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2010 Palestinian militancy campaign

The 2010 Palestinian militancy campaign was a coordinated effort by 13 Palestinian militant groups, led by Islamist group Hamas, to derail peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The campaign consisted of attacks against Israelis in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel in which, according to a Hamas declaration in early September, "all options are open". The participating groups also included Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and an unnamed splinter group of Fatah. Some Israeli and Palestinian officials and analysts familiar with Hamas believe that the true target of the campaign is the Palestinian Authority, which is led by Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.

Hamas statements and responses
Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar was reported by CBS News as saying that Muslims have a moral and religious duty to liberate the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, and that armed resistance is the way to achieve this. Hamas leader Hamas military leader Abu Ubaida told The Washington Post in September that the Hamas military wing is operating "in harmony with the attitude of the political wing," based in Damascus, Syria. Khaled Mashal has said the "resistance" will continue if Israel doesn't withdraw to the 1967 borders and that Hamas will resume to "kill illegal settlers on our land." According to Jonathan Fighel, a senior researcher at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, the campaign constitutes a decision by Hamas to begin a new wave of terrorism aimed at Israeli settlers. He said "it's a strategic, political decision from the Hamas leadership in Damascus to express their dismay and rejection of the peace talks taking place in Washington... They are showing they have operational capabilities and a willingness to act in Judea and Samaria,", referring to the West Bank as "Judea and Samaria". According to the Israeli news site Debka.com, in late September Hamas was preparing to expand its "terror campaign." The Palestinian news agency paltimes.net praised the attacks and linked them to the negotiations: "There, in Washington, Abbas is rewarding the occupation by improving its image through futile negotiations, while in Hebron the Al-Qassam Brigades, despite Abbas's whining and attacks on the resistance, agreed to nothing but vengeance for the blood of the shahids. Today, heads and body parts are scattered in all directions. Today, the Al-Qassam Brigades negotiate with their enemies by means of rifles and blood... The attacks caused embarrassment to the Palestinian Authority, and the attacks in Hebron and Ramallah were condemned by Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian Authority minister Mahmoud Habbash accused Iran of responsibility for the Hamas attacks in attempts to derail the peace talks, and insinuated that Hamas leader Haled Mash'al was guilty of heresy. In an interview in October 2010, the Palestinian reformist Zainab Rashid criticized Syria and Iran, which she says deliberately attempted to derail the peace process in order to divert attention from their own domestic problems and suppress initiatives of democratization. She said, "The most convincing proof is the attempts of these regimes to make deceitful and callous use of the Palestinian cause and to manipulating Palestinian elements in order to spark disputes. They miss no opportunity to sabotage peace efforts, as we saw at the outset of the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, when Hamas received a directive from the Syrian and Iranian regimes which control it to carry out two attacks in the West Bank, shortly before the first session of peace talks, with the intent of undermining the negotiations. This is what all the dictatorships have done throughout the history of this struggle in order to prevent its resolution. ==Shooting attacks==
Shooting attacks
June 14 In a drive-by shooting attack near Hebron West Bank on 14 June, Israeli police officer Yehoshua Sofer was killed and three others were wounded. Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it was a response to the recent 2010 Gaza flotilla raid. August 31 The first notable attack in the Hamas campaign, in which 4 Israelis were shot to death. Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida said, "this attack is a chain in a series of attacks, some have been executed, and others will follow". ''Ma'an News Agency'' reported that an Israeli security official said that this was one of a series of "terrorist attacks" designed to foil the 2010 peace talks. Khaled al-Batsh, a leader of Islamic Jihad, endorsed the Hamas killings, asserting that ""negotiations can only be stopped by a barrage of bullets." Journalist Daoud Kuttab described the August 31 attack as "clearly timed to disrupt the talks and weaken the position of the Palestinian delegation." United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated the day after the incident that "this attack must be recognized for what it is: a cynical and blatant attempt to undermine the direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations starting tomorrow." On October 8, Israeli special forces killed a senior West Bank Hamas operative responsible for the attack. IDF soldiers entered several buildings in Hebron where Palestinian militants were holed up inside, killing two of the suspects and arresting six others. September 1 {{Infobox terrorist attack Rabbi Moshe and Shira Morano, an Israeli couple in their 30s from Ma'ale Efraim in the Jordan Rift Valley, were shot in their car by Palestinian gunmen while driving on Highway 60 between the Rimonim Junction and the Jewish community of Kochav Hashachar. The man was moderately hurt from shrapnel wounds to his legs and a bullet in the shoulder, and the woman was lightly hurt from blows as result of the vehicle overturning. The victims jumped out of their car into a ditch after one of the assailants' automatic rifles jammed, where they used a cellphone to call for help. The vehicle veered off the road and plunged down an embankment. Magen David Adom paramedics treated them at the scene before evacuating them to Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem. Both the husband and wife sustained gunshots to their legs, and managed to drive themselves to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba. The woman gave birth by Cesarean section to a healthy baby boy, and received treatment for her wounds. A second car was also fired at in the same attack, but none of its passengers were injured. The attack took place close to where the August 2010 West Bank shooting occurred. The military wings of Fatah (the party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The groups declared in a statement that "the attack was carried out to mark the 15th anniversary of the killing of the Islamic Jihad's founder Fathi Shaqaqi." However, some members of both organizations denied having any knowledge of the statement. In October, the Israel Security Agency arrested three members of Fatah al-Intifada, a Fatah splinter group, on suspicion of carrying out the attack. The suspects told investigators that they were given $25,000 with which to buy weapons and that they planned on carrying out more attacks. The suspects were charged in a military court on 29 November. ==Rocket attacks==
Rocket attacks
Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel increased in September. On September 14, senior Hamas operative Ahmed Jaabari threatened to increase attacks against Israel to derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "With the power of faith, weapons and missiles, tunnels and commandos we will achieve victory for Palestine and we'll end the occupation in Gaza too," he said. The next day, two mortar shells containing white phosphorus were fired into Israel from Gaza. Ten rockets landed in the Eshkol region during the day. A 122-mm. Katyusha rocket landed north of Ashkelon. The IDF understood the rocket attacks to be part of a Hamas attempt to torpedo the peace talks. ==See also== • Itamar killingsSecond IntifadaTapuah Junction stabbing ==References==
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