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Israel Prepares for Possible Third Intifada in the West Bank

Palestinian security forces during a visit by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Jenin refugee camp on July 12. (AFP)
Palestinian security forces during a visit by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Jenin refugee camp on July 12. (AFP)
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Israel Prepares for Possible Third Intifada in the West Bank

Palestinian security forces during a visit by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Jenin refugee camp on July 12. (AFP)
Palestinian security forces during a visit by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Jenin refugee camp on July 12. (AFP)

Israel’s security establishment is preparing for the possibility of a third intifada (uprising), a more likely scenario in the post-President Mahmoud Abbas era.

Israel's Ynet reported that the recent operation in Jenin and its refugee camp served as a miniature representation of a broader military conflict that could unfold in the West Bank, involving tens of thousands of armed militants, with an abundant supply of ammunition smuggled from Israel or across the Jordanian border, and lacking no financial resources.

According to the website, this is the scenario outlined by Israeli intelligence officers for the situation in the West Bank.

This scenario gained more prominence in the past week as Israeli security received another reminder of the escalating situation in the West Bank, following three attacks occurring within a single day, including two shooting incidents.

The report said it is the Israeli army that bears the cost of this situation, including reduced training for regular brigades, increased activation of reserve soldiers for operational duties, and incurring costs amounting to hundreds of millions of shekels.

In the span of a year and a half, only 13 battalions have been involved in current security missions in the West Bank.

Since the surge in attacks began, the number of battalions has increased by an average of 25.

This figure still stands at approximately a quarter of the battalions that operated in the West Bank during the peak of the second uprising nearly two decades ago.

This gap in the number of soldiers deployed in the field can largely be attributed to advanced technologies and artificial intelligence, which were not available 20 years ago.

Furthermore, Ynet revealed that the Israeli army command in the West Bank has recently renewed its operational plans for any anticipated escalation.

These new offensive plans are based on precise intelligence information prepared by the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate, which believes that every household in Palestinian cities and villages contains some form of weaponry.

It asserts that an unprecedented and substantial quantity of arms, previously absent in the West Bank, is now present.

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Germany Says Sanctions against Syrian War Crimes Suspects Must Stay but People Need Relief

A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
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Germany Says Sanctions against Syrian War Crimes Suspects Must Stay but People Need Relief

A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)

thGermany’s foreign minister said Sunday that sanctions against Syrian officials responsible for war crimes must remain in place but called for a “smart approach” to provide relief to the Syrian population after last month's overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

Annalena Baerbock spoke to reporters after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a conference on Syria's future attended by top European and Middle Eastern diplomats.

Germany is one of several countries that imposed sanctions on the Assad government over its brutal crackdown on dissent. Those penalties could hinder Syria's recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed an estimated 500,000 people and displaced half the prewar population of 23 million, according to The AP.

“Sanctions against Assad’s henchmen who committed serious crimes during the civil war must remain in place,” Baerbock said. “But Germany proposes to take a smart approach to sanctions, providing rapid relief for the Syrian population. Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power.”

Baerbock announced an additional 50 million euros ($51.2 million) in German aid for food, emergency shelters and medical care, highlighting the ongoing struggles of millions of Syrians displaced by the war.

The sanctions imposed target not only senior government officials, but also the country's oil industry, international money transfers and hundreds of entities and individuals linked to the Assad government, crippling the wider economy.

There are exemptions when it comes to humanitarian aid, but relief organizations have said that overcompliance by financial institutions hinders their operations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country, which was a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition to Assad, would try to aid Syria in normalizing ties with the international community.

He said it was important to establish “a balance between the expectations of the international community and the realities faced by the new administration in Syria.”

He pledged Turkish support to the new government, especially in combating threats from the ISIS group. “As Türkiye, we are ready to do our part to ease the difficult path ahead for the Syrian people,” he said in comments carried by state-run Anadolu Agency.

The United States has eased some restrictions Last week, the United States eased some of its restrictions on Syria, with the US Treasury issuing a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The US has also dropped a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmad al-Sharaa, a Syrian opposition leader formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month. Al-Sharaa was a former senior al-Qaeda militant who broke with the group years ago and has pledged an inclusive Syria that respects the rights of religious minorities.

The opposition factions led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule.

Much of the world severed ties with Assad and imposed sanctions on his government — and its Russian and Iranian allies — over alleged war crimes and the manufacturing of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, which reportedly generated billions of dollars as packages of the little white pills were smuggled across Syria’s porous borders.

With Assad out of the picture, Syria’s new authorities hope that the international community will pour money into the country to rebuild its battered infrastructure and make its economy viable again.