An Israel Hayom report on a plan to build a new section of the security barrier that would essentially separate Gush Etzion from the rest of the country infuriated MKs on the right.

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The Gush Etzion, just south of Jerusalem in Judea and Samaria, includes many Israeli settlements. It has for all intents and purposes become a suburb of the capital. The security barrier Israel has built in Judea and Samaria is designed to stop terrorists from crossing into Israeli cities, but it has never been completed due to various legal and environmental challenges. In the area of Gush Etzion the section that was set to be constructed has been in limbo for some 20 years in part because of concern over the impact it would have on the natural habitat of wildlife and because of political opposition to a de-facto border that would separate the area from Jerusalem and central Israel.

"Gush Etzion will not be severed from Jerusalem, definitely not on our watch," Liku MK Ariel Kallner told Israel Hayom. "Even though the battle against illegal crossing is very important, cutting the connection between Gush Etzion and Jerusalem is something that is beyond the pale, definitely in a right-wing government such as this one."  He vowed to convene the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss the matter "as soon as possible."

Limor Sonn Har Melech, from the far-Right party Otzma Yehudit, echoed his comments. "We are celebrating today [Thursday] Jerusalem Day [marking the reunification of the city in 1967] and the return of the People of Israel to many areas of the land; we won't let any community be isolated on our watch. The solution to the illegal crossings is not a fence but construction that would create territorial contiguity between Gush Etzion and Jerusalem."

According to the original Israel Hayom report, the construction of that section of the barrier is set to begin in the near term and land has already been expropriated. The overall result could be akin to making Gush Etzion settlements a de-facto enclave that is separate from the rest of the country even though it has long been part of the national consensus with a broad understanding on both the Left and the Right that it will remain under Israeli control in any future peace deal.

The new barrier will not be uniform because of the unique topographical features of the area and the efforts to minimize the impact on nature, and in some parts will not see construction but rather just special monitoring technology and sensors. Other parts that will be constructed will include special ramps for wildlife to cross.

The IDF said in a statement that "the decision to build the barrier in the area was made as part of Operation Breakwater [launched in 2023 in Judea and Samaria to eradicate terrorism] in order to boost defense and to prevent the illegal entry into the Israeli homefront of undocumented individuals and the trafficking of weapons, as well as to thwart terrorist attacks."

The statement further said that no date has been set for construction to begin and that it won't be a concrete barrier that is common in other parts of the project. "There is not going to be a severance of Jerusalem from Gush Etzion, and there are going to be other means of connecting the two. The IDF works to preserve nature and therefore the activity will be proportional and professional, and in collaboration with the various agencies and environmental organizations."

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Israel has completed construction of an anti-tunnel barrier around the Gaza Strip, Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced Tuesday afternoon.

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The barrier took four years of work and $1.1 billion to build, and features sections both above and below ground.

With the massive 32.8-foot-high barrier that stretches across 40 miles, Israel hopes to end the threat of cross-border attack tunnels from the Palestinian coastal enclave.

"This barrier, a creative, technological project of the first order, denies Hamas one of the capabilities that it tried to develop and puts a wall of iron, sensors and concrete between it and the residents of the south," Gantz said at a ceremony.

"Daily routine is our victory, and it is the terrorist groups' biggest enemy. We'll keep preparing to neutralize every capability of attacking the citizens of Israel, with an emphasis on the threat of rockets, which is in our sights. We will prevent the flow of Iranian technology and knowledge into Gaza, and will continue to thwart any attempt by Hamas to activate its satellites in Judea and Samaria or Israel – attempts that have repeatedly failed," he said.

Gantz also warned that Israel could be seeing a "calm before the storm," following recent threats from Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups, which criticize "the slowness of the reconstruction of Gaza."

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi called the new barrier "part of Israel's defense philosophy of an 'iron wall' on land, in the air, at sea, and in general."

According to Kochavi, the barrier "represents outside-the-box thinking and expresses the kind of thinking to which we in the IDF are committed. The barrier changes the reality – what used to be will no longer exist. This might be a quiet period, but looking back at the last few months shows us that we responded heavily to even 'minor' violations, and will do so in future. We're upgrading our defense, but we remember that victory is secured through offense, and we are strengthening our offensive capabilities constantly and significantly."

