Will IS find popular base in Palestine?
Israel is increasingly arresting Palestinians over accusations of belonging to the Islamic State, which raises questions about IS’ presence in the Palestinian territories.
As the war on the Islamic State (IS) is ongoing in Syria and Iraq and fierce battles between IS and the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula continue, IS seems to be shifting its attention toward the Palestinian territories and Israel.
On Feb. 26, Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that Israel had arrested in Israeli and West Bank cities 83 Arabs affiliated with IS in 2016, after they were caught communicating online with IS members abroad and planned to carry out attacks in Israel. Some were arrested before being able to head for Iraq and Syria where they would join the ranks of IS, while others were arrested once they came back from fighting with IS.
On Jan. 9, the Palestinian Authority (PA) arrested 22 Salafists and jihadis in the West Bank, whom it suspected of planning to plant rigged cars targeting Israelis.
Meanwhile, on March 11, the families of dozens of Salafist detainees arrested by Hamas in Gaza since December 2016 issued a statement calling on releasing their children and rejecting the arrest policy against them.
