Clashes Between Palestinians and Israelis; Is the Third Intifada Beginning?

According to media reports and residents of Palestinian and Israeli territories, the Third Intifada has begun. Clashes between Palestinians and Israelis have continued daily over the past week. Mahmoud Abbas announced on Tuesday, October 14, at a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization that he opposes violent clashes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Palestinians took to the streets last week after military forces attacked the home of a Palestinian. Israeli police are pursuing the arrest of a suspect in a military operation. Additionally, Israel demolished the homes of two Palestinians following the killing of four Israeli civilians in Jerusalem. The Israeli government considers these demolitions a deterrent against attackers. Farhad Moradian, an Iranian-Israeli Jew living in Tel Aviv and a university professor, discussed the reasons for the recent bloody clashes in the West Bank and Jerusalem with Radio Farda, stating: "The recent unrest began in the area where the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Omar Mosque are located, which is also a part known to Jews as 'Har Habayit'. Jews visit this site, but Palestinians oppose their presence there. Abu Mazen stated in one of his speeches that Israelis visiting this site defile it." According to the Associated Press, on Wednesday morning, an 18-year-old Palestinian woman attacked a 36-year-old man in the Old City of Jerusalem with a knife. The woman was then shot by an Israeli man. Palestinian sources believe that the Palestinian woman did not have a knife and that the Israeli man engaged her after pulling her hijab off in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israeli police reported that last week several Palestinian men murdered an Israeli couple in front of their four children. Police arrested five military members of the Hamas group following this violent attack. On the other hand, Israeli police threatened the family of a Palestinian suspected of violent operations that they would be arrested if they did not hand him over within the next 24 hours. Farhad Moradian attributes the recent unrest to religious issues and the extreme decisions of Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates: "Overall, this is a religious issue. Muslims say that Jews cannot come near their holy site, while some Jews, especially those living in the occupied territories and who are religious, believe that Jews should be able to visit that area. This is a problem that has arisen between the religious from both sides. I hold Netanyahu's government largely responsible because a number of extremists have formed a government with him, and these extremists prevent peace talks from taking shape, creating conditions where Palestinians feel pressured and resort to violence when they see no solution." Recent clashes, according to Tarek Al-Tamimi, a human rights activist living in Jerusalem, are reminiscent of the clashes in 1994 when Israeli forces entered the Ibrahimi Mosque area and clashed with Palestinians: "In recent days, due to attacks on sacred areas in Jerusalem, many Palestinians have protested against the continued attacks on the second holiest site for Muslims after Mecca. These protests have been formed by both Muslims and Christians opposing the ongoing attacks on their sacred sites. These actions are very similar to the massacre by Israel in 1994 when they opened fire on worshippers in the Ibrahimi Mosque." In this context, Netanyahu held Abu Mazen responsible for the deaths of the Israeli couple, while restrictions on movement in parts of Jerusalem coincide with rising tensions. Abbas emphasized the continuation of cooperation with Israel amid the potential onset of the 'Third Intifada.'