Palestinian group behind rocket fire attempts in occupied West Bank could launch a 'new phase' in confronting Israel

For the seventh time since June, Palestinian militants attempted to launch rockets against Israeli targets in the northern occupied West Bank on Sunday, 10 September. 

Like the previous attempts, this latest launch was claimed by a group calling itself "The Ayash Battalion", referencing the 1990s Hamas's military wing's explosives mastermind, Yahya Ayash, who was assassinated by Israel in 1995.

The group released a video through a Telegram channel, where a rocket-looking device could be seen mounted on a launcher, with a sign placed next to it that read: "The Ayash Battalion - targeting the usurped colonies of the Jenin surroundings and the Bin Amer plain with  Qassam-1 rocket".

من جديد ... فشل مدوٍ للاحتلال

بعد أن زعم جيش الاحتلال قبل أيام اعتقال المجموعة التي تطلق الصواريخ تجاه مستوطنات غلاف جنين، أطلقت كتيبة العياش اليوم صاروخًا تجاه مستوطنة "رام أون" شمالي جنين.

تم نشر الفيديو المرفق، كما اعترف جيش الاحتلال بإطلاق الصاروخ. pic.twitter.com/BitisgMwfT

— yaseenizeddeen (@yaseenizeddeen) September 10, 2023

Israel media quoted the Israel army claiming that a launcher was found near the Palestinian town of Silat Al-Haretheyeh, northwest of Jenin and that the attempt targeted the Israel town of Ram On, on the Israel side of the 1967 Green Line. 

According to Israeli reports, there were no injuries or damages. However, the Israel regional council of Israel settlements in the Bin Amer plain area demanded that Israeli forces deploy the 'Iron Dome' system.

The Ayash Battalion appeared for the first time in June, claiming responsibility for a rocket launch attempt in the surroundings of Jenin. The group's name associates it with Hamas; however, the Palestinian Islamist movement denied any links to the group in June, following its first attempt.

#كتيبة_العياش تعلن عن #اطلاق_صاروخ من الضفة الغربية باتجاه المغتصبات الصهيونيه pic.twitter.com/CtzIHtjNh6

— adnan hamarshe عدنان حمارشة (@AHamarshe) June 26, 2023

"The Palestinian resistance's use of rockets is mostly associated with the Gaza Strip, where the first Palestinian home-made rocket was launched in October 2001," Bilal Shalash, a Palestinian historian specialising in the history of the Palestinian resistance, said to The New Arab. "The first rockets had a reach of 3 kilometres and a very little damage capacity," he added.

Palestinian rockets launched from the Gaza Strip evolved over the past two decades. In the 2012, 2014 and 2021 Israel offensives on Gaza, Palestinian factions fired rockets with ranges of up to 250 kilometres, targeting cities as far as Haifa, Tel Aviv, Bir Assabea and Jerusalem, and carrying explosive heads of up to 60 kilos.

"In the West Bank, there were several attempts to manufacture rockets by Hamas cells during the second Intifada, but none reached the point of actually launching one," said Shalash.

"This new attempt seems to be starting from scratch and not from the point reached in Gaza," he noted.

This 'starting from scratch' factor characterises the ongoing resurgence of Palestinian armed action against Israel in the West Bank.

Since the escalation of Israel raids on Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank in late 2021, several independent Palestinian groups, non-affiliated to Palestinian factions, have emerged, like the "Lions' Den" group in Nablus and the "Hornets' Nest" in Jenin.

However, the Ayash Battalion is the first group to attempt launching rockets.

"Rockets in Gaza began with humble attempts, too, and now they are an important factor in the confrontation between the Palestinian resistance and Israel," remarked Shalash. "These attempts in the West Bank might have a similar future, and it might not. Israel is trying to capture or kill militants to avoid the accumulation of experience, which is the key factor to developing armed resistance."

"However, as long as the occupation continues to motivate young Palestinians to take up arms, there will always be someone ready to start over, which is much harder for Israel to counter in the long run, which is a historical pattern as well," he added.