Kochavi thanked all the prime ministers, defense ministers, and IDF commanders who "turned this vision into a reality," noting in particular former Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Gadi Eizenkot, the heads of the IDF's Southern Command, and the Gaza Division.

Since Operation Guardian of the Walls in May, Israel and Hamas have been negotiating an extended ceasefire, which would see additional aid and international assistance flowing into Gaza in exchange for calm.

However, Israel conditioned the complete reconstruction of Gaza on the return of the remains of two Israeli civilians and two fallen IDF soldiers held by Hamas.

For its part, the terrorist group has insisted that it will not release them as long as Israel refuses to release a large number of Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons.

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Jabis and Abidat's story is nothing new. They are both residents of Jabel Mukaber, a neighborhood that has been home to the largest number of perpetrators of terrorist attacks and attempted terrorist attacks in east Jerusalem per capita since the Second Intifada. Still, there is something surprising in that the two were looking into the possibility of committing their act of bloodshed in the name of the Islamic State, and were even in touch with the organization.

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Abidat tried to cross the border into Sinai to join the ISIS forces fighting there, and over the past few years, Jabis had several conversations with one of his uncles, Mohammed Ziyad, who fought with ISIS in Iraq. When Shin Bet security agency agents confiscated Jabis' computer, they discovered files about militant subjects: "How to make a bomb," "The knife – the weapon of the Salafi warrior" and "Murdering an abductee."

Fadi al-Qanbar, also from Jabel Mukaber, was also influenced by the ISIS Salafi-jihadist ideology, but the Shin Bet didn't manage to stop him from using his truck to run over four IDF soldiers on the Armon Hanatziv promenade before he was shot and killed. His sister said he had died "a most beautiful martyr's death." Al-Qanbar had apparently been inspired by two much more fatal car-ramming attacks – also committed by ISIS acolytes using trucks – in which nearly 100 people were murdered. The first took place in Nice, France, and the second only weeks later, in Berlin.

Al-Qanbar, Jabis, and Abidat are just a few of the terrorists who have come out of Jabel Mukaber. The rate of attacks originating there is similar to that committed by the Hebron-based Kawasme clan, or possibly even the cluster of attacks out of Kobar near Ramallah.

One might ask what makes Jabel Mukaber the Jerusalem equivalent to the terrorism "factories" in Judea and Samaria. Before answering it, we should take a look at the numbers: Since the Second Intifada, Jabel Mukaber residents have been involved in over 200 terrorist attacks, attempted attacks, and thwarted terrorist attacks.

On the main street of the village – which two decades ago petitioned the High Court to remain on the Israeli side of the security barrier – four young village residents were fatally shot by police in 2001. A year later, in 2002, two residents – Ramadan and Fami Mashour – helped Hamas member Muhammad al-Ghoul carry out his suicide bombing on the No. 32 bus near Pat Junction. That bombing killed 19 people and wounded 74.

The perpetrator of the mass casualty shooting at Merkaz Harav Yeshiva in 2008 was also from Jabel Mukaber. Alaa Abu Dhein killed eight yeshiva students and wounded nine more. The same year, the neighborhood produced the first car-rammer: Qassem Mughrabi, who drove his car into a group of soldiers at Zahal Square in Jerusalem, wounding 17 of them. An IDF officer and a yeshiva student shot and killed him.

Nor is Ahmad Jabis the first of his family to test out terrorism. Another of his relatives, Muhammad Naif Jabis used a tractor to run over Avraham Wallis, a Toldos Aharon Hassid, in 2014. Naif was also related to Merkaz Harav shooter Abu Dhein.

Another clan from the village, Abu Jamal, also has a long history of terrorist involvement. A combined shooting/stabbing attack committed at a synagogue in the Har Nof neighborhood, in which five worshippers and a police officer were murdered, was committed by two cousins: Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal. They were related to Jamal Abu Jamal, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison after trying to stab a police officer. Their cousin Alaa Abu Jamal expressed pride in the Har Nof attack. Speaking to Ynet in October 2015, he said that "it was something standard, to be expected of any person who has courage and sense of belonging to his people and to Islam." A year later, Alaa Abu Jamal himself became a killer when he ran over Yeshayahu Krishevsky in the Geula neighborhood. Alaa was shot and killed, and it later turned out that he, too, had been inspired by the Islamic State.

