Analyst to Press TV: Ariha confrontations mean Israeli failure on security level

A Palestinian political analyst has said that the emergence of Palestinian resistance in the city of Jericho, also known as Ariha, means Israel’s failure on the security level, prompting the regime to escalate its violence against the city.

Mohamad Halsa, an expert on Israeli affairs, said that Jericho in the Israeli security mindset is of extreme significance, because it is a city surrounded by illegal Israeli settlements from all sides.

Halsa told Press TV Website that the emergence of multiple resistance groups and the rise of the Aqabat Jabr resistance group in Ariha can be considered as a relatively new development that scares Israel to death.

“During the past uprisings, or intifada, Ariha was relatively a calm city, unlike Jenin, Nablus and Khalil. Today, however, Ariha has joined other cities in their armed struggle against ongoing Israeli aggression, which prompted the Israeli regime to respond decisively in order to crush any form of resistance in the area,” the analyst said.

Over the past months, Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. Israel imposed a blockade on Ariha since ten days, following an alleged shooting attempt at an Israeli-run restaurant located outside the West Bank city.

After multiple incursions and raids, the Israeli troops killed at least 7 Palestinian resistance fighters in a raid on Aqabat Jabr camp near Jericho on Monday.

Tel Aviv sees that any form of resistance inside Ariha, which in Halsa’s view is a sensitive city, means endangering the security of the Israeli regime.

“What surprised Israel is the emergence of resistance groups rather than independent individuals in Ariha,” said the analyst.

He noted that the Palestinian youth have decided to challenge Israeli aggression and oppression by forming groups of five to six young armed men.

“These young men cooperate together as a resistance group to confront the Israeli occupation, and the emergence of such groups means the total Israeli failure since they are able to circumvent Israeli security measures and take the Israeli troops by surprise,” the expert said.  

Halsa said that Israel is failing to crush the resistance, and is in fact contributing to making it sterner.

“Israel needs to understand that the Palestinian people cannot be crushed. Israel has been using excessive force against the Palestinian people, thinking that such an attitude can curb all attempts of resistance. Israel got it wrong. The more they try to crush the Palestinians and their resistance movements, the stronger and more resilient they become,” the analyst noted.

On the main reasons behind the emergence of more resistance groups across occupied Palestine, Halsa told Press TV website that “for a very long time, the Palestinian authorities have failed the Palestinian people several times due to the so-called peace talks that proved to be futile repetitively.”

He also pointed out that on the regional level; Palestinians have witnessed the inking of deals through which some Arab countries sought normalization with the Israeli regime.

 Also, the expert said that especially during the past few months, the Israeli illegal settlers have become bolder and more violent, which prompted the Palestinian youth to make an initiative with the aim of confronting the different forms of Israeli violence and colonization.

Israel is the helpless one in the equation, Halsa noted.

Wanting to establish a sense of dignity, Israel could only think of besieging the city and carrying out its incursions until it was able to assassinate some of these young men.

The Israeli occupying regime can kill Palestinians, but this will only increase the desire of the free Palestinian youth to join the resistance groups to defend themselves, he concluded.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk