RAMALLAH, West Bank — The deaths of two Israeli soldiers last weekend, in the West Bank towns of Qalqilya on Sept. 21 and Hebron on Sept. 22, significantly added to the insecurity that has prevailed in the West Bank since the resumption of negotiations on July 30. The West Bank witnessed a number of incursions in August by Israeli occupation forces that left six martyrs.
The succession of events now gives the impression that the third intifada is drawing near, presaging the collapse of peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. It also indicates that the armed Palestinian resistance movement had resumed its activities, with Israel holding Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades responsible for the death of the Israeli soldier in Hebron. But, Fatah al-Intifada, which broke away from Fatah decades ago, quickly claimed responsibility for this operation, the circumstances of which remain unclear.
