Is third intifada on its way to becoming history?
What has been described as a third intifada now seems to be declining as Palestinian attacks decrease, though Hamas insists otherwise.
Palestinians now go days between hearing about an armed attack against Israelis. During the first two months of the current unrest, multiple attacks took place every day.
The Shin Bet's latest assessments, as reported by Israeli Channel 10 on May 3, indicate a decline in Palestinian attacks in April. Since October, 282 attacks have been reported, including 166 stabbings, 82 shootings and 29 vehicular incidents as well as stone-throwing attacks. April only saw 16 attacks against Israelis, including one stabbing, two shootings and 13 bombings.
On May 10, two Israelis were stabbed while three others were wounded in an explosion in Jerusalem.
Samira Halayka, a Hamas representative at the Palestinian Legislative Council in Hebron, disagreed, telling Al-Monitor, “The intifada has not been receding, as stabbing incidents have not stopped recently. It seems as though the Palestinian factions wield little influence on the intifada compared to the first one in 1987 and the second in 2000. Moreover, Israeli media coverage of the intifada events has been gradually declining since its outbreak, after Israel shut down several Palestinian media outlets in the past few months while the Palestinian Authority warned against covering news of operations and armed attacks. This is not to mention the Israeli and PA crackdown on the intifada youth through political arrests. All of these factors have contributed to what experts perceived as the decline of the intifada on the ground, which is not the case.”
