرات من القادة السياسيين الذين شملتْهم التحقيقات. بدت تلك اللازمة وكأنها التفاف على العبارة التي يُراد منها أن تشير إلى…
غزة | تحتدم معركة خلافة رئيس السلطة الفلسطينية، محمود عباس، داخل حركة «فتح»، بين عضو «اللجنة المركزية» حسين الشيخ من جهة، والعضو المنافِس في اللجنة نفسها توفيق الطيراوي من جهة أخرى، فيما برزت أخيراً…
غزة | لم يحظَ أبو عمار في حياته بالشعبيّة والإجماع الوطني نفسَيهما اللذين حصل عليهما بعد وفاته. رئيس حركة «فتح» و«منظّمة التحرير»، سَجّل مسيرة مزدحمة بالتناقض والجدل؛ فهو المقاتل الذي صنعت المتاريس…
غزة | كثيراً ما يثارُ في أوساط حركتَي «حماس» و«فتح»، الحديث عن الدور الذي لعبه الرئيس الفلسطيني الراحل، ياسر عرفات، في تحريك المقاومة المسلّحة خلال الانتفاضة الفلسطينية الثانية، وسط شهادات تشير إلى…
غزة | على رغم أن حركة التمرّد والانشقاق لازمت مسيرة حركة «فتح» منذ تأسيسها عام 1965، إلّا أن أهداف الانشقاقات ودوافعها بعد رحيل الرئيس ياسر عرفات، أصبحت مغايرة تماماً. إذ من الممكن تفهُّم انشقاق…
«خايفين يطلع من القبر»؛ هذا ما ردّ به صاحب معمل الباطون الذي طُلب منه أن يؤمّن كمّية من الإسمنت المخصَّص لبناء الملاجئ المحصّنة، لسكبها فوق تابوتَي الإسمنت اللذَين وُضع فيهما جثمان أبو عمار داخل قبره…
Christians are an integral part of Palestine, the region’s social fabric and the Arab world’s identity as a whole. Despite the Collective and Historic-West’s active attempt to isolate and contain the Christian role in the struggle for national liberation through the resettlement of Arab and Palestinian Christians in exile, it remains that the formation of the Arab national identity, through the entirety of its social fabric, is rooted in their unified historical and cultural background and identity.
“We will not kneel! Yes, we seek peace but we will not surrender.”
There is a direct correlation between the extent to which people value their lives and their willingness to defend the Arab identity of Palestine, which is integral to the Arab social fabric of the entire region. This correlation between Arabs and their land has manifested as Resistance movements across the Arab world. More specifically, it became visible in liberation movements seeking to liberate Palestine from the settler colonial entity of “Israel” as a primary front for Arab liberation from Western hegemony. This is to say that “Israel” is merely an agent of hegemony seeking to ensure the continuous security and sustainability of the Western project of the New Middle East as it was initially developed through the enforcement of the Balfour Declaration and Sykes-Picot agreement.
As Palestinians and Arabs sacrifice their lives for liberation, the narrative of Christians, be it in Palestine or across the Arab world, is being purposefully obliterated. Having systematically fragmented the Christian voice of Palestinians and the surrounding Sykes-Picot-generated entities through settler colonialism and fragmentation practices, it has become necessary to dissect the Western-led Israeli narrative, despite all Western efforts to obstruct that process, and highlight the engagement of the Christian segment in liberation movements, be it armed resistance or otherwise, across the Arab world.
Christians are an integral part of the region’s social fabric and of the Arab world’s identity as a whole. Despite the Collective and Historic West’s active attempt to isolate and contain the Christian segment’s role in the struggle for national liberation through the resettlement of Arab and Palestinian Christians in exile, it remains that the formation of the Arab national identity, through the entirety of its social fabric ―Christians, Muslims, Druze, Jews, and all minority groups and confessions― is rooted in their unified historical and cultural background and identity.
