Fatah relishes chance to undermine Hamas
, עודכן
The abduction of Israeli teenagers Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaer and Naftali Frenkel continued to unfold on two levels Monday: the operational one and the strategic one.
The operational aspects focus on the manhunt for the abductors. The IDF and Shin Bet security agency arrested more Hamas operatives in the Hebron sector on Monday, suspecting they were either directly or indirectly involved with the terror cell that carried out last Thursday's abduction.
Despite public pressure, defense officials have been adamantly avoiding setting a timetable for the operation. They are right not to do so, as these things take time. It is not unheard of for terrorists to hide in the West Bank for days, sometimes even months and years.
Still, given the efforts made by Israel to locate the teens' whereabouts -- the massive deployment of forces on the ground, exhausting intelligence assets, and applying economical and political pressure on the area's residents and on the Palestinian Authority -- this most likely will not be the case.
The strategic aspects of the operation are meant to directly undermine Hamas, which it holds responsible for the abduction. Israel has used the attack to target Hamas' political, military and financial infrastructure in the West Bank, arresting dozens of operatives and shutting down its Dawah charity organizations, which have long been suspected of being used to launder terror funds.
Meanwhile, the cabinet is poised to debate the potential deportation of Hamas operatives from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip, as well as the possibility of transferring several administrative prisoners who are staging a hunger strike, to the PA, thus eliminating the need to be concerned with their welfare.
At this time, Israel has opted against targeting Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. While Monday saw the Israeli Air Force target three Gaza-based Hamas terror hubs (and two Islamic Jihad ones), in response to Sunday's rocket fire on southern Israel, the strike was meant as a warning. Israel knows Islamic Jihad terrorists fired the rockets, and moreover, it knows Hamas has been making considerable efforts to curtail any such fire, fearing that Israel would use it as an excuse to attack the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the abduction.
Simultaneously with its efforts to undermine Hamas, Israel has been trying to bolster collaboration with Fatah officials in the West Bank. Monday's phone conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was part of these endeavors, as are the constant communication efforts between Israeli security officials and their Palestinian counterparts.
Anyone communicating with PA officials over the past few days has heard only outrage over the abduction, as well as satisfaction over Israel's actions against Hamas in the West Bank. It is too early to tell whether this is the beginning of the end for the Fatah-Hamas unity government, but Israel and the Fatah share a common interest: to undercut Hamas' grip on the West Bank.
As concern for the three Israeli teens' fate grows, the defense establishment is operating on the assumption that they are still alive, and therefore the raids and arrests made across the West Bank are being carried out under the presumption that the teens and their abductors may be found at any given location searched by Israeli troops, at any given time.
For this reason, security forces deployed on the Jordanian and Egyptian borders and the various crossings leading into the Gaza Strip are on high alert, to ensure the abducted teens are not smuggled out of the area.
The military's tactical negotiation team is also being kept on standby, just in case things get out of hand, and just in case the abductors contact Israel with their demands. This has not happened yet, leading defense officials to hedge that the manhunt will reach a unilateral end of apprehending the abductors and locating the teens.
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