A year ago, another Abu Jamal family member from Jabel Mukaber, Abdel Rahman Abu Jamal, entered a police station in Armon Hanatziv and stabbed four police officers.

Two major terrorist attacks planned by Jabel Mukaber residents were thwarted. In 2015, Ahmed Sarur, Anas Ouisat, and Basel Abidat (from the same clan as the Basel Abidat mentioned above) were planning to dress as haredi Jews and enter an event held at a venue in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood and start shooting, with the goal of killing as many celebrants as possible.

The other attack, planned in 2014, was part of a particularly horrifying string of attacks planned by Aziz Awisat of Jabel Mukaber. Awisat cut the gas lines of nine apartment buildings, five of which were located in Armon Hanatziv, which is next to Jabel Mukaber, and Gilo, hoping to blow them up. In one case, he left a burning candle a meter from the gas canisters.

Arik Barbing, who was responsible for Judea and Samaria and the Jerusalem district for the Shin Bet, characterizes Jabel Mukaber as a village with a tribal, Bedouin, ethnic, and zealous tradition that is still in effect today.

"It's a society with strong religious tenacity. A lot of them are devout in visiting the mosque and studying religion," Barbing explains.

"It's also a society that is not open to contact with other residents of Jerusalem … in Jerusalem, ISIS almost doesn't exist, but the little it does is mostly in Jabel Mukaber. There are individuals there who connect to the idea of a global Islamic caliphate and global jihad, and the belief in the need to change the world and liberate it from the Crusaders and the Jews through extreme acts that feed off religion," he adds.

Barbing notes that even though in Jabel Mukaber, one can see a process of "Israelization" and integration, "Despite what we previously thought, this Israelization is not leading to moderation. They very much enjoy the Western world, but also loathe it. Israel, as an open, western society, gives them an enormous amount. They take advantage of that, but deep down, hate us even more because it clashes with Jabel Mukaber traditions that are stubborn and dominant. When I was responsible for Jerusalem in the Shin Bet, we identified the Jerusalem 'tough guy' type – someone who wears expensive jeans and T-shirts he bought at the mall, wears his hair like an Israeli, and adopts Israeli mannerisms, but inside is hard core religious."

Ben Avrahami, an expert on east Jerusalem affairs and a research fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, also observes the enduring tribal-clan character of Jabel Mukaber. Avrahami finds similarities between the neighborhood and Bedouin villages such as Hura in the Negev, where residents have also been exposed to ISIS ideology. He has another interesting insight: "Often, people claim that their socio-economic situation is what pushes them to desperation and radicalization. I disagree. Jabel Mukaber might not be a wealthy village, but the socio-economic situation there – as poor as it looks – isn't bad. Jamis and Abidat are from some of the biggest and wealthiest families in the village. ... It's not an impoverished neighborhood, but it is a kind of a bubble that is difficult for entities that preach religious moderation or progress to penetrate. Israeli involvement is almost unseen there."

A feed of incitement

One of the fields Avrahami has been studying lately is social media use in east Jerusalem. This is how he found "MukaberNet," which he calls "One of the main and most influential [social media] pillars" in the east of the city.

The editors present it as a local news agency, but Avrahami say that "in effect, it's one of the strongest propaganda outlets in east Jerusalem, and the attitude is not one of peace and reconciliation."

"There is a lot of glorification of martyrs and noting of anniversaries of terrorist attacks carried out by village residents. Every time a local prisoner is released, it's a festival. It's also a space for information and news, but there is plenty of incitement and hate discourse," Avrahami explains.

All these things correspond with what veteran Jerusalem researcher Israel Kimhi wrote two years ago in a study about Jabel Mukaber he published with Ahmed Asmar. Kimhi remembers one conversation in particular he held with a group of teachers, who describes their pupils and sometimes their parents as "Bedouin who fled the desert." The teachers complained about the level of violence in the village school. At least one time, after the terrorist Bahaa Alian – who committed shooting and stabbing attacks on a bus in Armon Hanatziv – the high school's Facebook page ran poems praising martyrs, as well as content identifying with Alian.