“Israel” isolates Christians from Palestine and the cause
The Palestinian people, both Muslim and Christian alike, believe that the land upon which people walk, in Palestine, and Al-Quds more specifically, is sacred. The Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, Atallah Hanna, has consecrated on several occasions the relationship between the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He reaffirmed the Arab identity of Al-Quds, that of both its land and people, as an integral part of the larger Arab world in the face of the settler colonial entity that is considered the primary threat in the path toward Arab liberation.
Since the 1948 Nakba of Palestine, the Haganah massacres that led to it, in addition to the establishment of the Israeli settler colonial entity, there has been an active and continuous attempt by the Israelis to alter the identity of Palestine. They sought to eliminate its Arab historic and cultural features in the hopes of putting an end to the righteous Arab Palestinian cause and thus legitimizing their settler existence, as well as the sustainability of the non-nations of Sykes-Picot. The Zionist entity, in other words, looked to install the foreverness of a fragmented Arab national identity.
In this regard, Christian Palestinians did not stand idle, nor did they ever abandon the Palestinian struggle, nor their Arab identity, neither at home nor in exile. Archbishop Hanna reaffirmed that the settler colonial entity threatened the Arab social fabric, history, and national identity, and noted that it cannot “remove Al-Quds from the Palestinian conscience, be it that of Christians or Muslims.”
He further called on Palestinian Christians everywhere “not to forget their church,” adding that Palestine “is their spiritual roots and their national roots, they belong here, and their identity is rooted in this region’s history. They must never forget their Palestinian heritage.”
Brothers in Arms
On October 23, 2022, the Israeli occupation assassinated Tamer Al-Kilani, a Palestinian Resistance fighter from the Lions’ Den group in the West Bank’s Nablus, via a TNT device planted on a motorcycle next to his.
This marks the latest of the ever-ongoing assassination policy of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinian Resistance leaders. However, since the beginning of 2022, the IOF has intensified its assassinations and has even used drones and TNT devices to conduct them.
While many Christian resistance fighters became renowned in the earlier stages of the Palestinian struggle, such as Ghassan Kanafani and Georges Habash, since the Second Intifada, there became a generation of Arabs – both Christian and Muslim – that have questioned the role of Christians in Palestinian liberation movements.
In 2006, shortly after the end of the Second Intifada, there was a general decision between Palestinian Resistance groups and the Palestinian Authority to de-escalate. During that time, two young men were assassinated for insisting on carrying the legacy of those that were martyred before them.
Martyr Daniel Abu Hamama, in his early 20s at the time, was assassinated alongside martyr Ahmed Musleh who was around the same age, on Easter Sunday after they were driven into an ambush. In 1990, Abu Hamama joined the Palestinian Authority’s special forces apparatus, seeking a job to support his family. As the confrontations intensified prior to the start of the Second Intifada, Abu Hamama joined the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Fatah.
The IOF assassinate Palestinian Resistance fighters Martyrs Daniel Abu Hamama and Ahmad Musleh in 2006
The IOF’s bullets obstructed Abu Hamama’s path to Beit Lahm in the West Bank, preventing him from attending the Easter celebration with his family and loved ones.
That evening, the IOF bullets turned Daniel’s holiday delight into a reminder that the way of the Cross ends in resurrection and is the only way to salvation.
His blood quenched the soil that Christians consider the birthplace of Christianity. The assassination targeted the car Abu Hamama was in with his two friends, Martyr Ahmed Musleh and Arafat Abu Shaira, who was injured during the attempt.
According to an eyewitness who spoke to Al-Quds News, “When Daniel fell from the vehicle, bleeding, the occupation soldiers attacked, dragging him to the ground to a warehouse 15 meters away from the vehicle, taking off his clothes,” pointing out that “people in the neighboring area then heard the sound of gunfire inside, which made them believe there’s an interrogation. Then, an execution had taken place before an IOF ambulance came and held his body for two days.”
مقاتلون فلسطينيون يودعون رفيقهم المقاتل الشهيد دانيال أبو حمامة على أبواب كنيسة المهد في بيت لحم قبل إدخال الجثمان للصلاة عليه في الكنيسة – أبريل 2006.
