Shin Bet head warns of possible fresh outbreak of West Bank violence

Despite a considerable decrease in the number of Palestinian terror attacks in recent months, the situation in the West Bank remains volatile, and even a small incident could ignite a fresh wave of violence, the newly appointed head of the Shin Bet security service warned lawmakers on Tuesday.

In his first-ever overview to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Nadav Agarman on Tuesday also told ministers that condemnation of violence by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would significantly decrease anti-Israel incitement, resulting in fewer attacks, according to a Knesset press statement.

Argaman’s appearance came days after a seeming uptick in West Bank terror attacks, following several months of intense violence that seemed to wane starting in March.

But while noting the decrease in attacks, he said the number of factors that could lead to a fresh conflagration was greater than before the wave of violence began in September 2015. Certain extraordinary events, like tensions on the Temple Mount or a “game-changing” attack, could lead to a fresh explosion of violence, he said, according to the Knesset release.

Argaman said the Hamas terror group was “unrelentingly trying to destabilize Jerusalem and the West Bank.”

Fom January to June, the Shin Bet had foiled 11 suicide attacks, 10 kidnapping attempts and over 60 attempted shootings, he said.

Since October 2015, 35 Israelis and four others have been killed and hundreds more injured in the wave of Palestinian attacks, though the violence had dramatically waned of late. More than 200 Palestinians have also been killed, some two-thirds of them while carrying out attacks and the rest in clashes with troops, Israeli officials say.

Argaman said that while Abbas does not directly encourage terror, his government maintains a hostile policy towards Israel. On the number of occasions the PA president did publicly denounce acts of Palestinian terror, it served to calm tensions, he added.

Israeli officials have long complained that official incitement from the PA as well as tacit support for violence have served to inflame tensions in the restive Palestinian territories.

According to data gathered by the domestic intelligence agency, Argaman said that Palestinians aged 16-18 are the demographic most susceptible to anti-Israel incitement.

He said the Shin Bet had also determined that of the 300 or so Palestinian attacks directed against Israeli civilians or security forces in recent months, 40 were carried out by women or teenage girls, the vast majority of whom were under immense pressure to “restore family honor” for various reasons.

Argaman said that amid rumors of an impending Abbas resignation, members of his Fatah party jockeying for the presidency are likely to ramp up anti-Israel rhetoric in an effort to build popular support.

He noted to the committee that a large number of West Bank Palestinians were dependent on Israel for income. He said that some 140,000 Palestinians who work in Israel — both legally and illegally — provided for approximately one third of population of the West Bank.

In the Gaza Strip, Argaman told lawmakers the ruling Hamas terror organization was not responsible for the sporadic rocket fire launched from the Palestinian territory towards Israel in recent months, as it was still recovering from its 2014 war with Israel.

A number of Islamist militant cells inspired by the Islamic State group, and aspiring to wage global jihad, were responsible for launching the dozen or so rockets inside Israel, he said.

Argaman also cautioned that the Egypt’s intensified blockade on the coastal enclave has resulted in political upheaval and chaos among Hamas officials.