In Jabel Mukaber, which suffers from a serious lack of working infrastructure, it's hard to talk with the residents about the major role the village plays in terrorist attacks. The bonds with their Jewish neighbors in Armon Hanatziv have weakened over the years, but most of the residents are employed by Jews in the west of the city and hold residency cards, which allow them to vote in municipal elections and give them access to every place in the city and throughout the country.

Mahmoud Awisat, a well-known figure in the village who is also active in the local PTA, rejects terrorism and violence, but does not reject the causal relationship between the many ways the village is neglected and the high rate of terrorism that is generated from it.

"Desperation reigns here," Awisat says. "The authorities treat us like the enemy. Only in the past few days we tried to reattach an electric wire that was lying on one of the streets here for five days. No one would talk to us. We pay arnona [city taxes], but we don't receive services like the Jewish neighborhoods do. There aren't enough classrooms, not enough playgrounds, not enough sports facilities. There aren't any building permits. There is no joy. In a reality like this, it's very easy to brainwash youth who don't see a normal future and seek it out in dangerous places. Personally, I despair," he says.

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"We announce the leadership's decision to stop implementing the agreements signed with the Israeli side," he said in a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah, saying Palestinians would immediately form a committee to study how to carry out the decision.

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The two governments work together on matters ranging from water to security, and withdrawing from agreements could impact security in the West Bank.

Abbas has made similar threats before and not implemented them, but relations between the West Bank's Palestinian Authority and its Israeli counterpart have worsened in recent months.

The declaration comes a day after the US reportedly blocked a proposal in the United Nations Security Council seeking condemnation of housing demolitions carried out near east Jerusalem.

The demolition created controversy and heightened tensions between Israel and the PA.

The move led to condemnation from a number of international voices, including the European Union and France, who called on Israel to halt the demolitions.

The Palestinian government said last week that the demolitions were a breach of all agreements signed with Israel as most of the buildings are located in areas meant to be under the Palestinian Authority civilian control.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the Palestinians planned to file a complaint with the International Criminal Court over the matter.

"The cabinet condemns this grave aggression. This is a continuation of the forced displacement of the people of Jerusalem from their homes and lands – a war crime and a crime against humanity," Shtayyeh told Reuters.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan accused the Palestinians of "lies," stressing the demolition was validated by the Supreme Court after a lengthy process.

"The structures were built illegally next to the security fence and constitute a risk to the lives of the civilians and security forces," Erdan tweeted last week, citing the June Supreme Court ruling.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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Israel said the 10 apartment buildings demolished on Monday, most of them still under construction, had been built illegally and posed a security risk to Israeli armed forces operating along the security barrier.

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UN officials, who had called on Israel to halt the demolition plans, said 17 Palestinians faced displacement.

Kuwait, Indonesia and South Africa circulated a five-paragraph draft statement, seen by Reuters, to the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday that expressed grave concern and warned that the demolition "undermines the viability of the two-state solution and the prospect for just and lasting peace."

Such statements have to be agreed by consensus and on Wednesday the United States told its council counterparts it could not support the text, diplomats said. A revised three paragraph draft statement was circulated, but the United States again said it did not agree with the text, diplomats said.

The United States has long accused the United Nations of anti-Israel bias and shielded its ally from council action.

The demolition of the Palestinian buildings is part of the latest round of protracted wrangling over the future of Jerusalem, home to more than 500,000 Israelis and 300,000 Palestinians.

The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with east Jerusalem as the capital.

US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt and senior Trump adviser Jared Kushner have spent two years developing a peace plan they hope will provide a framework for renewed talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Greenblatt told the Security Council on Tuesday a peace plan cannot rely on global consensus, inconclusive international law and "unclear" UN resolutions, sparking pushback from several countries. He said a decision on the release of the political component of the US plan would be made "soon."

The buildings demolished on Monday were near the Israeli security barrier. The initial draft Security Council statement described the construction of the wall by Israel as contrary to international law.

Israel credits the barrier – projected to run 720 km (450 miles) when complete – with stemming Palestinian terrorist attacks. Palestinians call it a land grab designed to annex parts of the West Bank, including Israeli settlements.

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