His mother’s words ring notably: “Praise be to God, who honored our son by allowing him martyrdom in defense of the dear homeland,” noting that Abu Hamama has “always wished to be martyred.”
A School of Liberation Theology
Abu Hamama would not have been the first or last Christian to join Fatah. Long before him, the protector of Al-Quds and exiled freedom fighter Archbishop Hilarion Cappucci had assisted Fatah for years before he was arrested and then exiled.
Cappucci was known for having been both a clergyman and a freedom fighter, a boy from Syria’s Aleppo that refused to watch Palestine suffer. When Al-Aqsa Mosque called for help, he ordered for the bells of the Church of the Sepulcher to be tolled. In his approach toward the Palestinian struggle, Cappucci left behind him a legacy. He became a symbol of confrontation on the individual, religious, and national levels. A symbol of unity of ranks in purpose and fate, and thus a symbol of the Arab liberation theology uniting Christians and Muslims across the Arab and Islamic worlds.
In his own words, Cappucci summarized his legacy, and that of all those who have chosen to follow in his footsteps, when he said “We will not kneel! Yes, we seek peace but we will not surrender. What we demand is righteousness and justice, and God is righteousness and justice. And if God is with us, then who is against us? Therefore, our dark nights must end, and our chains must be broken.”
Furthermore, the Syrian Archbishop of Al-Quds also said “I, who have lived in Al-Quds for long, have prayed to the verses of its minarets and the tolling of its church bells. I have extended my hand, at times of adversity, to assist Palestinian freedom fighters…and because of that I was arrested and exiled,” calling on generations not to abandon this legacy for the sake of Palestine, and stressing that the people of the region depend on it.
Palestine will remain an Arab cause because it affects all of us living in the made-to-fragment Sykes-Picot entities. The liberation of Palestine and its people is the liberation of the Arab nation, and the first step towards the defragmentation of its social fabric, thereby allowing it to become a united nation capable of developing sustainable social, economic, and political organizations, and securing safety and prosperity for all the remaining minorities in the region on its own terms, without the Western dictations that have plagued the Arab world for far too long now.
Leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad resistance movements highlighted the need to boost unity and escalate military confrontation with the ‘Israeli’ occupation regime amid a new wave of ‘Israeli’ aggression against Palestinians.
A meeting was held on Friday in the Lebanese capital of Beirut between a Hamas delegation led by Fathi Hammad, a member of the group’s political bureau, and an Islamic Jihad delegation led by Secretary General Ziad al-Nakhala.
The sides affirmed that the liberation of Palestinian lands at this stage requires efforts to unify the resistance forces, escalate the confrontation with the occupying forces, and force the regime to retreat from all Palestinian soil, Palestine Today reported.
They also stressed that al-Quds is the “eternal capital” of Palestine and will remain a symbol of unity for the Palestinian people.
The meeting comes a few days after a historic visit between Hamas officials and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
A high-ranking Palestinian delegation met with Assad on Wednesday, in the first such visit in more than a decade as the two sides seek to revitalize their ties.
Deputy chief of the Hamas political bureau in the besieged Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, who headed the delegation, said the spirit of resistance was resurrected within the Arab world following their historic visit to Damascus.
“The relations with Syria will give strength to the Axis of Resistance and to all the believers in the resistance,” al-Hayya said.
The efforts to boost resistance come as the ‘Israeli’ occupation forces have recently been conducting overnight raids and killings in the northern occupied West Bank, mainly in the cities of Jenin and Nablus, where new groups of Palestinian resistance fighters have been formed.
Meanwhile, emboldened by the military forces, Zionists occupying the illegal settlements have also been involved in attacks against Palestinian people and neighborhoods.
On Thursday night, the ‘Israeli’ occupation forces shot dead 19-year-old Salah Braiki during a raid on the Jenin refugee camp north of the occupied West Bank.
Meanwhile, WAFA News Agency reported that a 15-year-old Palestinian teenager was in critical condition after the Zionist forces fired bullets at his abdomen in Qalqilia, West Bank, on Friday.
