Hamas' military wing, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, recently announced its intention to resume carrying out suicide attacks within Israel, and also posted a graphic on its Telegram channel depicting a blown-up bus in Tel Aviv and captioned "We Are Coming" in Arabic, Hebrew and English. The Hamas announcement was posted on August 19, 2024, one day after Ja'far Muna, a terrorist from Nablus, perpetrated a failed suicide attack outside a synagogue in Tel Aviv.[1] The attack failed because Muna's powerful explosive charge blew up prematurely. Hamas' military wing and the Al-Quds Brigade, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) organization, claimed responsibility for the attack in a joint statement, which also announced that "martyrdom" operations, i.e., suicide attacks, within Israel will resume.
Suicide attacks inside Israel, which Hamas stopped perpetrating after the second intifada, will constitute another means of escalating the struggle against Israel from the West Bank and of turning the West Bank into another front against Israel, in which multiple terror organizations operate together with guidance from Iran, thus implementing the principle of the "unity of the fronts."[2]
As part of the attempt to escalate the struggle against Israel from the West Bank, Telegram channels affiliated with the terror organizations have circulated graphics inciting and threatening suicide attacks and bus bombings inside Israel,[3] as well as posts in praise of Yahya Ayyash, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, who was responsible for the wave of deadly suicide bombings in Israel in the 1990s, in which over 100 Israelis were killed.[4]
The graphic posted on the Telegram channel of Hamas' military wing (T.me/qassambrigades, August 19, 2024)
This report reviews the threats to renew the suicide attacks within Israel circulated recently on social media.
Hamas And Other Terror Organizations Threaten Renewal Of Suicide Attacks Within Israel
The announcement posted August 19 on the Telegram channel of Hamas' military wing, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, stated: "The Al-Qassam Brigades and [the PIJ military wing], the Al-Quds Brigades, announce that a martyrdom operation was carried out yesterday evening in Tel Aviv, and stress that martyrdom operations in the occupied interior [i.e., inside Israel] will resume as long as the occupation's massacres, expulsion of civilians and assassination policy continue.[5]
The joint announcement of the Hamas and PIJ military wings
The perpetrator of the suicide operation in Tel Aviv, Ja'far Muna, on a Hamas-affiliated Telegram channel (left) and a PIJ-affiliated channel (right) (T.me/hamas_wb; T.me/ibraheem_Nabolsi, August 22, 2024)
Incitement and Threats Of Suicide Operations On Telegram Channels Of Hamas And Other Terror Organizations
Following Ja'far Muna's attempted suicide operation in Tel Aviv, and the threats by Hamas and the PIJ to renew these attacks inside Israel, similar threats and incitement surged on social media as well.[6] Below are several examples:
Graphic On Hamas Telegram Channel Shows Bus Exploding In Tel Aviv
The Al-Qassam Brigades' Telegram channel posted a graphic threatening suicide attacks on buses (see above). The graphic shows a blown-up bus with Hamas' inverted red triangle above it, marking it as a target for attack, [7] an explosive belt and a sign saying "Tel Aviv." The caption, in Arabic, Hebrew and English, says "We Are Coming."[8]
More Graphics Threatening Bus Bombings On Hamas-Affiliated Telegram Channel
Graphics threatening bus bombings in Israel were also posted on the Hamas-affiliated "Wanted" Telegram channel.[9] They feature suicide bombers, exploding buses and threats and incitement such as "The bus roof will fly in the air if your massacres continue," "Terror will reach you, our martyrs are on their way," "Tighten your [explosive] belt, oh martyrdom-seeker," and "Your buses will become coffins."[10]
Left: "The bus roof will fly in the air…"; right: "Your buses will become coffins"
Left: "Terror will reach you, our martyrs are on their way"; right: "Tighten your [explosive] belt, oh martyrdom-seeker"
Graphics Glorifying Yahya Ayyash: He Is Coming; He Is Returning
The Hamas-affiliated "Wanted" Telegram channel also posted multiple graphics glorifying Yahya Al-Ayyash, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, who was responsible for the wave of deadly suicide bombings in Israel in the 1990s, in which over 100 Israelis were killed. One of the images shows a blown-up bus with the caption: "Who will restore the glory of [Yahya] Al-Ayyash? #Attack_your_enemy." A video posted on the channel announces that "Yahya Ayyash is coming," and another graphic quotes the Hamas and PIJ announcement with the hashtag "Ayyash is coming back."[11]
Left: "Who will restore Al-Ayyash's glory?; right: "Ayyash is coming"
Graphic with the hashtag "Ayyash is coming back"
[1] Muna's organizational affiliation is unclear, because both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization claimed him as a member (T.me/hamas_wb; t.me/ibraheem_Nabolsi, August 22, 2024).
