Israelis welcome holiday with over 200 security threats: Israeli media

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
15 Sep 2023 10:05

Israeli settlers will celebrate Yom Kippur amid deep social divisions that have been marked by mass protests and heightened security threats.

Israeli police clash with Israeli protesters as they block the entrance to the residence of "Justice Minister" Yariv Levin, in "Modiin", occupied Palestine, on September 11, 2023. (AFP)

Yom Kippur will be celebrated by Israeli settlers amid an unprecedented social divide and significant security tensions, Israeli media outlets said on Friday.

Alon Ben David, a military affairs expert for the Israeli Channel 13, said that this year's event will occur amidst a backdrop of over 200 potential security threats already on the radar of the Shin Bet.

A substantial portion of these alerts warn of possible kidnapping operations executed by Palestinian Resistance groups in the occupied West Bank that target Israeli occupation forces or settlers.

Earlier, Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz underscored the gravity of the current security situation, describing it as the most dangerous since the "Yom Kippur War" (the October 1973 War).

He added that military leaders are sounding alarms regarding Hezbollah's possession of a staggering 150,000 rockets, raising concerns that if hostilities erupt, settlers in the northern, central, and southern regions of occupied Palestinian territories will be under imminent threat.

West Bank's Resistance to develop new capabilities

On September 8, military analyst Shai Levi told Israeli Channel 12, that the Israeli security establishment has recorded attempts by Palestinian Resistance groups to acquire weapons that will allow them to "carry out more deadly attacks against Israelis and security forces in the field."

Levi added, "Palestinian militants, most of them from Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarm, are putting a lot of effort into building rocket [production] infrastructure, car bombs, and original explosive devices (professionally made explosive devices)."

He pointed out that "the army has been aware for a long time of the threat posed by suicide drones, as both the army and the Shin Bet have been aware for a few years of attempts to convert small drones into deadly explosive drones."

Recently, "several discussions have been held on this issue within the security establishment," Levi claims that some Israeli officials brought up rocket and drone attacks as probable tactics that the Palestinian Resistance will utilize in the West Bank in the near future.

The Resistance is working to develop tools to better confront occupation forces, including drones and explosive devices, as the Al-Qassam Brigades in Jenin revealed that they had developed an Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) or a self-forming warhead in Jenin.

The device newly introduced to the West Bank city of Jenin has armor-piercing capabilities, which marks a huge leap forward for the Palestinian Resistance in the city.

Shawaz [meaning flame in Arabic] looks to be similar to similar devices that were used by the Iraqi resistance against the US forces during their occupation of the country and against Israeli forces in South Lebanon before the year 2000, as well as in Gaza, indicating a possible growing collaboration between various parties in the Axis of resistance.

Such devices possess capabilities to penetrate up to 200mm of steel according to some US military data.

Al-Qassam Brigades stated the device was used to target occupation army vehicles in their last raid on Jenin and the Jenin refugee camp on July 3.