Steven Sahiounie There is a battle brewing in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. Thousands of Israeli occupation forces will be deployed to face a growing resistance force. The ‘natives are restless’ and the Lions’ Den has mobilized to fight for their freedom and human rights.
500,000 illegal Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank in some 130 settlements. Today, the Israeli forces said dozens of settlers ran through Hawara, near Nablus, throwing rocks at Palestinian cars. The settlers used pepper spray on the Israeli commander as well as another soldier and sprayed another two soldiers at a nearby checkpoint. Settlers are allowed to intimidate Palestinians and destroy their property, while Palestinians are hunted down and killed by Israeli occupation forces.
The Palestinian youth have grown up under brutal military occupation and an apartheid state. The resistance in Jenin, Nablus, and Hebron has inspired rebellion against sieges and attacks. The Palestinian people living under the iron hand of oppression are ready to fight the Israeli occupation and are frustrated with their leadership which is seen as collaborating with the Israelis in keeping the status quo firmly in place. The resistance movement sees no benefit in maintaining the occupation and demands a dramatic change in their future.
The Palestinian youth reject the divisions among the factions in the politics of Palestine. The recent unity deal in Algeria has given them hope that political parties can work together in brigades such as the Lions’ Den, which has fighters from Hamas, Fatah, and others fighting together for a single goal of freedom.
On October 11, an Israeli soldier was killed in an attack north of Nablus, and two other shooting attacks against Israeli forces took place in Beit Ummar, near Hebron, and in Sur Baher, a neighborhood in Jerusalem.
On October 14, Israeli forces killed 20-year-old Mateen Dabaya in a raid on the Jenin refugee camp. Dr. Abdallah Abu Teen, 43, rushed to the aid of Dabaya in front of the Jenin hospital and was also shot and killed by the Israelis in his attempt to give medical care to the injured young man. Two Palestinian paramedics and several civilians were also wounded in the attack by the Israelis at the entrance to the hospital.
On October 15, a Palestinian in his twenties was killed north of Ramallah, and Israeli forces raided Nablus and arrested a Palestinian man while continuing to impose movement restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank, which is a hallmark of an apartheid state.
On October 16, Mohammad Turkman, 20, died of his wounds while in Israeli custody. He had been wounded and captured by Israeli forces in Jenin in late September.
On October 20, Mohammed Fadi Nuri, 16, died after being shot in the stomach last month by Israeli troops near the city of Ramallah.
The Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem is completely sealed in a siege by Israeli forces as a form of collective punishment following an attack there, and Israeli police announced that it arrested 50 Palestinians in Jerusalem recently.
Riyad Mansour, the representative of Palestine to the UN, has denounced attacks by Israeli occupation forces and called on the UN to comply with international law and Security Council resolutions. Mansour noted that Israeli forces and settler militias “are relentlessly harassing, intimidating and provoking the Palestinian people in a ruthless manner,” and condemned the new attack against the city of Jenin
The US enables Israel to remain an apartheid state
The United States of America, the champion of freedom and democracy, is currently sending billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine to fight for democracy. But, you won’t see the US sending a bullet to the Palestinians for their fight for democracy. The US is also the champion of ‘double standards’.
According to the various international human rights groups, which are often cited by the US as evidence of war crimes and atrocities by American foes, the Jewish State of Israel is an apartheid state. The US and her western liberal allies were the chief critics of the former apartheid state of South Africa, and the western criticism helped to fulfill the dreams of freedom and democracy in the land of Nelson Mandela.
The US is like a parent who allows Israel to continue self-destructive behavior. Some parents of teenage drug addicts will buy drugs for their children to protect them from danger and arrest. The parents are not willing to go through the tortuous procedure of rehab for the child, so they minimize the danger and make the drug addiction as safe as possible. This is known as enabling, and this is the role the US has chosen for itself in its relationship with Israel and Palestine. On the one hand, the US claims to support the democratic aspirations of all peoples but is unwilling to stand up to Israeli policies of racism, collective punishment, blockades, imprisonment without trial or legal aid, and other crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people under occupation. The enabling stance of the US is destructive for both the US and the Palestinians, as the reputation of America suffers from global ridicule and shame.
