Since the renewal of fighting in the Gaza Strip, Gaza’s internal front has shown notable signs of change. Feelings of rage, despair, and a growing lack of trust in Hamas’s military and civilian leadership are laying the foundation for an internal uprising that could shake the political balance in the Strip. The slogan “Their lives are not worth more than our lives” reflects a fundamental shift in perception and a breaking of the barrier of fear. Demonstrators have been seen raising white flags—a clear symbol of surrender. Signs of...
While mainstream Israeli media has presented Hamas’s propaganda—which highlights the triumph of jihadist ideology, Israel’s humiliation, the release of Palestinian prisoners, the disruption of normalization with Saudi Arabia, and the group’s military and civilian resilience in Gaza—Palestinian social media in Gaza and the West Bank tells a different, more complex story. This discourse includes harsh criticism of Hamas, fears that Gaza’s devastation could extend to the West Bank, and even calls for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to...
Jordan’s stability is being undermined by mass demonstrations outside the Israeli embassy in Amman, organized by the National Forum for Supporting the Resistance and spearheaded by the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. Iranian subversion, and the use of the Hashemite Kingdom for smuggling weapons and money to terrorist organizations in the West Bank are also contributing to the instability. Concern that this destabilizing of Jordan could lead to the deployment of Iran and its proxies along the Israel–Jordan border should spur Israel to...
At a meeting in Cairo in early June 2023, Egypt presented leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad the framework for a hudna in the Gaza Strip, i.e., a long-term ceasefire. Israel is not officially involved in the initiative, which would bring it some clear benefits, including prolonged security calm and Cairo’s willingness for deeper involvement in Gaza. These benefits are not obviated by the fact that Hamas would also benefit from the initiative, which includes plans for broader infrastructure and economic projects, providing the...
Arab society in Israel is concerned about the outcome of the latest national elections and the current right wing government, and the possible repercussions for relations between the Arab minority on the one hand and the state and the Jewish majority on the other. Even if most Arab citizens are rather indifferent to Israeli politics, they seek to continue their integration in society; moreover, this trend represents a clear interest of the Arab sector, the Jewish majority, and the state. Arab public and political expressions and...
Recent months have seen a steep rise in the use of live fire in the Palestinian cities in the West Bank against IDF forces, as well as in the number of shooting incidents and other attacks. Behind the shootings are primarily young Palestinians, including Fatah operatives, and this phenomenon reflects the chaos within the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli security response, which focuses on counter-terrorism and widespread arrests of suspects, generates a self-sustaining cycle of escalation and heightens the motivation among young...
Lebanon is preparing to hold elections on May 15 for parliament, which is supposed to elect the country’s president this coming October. These are the first elections in Lebanon since the outbreak of the large-scale public protests in October 2019 and the state’s collapse due to the severe economic crisis. These events have led to political changes, chiefly the participation of many new independent parties, the breakup of the Sunni camp, and the weakening of Hezbollah’s partners in the March 8 camp, especially the...
The July 10, 2020 decision in Turkey to convert Hagia Sophia in Istanbul from a museum back into a mosque aroused, as expected, many negative responses in the Christian world. It was, however, also severely criticized by Sunni Muslims in Arab states. It was argued that the measure would help empower Israel to attempt to change the status of al-Aqsa, and showed that Turkey was a threating revisionist player. On the other hand, some welcomed the decision, among them spokesmen from the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas – which reinforces the...
Over recent weeks, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was confronted was with his gravest public crisis since taking office. Mohamed Ali, a former Egyptian military contractor, posted videos on social media accusing the top military and political echelons of a range of corruption offenses and encouraged the public to protest against the President. Despite the wide dissemination of the videos, only a few thousand people responded to Ali’s call and took to the streets. But the regime’s success in containing the...
There are growing signs that Israel has expanded its campaign against Iran’s efforts to consolidate its power in the region, including in attacks on infrastructures in Iraq that are linked to Iran. An overall cost-benefit analysis should prompt Israel to consider the potential implications of expanding the campaign, among them an early withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and Syria, which would leave Israel alone in the campaign against Iran’s entrenchment in the region. The Iranian attempt to carry out weaponized drone attacks...
Reactions in Egypt to the death of Mohamed Morsi, six years after his ouster as president, reflect ongoing social and political polarization, in Egypt in particular and the Middle East in general. While President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s regime has sought to downplay Morsi’s death, Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt labored in the social media to use the event to bolster their influence. Ultimately, the regime managed to contain this volatile event. At the same time, while the pro-Islamist discourse over social media did not...
The eighth issue of Over the Net deals at length with the affair that has taken the Arab world and the international arena by storm since October 2018, the murder and disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The man himself, the reasons behind his murder, and the details of the murder have combined to create a fascinating story that caused passionate discussions, first and foremost about Saudi Arabia and its (acting) leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and also about Turkey, the United States, and freedom of the press...
