Deadly terrorist shootings throw spotlight on Hebron and the Negev

Hebron has long been a hotbed of religious extremism and affiliation to Hamas.

By Yaakov Lappin, JNS

Two recent deadly terror attacks, in Beersheva on Oct. 6 and Tel Aviv-Jaffa on Oct. 1, served as a painful reminder that terrorists with automatic weapons are, at least in recent weeks, deadlier than hundreds of Iranian missiles.

The attack in Beersheva on Sunday involved an M-16 wielding Bedouin Israeli gunman, identified as 29-year-old Israeli citizen Ahmed al-Ukbi from near Hura in southern Israel.

Al-Ukbi opened fire on the city’s central bus station, murdering a woman and wounding eight other people, before being shot dead by Israeli security forces.

The terrorist’s relative, Muhand al-Ukabi, 21, from the same location, conducted a shooting and stabbing at the same Beersheva bus station in October 2015, murdering an Israeli soldier and wounding 10 others, before being shot dead by security personnel.

According to Prof. Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, “The Bedouin society in the Negev is a ticking time bomb due to problematic elements growing within it. They [the problematic elements] are definitely not the majority of the Bedouin society, but they are very dangerous.”

These elements of Bedouin society “are the products of religious radicalization processes led by Hamas and the Northern Islamic Movement, combined with Palestinian nationalism, influenced by the family ties of these elements to the Gaza Strip and Hebron—both Hamas and Palestinian nationalist strongholds—due to the phenomenon of polygamy and the acquisition of Palestinian women who receive Israeli citizenship by virtue of their marriages,” he said.

“Many children from such families grow up with a distinct Palestinian and radical Islamic orientation, disconnected from Israeli society and lacking any Israeli identity or identification with Israeli society (again, not all, but most). They are easy prey for religious and nationalist incitement and cannon fodder for Hamas, Islamic State and sometimes others,” he continued.

Michael cautioned that the unhindered access to weapons in the entire Bedouin sector, as with Arab Israeli society in general, and the lack of effective [Israeli] sovereignty enable “the connection between the family background, Palestinian nationalism, radical Islam and the emotional and ideological ties to their Palestinian families, with the result being terrorism of this kind.”

Meanwhile, Hebron’s role in the ongoing terrorism surfaced during the Oct. 1 attack in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, in which seven Israelis were murdered and 16 wounded in a brutal combined shooting and stabbing.

According to a joint investigation by the Israel Police and the Israel Security Agency, two terrorists from Hebron—19-year-old Muhammad Mask and 25-year-old Ahmad Haymani—entered a light rail train on Jerusalem Boulevard and opened fire on passengers.

The attackers then continued targeting pedestrians before being neutralized by city patrols and armed civilians. Both men were found to have been in possession of an M-16 rifle, several magazines and a knife.

Following the attack, Israeli forces launched a crackdown, arresting multiple suspects in the Hebron area suspected of having assisted the terrorists in acquiring weapons and facilitating their entry into Israel.

“During the night, ISA and IDF forces arrested several suspects in the Hebron and Jerusalem vicinity believed to be involved in aiding the attackers,” the joint investigation stated.

Hebron has long been a hotbed of religious extremism and affiliation to Hamas.

“Hebron historically is a more religious and militant area compared to other regions in Judea and Samaria,” said Michael.

He noted that while Jenin and other locations in Samaria have witnessed more frequent violent outbreaks, Hebron has remained relatively quiet since the escalation of terror attacks in March 2022.

This, he said, is because “in Hebron, families and clans have a very strong grip on the territory. The tribal-clan mechanisms are much more effective than the security and police forces of the Palestinian Authority” in the city, he continued.

Local leadership in the city has a clear interest in safeguarding the relative calm due to the economic-commercial ties between Hebron and Israel, which are extensive, he argued, adding, “It is clear to all that in case of a security deterioration, they will pay a heavy economic price.”

This is despite the fact that “Hebron has closer ties to Gaza than any other region in the West Bank, due to both marriage ties and geography,” Michael noted.

These connections have made it easier for Hamas to establish and maintain terror infrastructure in the city, though the organization’s influence has been somewhat tempered by the tribal and clan-based power structures in the area, he added.

Hamas in Gaza, meanwhile, has been severely weakened, affecting its ability to function in Hebron as well. Hamas overseas bases have also been degraded, affecting Hamas’s attempt to ignite Hamas infrastructure in Hebron, according to Michael.

“The IDF and ISA have a strong grip on the Hebron area, meaning that mass violence or massive levels of terrorism are unlikely, but there will always be lone attackers and Hamas efforts to ignite local terror networks” there, he added.

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