Palestinian unity deal
Arab unity might be too much to ask for, but Palestinian unity has been agreed on in Algeria. Hamas, Fattah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the PLO, and others signed the deal brokered by Algerian President Abdulmajeed Tabboune. This deal resolves a 15-year political dispute among the various factions and looks forward to new elections.
“Jenin has demonstrated to the [Palestinian] leaders meeting in Algeria that national unity is built in the field,” Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said.
Why is the west bank resisting?
The Palestinian Authority has lost control in Nablus and Jenin the West Bank. The Palestinians view their leadership as an extension of Israeli control and oppression. The Lions’ Den in Nablus has claimed responsibility for the latest resistance operations against Israeli occupation forces.
On October 16, the Jenin Brigade announced they will support the Lions’ Den in their resistance to occupation, and this has raised the prospect of increased Israeli raids on Jenin and Nablus.
Benny Gantz, Israeli Defense Minister, trivialized the threat of the Lions’ Den when he made statements on how his occupation forces will capture and eliminate the members. Israel has depended on the divisions among the Palestinian factions. However, Israel has never before faced a unified force of motivated youth who are willing to die for freedom and a chance to create a new future for themselves and their families. Revolutions occasionally succeed.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, over 170 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and Gaza, since the beginning of 2022, making this year the deadliest since 2015.
Pope Francis, the UK churches, and the 13 denominations of Christians in Jerusalem have always maintained a position supporting a UN resolution for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine firstly, and secondly a final status of Jerusalem to be decided afterward. Previously the Christians of Jerusalem stated concern over moving embassies to Jerusalem, “We are certain that such steps will yield increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, moving us farther from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division.”
Truss has wanted to follow in the footsteps of President Trump who defied international law when he shifted the US embassy to Jerusalem. The Truss plan was first suggested in her letter to the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), a pro-Israel lobby group, similar to the pro-Trump AIPAC in the US.
Wong also told reporters that “the Australian government remains committed to a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state can coexist in peace and security within internationally recognized borders. We will not support an approach that undermines this prospect.”
On 11 October, Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli soldier near the illegal Jewish settlement of Shavei Shomron, west of the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. On the same day, masked men opened fire on four other Israeli targets on the outskirts of the city.
A total of five operations were carried out in one day, reportedly by the recently established resistance faction called the Lion’s Den (Areen Al-Osood) who claimed responsibility for them.
On Sunday, an unusual top level security meeting was held in Israel, on the eve of a national festival, which included Prime Minister Yair Lapid, alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, National Security Council Chairman Eyal Hulata, Mossad Chief David Barnea, Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar, and Military Intelligence Chief Aharon Haliva, according to Israeli media reports.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the new West Bank resistance phenomenon, the Lion’s Den, which Haaretz calls a “major headache” for the Israeli state. Earlier that day, Israel’s Defense Ministry denied entry permits for 164 Palestinian family members allegedly related to the Lions’ Den.
Who are the Lion’s Den?
What do we know so far about the Lion’s Den, a West Bank resistance group that Defense Minister Gantz admits poses a challenge to Israeli security, demanding repeatedly that the Palestinian Authority (PA) limit its expansion?
The first nucleus of this group was formed last February in Nablus, when Israeli security forces assassinated Muhammad al-Dakhil, Ashraf Mubaslat and Adham Mabrouka, all members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military arm of the Fatah movement.
The three were friends with Jamil al-Amouri, a leader in the Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and founder of the Jenin Brigades, who was assassinated by Israeli forces in early June 2021.
In retaliation, the trio, along with Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, were involved in a string of shooting operations at occupation army checkpoints in the city. The lack of support from Fatah to which they belong, prompted them to seek assistance from other factions, most notably Hamas and PIJ, who provided them with material and logistical support.
