Israeli Violations Increase in Sheikh Jarrah and Occupation Fears New Escalation with Gaza

By: Mohammad Shaaban, MINA’s Contributor in Palestine

Despite the passage of nine months since the end of the battle of Seif al-Quds, the last Israeli aggression on Gaza, during which the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip confronted the Israeli occupation, its repercussions remained present in the recent events of Sheikh Jarrah. It’s evident in the escalation of continuous Israeli violations against Palestinian citizens in the region.

At a time when the systematic crimes of the Israeli occupation are increasing against the Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, the voices of threats and strong messages from the Palestinian resistance in the Strip are raising against this criminal occupation. As the extremist Israeli settlers are storming and attacking the homes of Palestinians in the neighborhood, the Palestinian resistance warned the occupation against continuing to violate the rights of the Palestinian people, especially the people of Sheikh Jarrah.

These violations and continuous attacks by the Israeli settlers and the occupation soldiers on the residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood are not new.

Rather, it is part of a long-term Zionist colonial project that attempts, by all means, to obliterate the Palestinian identity and abolish the Palestinian existence. But this time, these repeated scenes take a different direction, wherein such escalating events, the spark of Palestinian resistance exploded from the heart of the besieged Gaza, and its small missiles began to destabilize the security of the superpower Israeli occupation.

They are the same threats and in the same way that we saw in May of the year 2021, where the leader of Hamas, Mushir al-Masri, said that what is happening in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood is “crossing red lines, and playing with fire, and the Israeli occupation must bear the consequences of these attacks.”

Soon, the events of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood reminded the occupation of its defeat in the last aggression on the Gaza Strip, especially after the extremist Zionist Itamar Ben Gvir stormed the neighborhood, set up a tent inside the neighborhood, and began his provocative actions with a group of Zionist extremists against the Palestinian citizens. This forced the occupation police to expel him by force, fearing the deterioration of the security situation with Gaza.

Al-Masri stressed that “the Palestinian resistance is ready for any escalation, and the Israeli enemy must take the lesson from the battle of the sword of Jerusalem, to realize that the illegal Israeli settlers flocks are dragging the area to destruction.”

He said that the Palestinian resistance in Gaza will not allow the Palestinian people in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem to be subjected to Israeli transgressions to export their crises at the expense of Palestinian land and Islamic sanctities. As well, the Palestinian resistance is no longer silent about any violation of the Palestinians’ rights.

On the other hand, the Israeli occupation state’s fears of the possibility of entering into a new military escalation with the Gaza Strip as a result of the escalating events in Sheikh Jarrah have been increased. An official Israeli political source said, “The events taking place in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood may lead to another round of escalation with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”

The source said that there are real fears that the events of Sheikh Jarrah may lead to another round of military escalation, warning that this will exacerbate the situation in the region after Bennett’s successful visit to Bahrain. It stressed the need to avoid Israeli provocations against the people of Sheikh Jarrah, especially by the Israeli Knesset members who arrived in the neighborhood intending to ignite the situation, and the Israeli occupation highly needs to prevent escalation, given that Jerusalem is a sensitive place.

He stressed that the Israeli government will take all possible measures to maintain security and calm and to avoid the unjustified hatred-based Israeli provocations that lead the situation to bad consequences. Israeli media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett “is working to stop the deterioration in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood so that the situation does not descend into a new battle.”

The statement of the Prime Minister of the occupation comes after Hamas held talks with the Egyptian mediators about the recent Israeli attacks in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Hamas informed the Egyptian side that what is happening is a ” dangerous escalation that cannot be tolerated”, and that the occupation government is “playing with fire again.”

The Israeli occupation forces continue their attacks on the Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. As well, violent confrontations took place a few days ago between the occupation forces and residents in several areas of the West Bank, refusing to establish the illegal Israeli settlement blocs on the Palestinian lands.

The most important question among these escalating events remains: will the confrontations between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza return, or will the occupation avoid any military escalation with the Gaza Strip by stopping its continuous violations against the people of Sheikh Jarrah and the provocations carried out by its extremist settlers? The answer to this question is not easy, but the next few days will reveal to us more details of the next stage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (AKG/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)