Israel will not take countermeasures against Negev stabbing 

Israel will not punish Palestinians following the stabbing attack in Negev, it will let large numbers of Palestinians reach Al-Aqsa Mosque and allow more workers from Gaza to enter Israel, one of Israel’s leading media experts on military and defence issues, Amos Harel, disclosed on Friday.

Writing in Haaretz, Harel indicated that Israel does not link the latest stabbing in Negev with Palestinian resistance acts in occupied territories due to the attacker’s connection to Daesh, noting: “The attack may point more to a Daesh resurgence.”

The writer said that Mohammed Abu Al-Kiyan, who carried out the attack: “Was a known militant Islamic activist and even served time in prison because of his connections with Daesh.”

He added: “An investigation by the Shin Bet security service and the police will now need to focus on the question of whether he had signalled in recent months any signs of renewed extremism or specific plans to stage an attack.”

Islamic Jihad: All Palestinians will defend the Negev

Meanwhile, Harel reported Israeli security officials suggesting that the attack in Negev: “Is part of a wider, worldwide phenomenon. Paradoxically, they say, there may be no connection between the attack and Palestinian terror in the territories.”

But he reported the concerns of Israeli security officials who are currently deliberating whether: “Abu Al-Kiyan’s success will inspire copycat attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank, with the approach of Ramadan in the background.”

Harel stated that the Israeli security services: “Have, for decades, viewed the weeks leading up to the month of Ramadan warily.” He added: “This is a period of heightened religious fervour that manifests itself, among other things, in lone-wolf terror attacks on Israelis.”

The Israeli writer concluded: “For now the defence establishment is making a distinction between the Be’er Sheva attack and the situation in the territories… For now, Israel’s political echelon does not plan to interrupt its policy of allowing more Palestinians to enter Israel to work.”