After the assassination of Nabulsi on 9 August, 2022, he and the others became national icons for the Palestinian public, joining the extensive list of celebrated martyrs from Nablus. Political researcher Majd Dargham told The Cradle that “Nablus has a special status in relation to the Palestinian Authority and Fatah movement, which does not allow any other organization to be active in it.”
As the Nablus Brigade of the Al-Quds Brigades did not have much chance of success, there was a need to form new non-partisan groups, consisting mostly of Fatah fighters. This is how the Lion’s Den was born, and how within a short period it has transformed into a cross-faction group dominated by the Fatah members.
The leader speaks
The leader of the Lion’s Den, who spoke to The Cradle on condition of anonymity, stressed that his group was “founded for resistance. We renounce partisanship, and we work in unity for God and the nation, and we extend our hand to every member of any faction who wants to engage with us away from his party affiliation.”
In the past month, the military operations of the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank have led to the killing of four Israeli soldiers, and about 800 confrontation events have been recorded.
In a report by Haaretz entitled “Nablus’ Lion’s Den has become a major headache for Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” the authors of the article, Yaniv Kubovich and Jack Khoury, posit that the main problem with this new resistance group is that most of its members belong to Fatah and hail from large families in Nablus.
This places the PA in an embarrassing situation because any operation targeting the Lion’s Den by the Israeli-backed Palestinian security forces will mean the PA shoots itself in the foot, and destroys what remains of its legitimacy among Fatah and its supporters.
While recognizing that “the situation in the West Bank is very sensitive,” Gantz said in a press statement that eliminating the Lion’s Den whose number does not exceed 30 young men, is “possible.”
However, the group’s leader responded to this by telling The Cradle: “Gantz will be surprised very soon by our numbers and methods of work and how far we can reach.” According to Dergham, the popularity of The Lion’s Den is not limited to the old city of Nablus – rather, its influence now extends to all parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
He adds: “Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, Muhammad al-Azizi, Abboud Sobh and others have turned into icons. Whoever assaults them, or arrests their friends, will appear to be a security agent for the occupation, and this is what the authority (PA) cannot tolerate.”
“Keep your arms”
In advance of his assassination, Ibrahim al-Nabulsi left behind a message in simple colloquial Arabic, in which he said: “For the sake of the honor of your families, keep your arms.”
These words formed the founding charter of the Lion’s Den, which appeared for the first time on 2 September at the memorial ceremony held for their martyred fighters Muhammad al-Azizi and Abd Al-Rahman Subh, who were killed by Israeli forces during a military raid in Nablus on 24 July.
Wearing all black, fully masked, and with weapons held high and close to their right, the members of the Lion’s Den marched through the streets and alleys of Nablus’ old city, with hundreds of people in attendance.
One of the masked men recited the group’s charter, in which he proclaimed the Lion’s Den as “a phenomenon of continuous resistance derived from its unity on the ground, and from the roots of the past revolution.”
He added that “the arrogance of the occupation impose on us as resistance fighters renewed battles, the shape of which the occupation may not expect, especially since this organized and self-managed resistance is able every day to renew the blood in the veins of the resistance in many forms and methods.”
He also reminded fellow members “not to leave the gun under any circumstances and to direct it at the occupation, its settlers, and those who collaborate with the enemy,” and called on their “brothers in the [PA] security services to unite and direct our guns toward the occupation only.”
Popularity of the pride
On 19 September, the PA’s security services arrested Hamas member, Musab Shtayyeh, who is also one of the leaders of The Lion’s Den. In response, the group called for demonstrations that included clashes with Palestinian policemen.
After two days of tension and protests, the group released a statement saying that “the internal fighting only serves the occupation, and our guns will only be directed at the enemy.” Calm returned to the city, and since then, the Lion’s Den fighters have carried out dozens of shooting attacks on settler cars and Israeli military checkpoints.
Due to the group’s rising popularity across the West Bank, several Palestinian factions have sought to claim affiliation with the Lion’s Den, prompting the resistance group to issue statements that it acts independently. The Lion’s Den leader tells The Cradle: “The Qassam, Saraya [Al-Quds Brigades] and Fatah members who operate within the den are involved in a national framework, and do not represent their parties.”