[2] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 11507 - The West Bank – A Ticking Time Bomb – August 14, 2024.
The effort to arm the Wrest Bank – including with powerful explosive devices smuggled in from across the border – is taking place with extensive assistance from Iran, in accordance with the directives of its Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who in fact issued these instructions as long as a decade ago. Officials in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have announced on several occasions that they are implementing his directives. On Khamenei's call to arm the West Bank a decade ago, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 4366, "Iran's Leader Khamenei: Armed Struggle Should Continue until Israel Is Destroyed by a Referendum," July 23, 2014; MEMRI reports: Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1107 - Qods Day In Iran: Tehran Calls For Annihilation Of Israel And For Arming The West Bank – July 25, 2014; Special Dispatch No. 10173, IRGC Commander Salami In Interview For Supreme Leader Khamenei's Website: 'The Palestinians Are Ready Today For Ground Warfare – Israel's Major Weak Point... Missiles Are Excellent For Deterrence... But They Do Not Liberate The Lands; A Ground-Based Force Must Be Deployed, And Must Liberate The Land, Step By Step... Hizbullah And Palestine Will Move On The Ground In A Single Military Formation', August 31, 2022; Special Dispatch No. 10588 - Iranian IRGC Commander Hossein Salami: 'Invisible Hands Armed The West Bank – And You [Now] See Modern Automatic Rifles And Automatic Weapons In The Hands Of The Palestinians' – May 2, 2023; Special Dispatch No. 10721 - Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Secretary-General Ziad Al-Nakhaleh In Interviews With Iranian Media: We Manufacture Weapons Thanks To Aid Provided By Iran And Seek To Arm All West Bank Cities; No Jew Anywhere In The World Lives In Greater Danger Than The Jews In Palestine – July 24, 2023.
[3] Hamas and other terror organizations have recently been working to incite the people of the West Bank to rise up and fight Israel. They use social media, and especially Telegram, as a convenient platform on which to incite stabbing, shooting and vehicular attacks against Israelis. See MEMRI reports: Special Dispatch No. 10788 - Palestinian Terror Organizations Incite On Social Media: The Time Has Come To Kill The Jews – September 12, 2023; Special Dispatch No. 10932 - Incitement To Jihad And Terrorism Against Israel In The West Bank – November 2, 2023; Special Dispatch No. 10965 - Hamas Threatens To Repeat October 7 Attack In Or From West Bank – November 20, 2023.
[4] Ayyash, nicknamed the Engineer, studied electric engineering at Bir Zeit University and was active in Hamas' student movement, the Islamic Bloc. As stated, he was one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, and specialized in the building of improvised explosive devices. He was killed by Israel in 1996. See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10362 - Praise For Terrorist Yahya 'Ayyash, Initiator Of Hamas' Suicide Bombings, At Palestinian University And On Social Media – December 7, 2022.
[5] T.me/qassambrigades, August 19, 2024. Other Palestinian terror organizations welcomed the suicide operation and called on their operatives and on all Palestinians to carry out similar operations. The Mujahideen movement, for example, called on "our jihad fighters in the [West] Bank and inside [Israel], the jihad fighters of the Dahim Unit [a unit of the Mujahideen movement comprising fighters from inside Israel] and all the jihad fighters of our brave people to escalate their high-quality attacks in the heart of the [Zionist] entity, which understands only the language of force…" (T/me/mojajdeenpal, August 19, 2024).
[6] See also MEMRI JTTM reports: Pro-Hamas Telegram Channel Released Posters Inciting Arabs In West Bank To Carry Out IED Attacks On Buses, Vehicle-Ramming Attacks Against Israelis, 'Settlers', August 19, 2024; Pro-Hamas Telegram Outlets Celebrate Tel Aviv Attacker, Incite Additional Suicide Attacks Inside Israel, Vow To Continue Terrorizing 'Settlers', August 22, 2024.
[7] On the inverted red triangle, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 1762 - The Inverted Red Triangle Symbol, Identified With Hamas And Seen In U.S. Student Protests, Is An Open Call For Attacks On Israeli Targets – May 6, 2024.
[8] T.me/qassambrigades, August 19, 2024.
[9] The incitement posted on this channel is similar to content circulated by accounts affiliated with Hamas' student cells in the West Bank. See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10965 - Hamas Threatens To Repeat October 7 Attack In Or From West Bank – November 20, 2023; MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10932 - Incitement To Jihad And Terrorism Against Israel In The West Bank – November 2, 2023.
[10] T.me/Almutaredd, August 19, 2024.
[11] T.me/Almutaredd, August 19, 2024.
