The current wave of terror attacks has many ingredients of an intifada and is probably the prelude to one. Root causes exist and are both profound and related to current developments. Palestinians, with hardly any exceptions left, have given up hope that a political process or the international community will bring about an end to the Israeli occupation and achieve the fulfillment of their independence. The humiliations that are a daily byproduct of living almost 50 years under occupation have left deep emotional scars of frustration, anger and desire for revenge. Currently, these emotions are exacerbated by a belief that Israel is altering gradually and systematically the status quo on the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif) in favor of more organized Jewish prayer in the vicinity of the mosques.

The political leadership in Ramallah seems too weak to confront such an intolerable situation.

Above all, the settlements and the settlers (almost half a million) are daily reminders of the hopelessness of the situation in the eyes of Palestinians.

This is fertile ground for Hamas and Islamic Jihad to incite violence in and from the West Bank. These root causes could, in the weeks and months to come, lead to a third intifada, most probably more violent than its two predecessors. A senior Fatah security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, "President [Mahmoud] Abbas has warned [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu numerous times, through secret personal messages, of this deterioration. He really wants to prevent this. He is not a man of violence and has instructed us to a nonviolent reaction to the occupation.” The angry security official also warned, "It may be too late. The Tanzim [Fatah armed forces] may soon feel compelled to join and take the lead. They will not leave the forefront of the confrontation with Israel to Hamas. This may not end up in an intifada, but in a war of independence. Israel and the United States have left us little choice."