“All are our brothers. When the protests over the arrest of Musab Shtayyeh were about to develop into a strife, we chose to end it, to direct our compass to the occupier,” he explained.
The Hebrew Channel 13, which describes the group as a “terrorist organization,” concedes that: “in less than a year, [the Lion’s Den] have transformed from an obscure organization into an organization that has more influence than all known Palestinian factions, and threatens the security of the Israelis and the stability of the Palestinian Authority.”
Reclaiming territory
A source in the Palestinian resistance in Nablus confirms to The Cradle that the Lion’s Den has indeed expanded the resistance in the West Bank from confronting military incursions and random raids, to organized operations against the collective occupation forces.
The recent operations have illustrated that they are working according to a well-thought-out strategy based on undermining any chance of order that the occupation army and settlers seek to enforce in the cities of the West Bank.
Nevertheless, the Den’s leader expects difficult days ahead in Nablus, the group’s stronghold. In addition to a major security campaign that Israeli forces may launch on the city at any moment to eliminate the group’s infrastructure, the compliant PA is making great efforts to contain the group.
Recently, the PA offered to co-opt Lion’s Den members in its security services, in exchange for an Israeli guarantee that they would not be pursued. The group’s leader responded thus: “We rejected all offers. We will not exploit the blood of martyrs for personal gain.”
According to observers, the new resistance faction has progressed to such an extent that it is now firmly beyond the stage of possible containment or elimination, and the coming days will likely witness its expansion to various West Bank cities and camps.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.
غزة | بعد وقت قصير من إعلان حركة «حماس» قرارها العودة إلى سوريا، يصل وفد من الحركة، خلال الأيام المقبلة، إلى العاصمة دمشق، ضمن مجموعة وفود فصائلية فلسطينية ستلتقي الرئيس السوري، بشار الأسد، في ما سيمثّل خطوة أولى على طريق إنهاء خلاف عميق بين الجانبَين، أشعله موقف الحركة من الأزمة السورية. وبحسب ما علمته «الأخبار» من مصادر «حمساوية»، فقد تمّ إبلاغ الحركة بنيّة الأسد استقبال الفصائل الفلسطينية، وأن «حماس» مَدعوَّة إلى هذا اللقاء، وهو ما ردّت عليه الأخيرة بالإيجاب، مؤكدة أن مسؤول ملفّ العلاقات العربية والإسلامية لديها، خليل الحية، ووفداً قيادياً منها، سيكونان ضمن الجمْع المتوجّه إلى دمشق. ولم يحدَّد بعد موعد الاجتماع السوري – الفصائلي، علماً أن الفصائل طلبت تأخيره إلى حين انتهاء لقاءات المصالحة في العاصمة الجزائرية، فيما كشفت مصادر مطّلعة، لـ«الأخبار»، أن ثمّة ترتيبات لعقْد لقاء ثُنائي منفرد، بعيداً عن الإعلام، بين ممثّلي «حماس» والأسد على هامش الاجتماع الموسّع. وأوضحت المصادر أن اللقاء المُشار إليه سيناقش الإشكاليات التي اعترت العلاقة سابقاً، وطُرق تسويتها، وكيفية «قطْع الطريق على المتربّصين» بمسار إنهاء القطيعة بين الطرفَين، كما سيتناول التحدّيات المقبلة التي تُواجه سوريا والقضية الفلسطينية، وإمكانية إقامة مكتب تمثيل للحركة في العاصمة السورية خلال الفترة المقبلة، على رغم أن خطوة كتلك تعترضها عقبات عديدة، بعضها سوري داخلي، وبعضها الآخر مرتبط بـ«حماس» نفسها، التي يرأسها في الخارج خالد مشعل، والأخير لا يزال على موقف معادٍ للقيادة السورية، فيما الأخيرة تُحافظ، بدورها، على نظرة شديدة السلبية إليه. وعلى رغم ما تَقدّم، من المتوقّع أن تَدْفع هذه الزيارة قُدُماً بخطوات «إعادة المياه إلى مجاريها»، وسط دعم من أطراف محور المقاومة لذلك المسار بشكل كامل، ورعاية إيرانية لصيقة، وإشراف مباشر من الأمين العام لـ«حزب الله»، السيد حسن نصر الله.
تم إبلاغ الحركة بنية الأسد استقبال الفصائل، وأن «حماس» مَدعوة إلى هذا اللقاء
على خطّ موازٍ، وقّعت الفصائل الفلسطينية، في العاصمة الجزائر، اتّفاق مصالحة يقضي بإجراء انتخابات تشريعية ورئاسية في غضون عام، لكن من دون تحديد الآليات التي يُفترض من خلالها تجاوُز العقبات السابقة التي حالت دون انعقادها، وعلى رأسها تلك التي فرضها الاحتلال في مدينة القدس. وفي هذا الإطار، أكدت مصادر «حمساوية»، لـ«الأخبار»، أن الحركة وافقت على الورقة الجزائرية ووقّعت عليها، على رغم كونها «فضفاضة على نحوٍ يتيح لأطرافها التملّص منها مستقبلاً»، متهمّةً حركة «فتح» بأنها هي التي دفعت في اتّجاه إخراج الورقة بهذه الصورة. وبيّنت المصادر أن الفصائل طالبت بأن تُجرى الانتخابات خلال 6 أشهر، إلّا أن «فتح» أصرّت على أن يكون ذلك بعد عام من التوقيع، من دون تحديد جدول زمني للخطوات اللازمة، ومن دون تقديم رؤية أيضاً لكيفية إتمام الاستحقاق في القدس. وبذا، لم تختلف المبادرة الجزائرية عن المبادرات العربية السابقة التي طُرحت على مدار 16 عاماً من الانقسام؛ إذ دائماً ما غاب عنها جدول زمني للتنفيذ، إضافة إلى خلوّها من أيّ ضمانات.
ودعت الوثيقة الجزائرية إلى «اعتماد لغة الحوار والتشاور لحلّ الخلافات على الساحة الفلسطينية»، تمهيداً لـ«انضمام الكلّ الوطني إلى منظّمة التحرير الفلسطينية». كما دعت إلى «تفعيل آلية الأمناء العامين للفصائل الفلسطينية لمتابعة إنهاء الانقسام وتحقيق الوحدة الوطنية والشراكة السياسية الوطنية». ونصّت، أيضاً، على «تكريس مبدأ الشراكة السياسية بين مختلف القوى الوطنية، بما في ذلك عن طريق الانتخابات، وبما يسمح بمشاركة واسعة في الاستحقاقات الوطنية القادمة في الوطن والشتات، وانتخاب المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني في الداخل والخارج حيث ما أمكن، بنظام التمثيل النسبي الكامل وفق الصيغة المتَّفق عليها والقوانين المعتمَدة، بمشاركة جميع القوى، خلال مدّة أقصاها عام واحد من تاريخ توقيع الإعلان»، فيما أبدت الجزائر استعدادها لاحتضان انعقاد المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني الجديد. كذلك، طالبت الوثيقة بـ«الإسراع في إجراء انتخابات عامّة رئاسية وتشريعية في قطاع غزة والضفة الغربية، بما فيها القدس عاصمة الدولة الفلسطينية، وفق القوانين المعتمَدة في مدّة أقصاها عام»، مُشدّدة على «ضرورة تطوير دور منظّمة التحرير وتفعيل مؤسّساتها بمشاركة جميع الفصائل»، فضلاً عن «توحيد المؤسّسات الوطنية وتجنيد الطاقات والموارد المتاحة الضرورية لتنفيذ مشاريع إعادة الإعمار ودعم البنية التحتية والاجتماعية للشعب الفلسطيني، بما يدعم صموده في مواجهة الاحتلال»، مُعلِنةً، أخيراً، «تولّي فريق عمل جزائري عربي الإشراف والمتابعة لتنفيذ بنود هذا الاتفاق، بالتعاون مع الجانب الفلسطيني».
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UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM 
