In contrast to the last security prisoner in Israel who became the centerpiece of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad campaign, Hisham Abu Hawash didn't appear on the terrorist organization's list of its prisoners in Israel. Nevertheless, the military branch of the Al-Quds Forces threatened to light up the security situation if Abu Hawash is not released. PIJ Secretary General Ziyad al-Nahala joined the demand, boosting the level of threat when he said that if Abu Hawash – who is on a hunger strike – dies, the group would consider his death a targeted killing.
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The PIJ's method of stirring the pot through the hunger-striking prisoners identified with it can already be discerned. The previous security prisoner, Maher al-Akhras, was eventually released after a 103-day hunger strike. Then, too, the PIJ threatened to step up violence from the Gaza Strip if he were to die. But he was released and went back to hanging around with Sheikh Khader Adnan, a senior PIJ official in Judea and Samaria. Only a few weeks ago, the two paid a visit to the condolence tent erected for the family of the terrorist who murdered Eliyahu Kay.
Adnan himself managed to get himself out of administrative detention after a hunger strike, which in his case lasted only 55 days. Each time, the organization uses the prisoners' hunger strikes to promote a campaign of anti-Israel incitement and agitate the situation on the ground. In the case of Abu Hawash, too, there have been plenty of innocent officials who fell prey to the PIJ propaganda and portrayed the prisoner as someone Israel is persecuting.
The reality is different, of course. In early December, the High Court of Justice rejected Abu Hawash's petition for release or for his detention to be frozen due to his medical condition. The High Court ruling describes how Abu Hawash, a resident of the Hebron area, posed a danger to the security of the region and had even served a previous prison sentence for security crimes. His petition was rejected because at least at the time, his condition was not life-threatening.
The ruling also emphasized that following classified intelligence about him, Abu Hawash had been arrested on Oct. 29, 2020, and interrogated by policy on suspicion of membership in and activity with a hostile organization, regional security offenses, and planning to execute a military action. However, Abu Hawash denied the allegations. Because the intelligence in question was classified and Abu Hawash could not be tried, a decision was made to hold him under administrative detention, which is periodically extended, until April 2022.
For the Palestinians, none of this matters given the consensus about security prisoners. And playing on that consensus, the PIJ has managed to other terrorist group, political factions, and the Palestinian Authority into a military and diplomatic conflict with Israel. Even now, despite his meeting with Defense Minister Benny Gantz last week, PA Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh has called for Abu Hawash to be released immediately.
Hamas, which fears the criticism the PIJ has been leveling at it recently – for example, a recent interview in which the PIJ secretary-general took a stance against Gazan residents being given permits to work in Israel – has chosen to align with it. Proof of this is a warm meeting that recently took place between al-Nahala and Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mashaal in Beirut, as well as the joint military drill the Gaza terrorist groups conducted last week.
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Yoni Ben Menachem, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, recently explained that "the two terrorist organizations have managed to create a very convenient situation for themselves. On one hand, they are maintaining the calm in Gaza, and not violating their promised to Egypt and enjoying the fruits of it, while on the other hand they are causing terrorist attacks in east Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, which allows them to present themselves as 'resistance' groups that aren't giving in to Israel's dictates."
Still, despite the groups' explanations Saturday that two rockets fired toward central Israel on Saturday had been released due to "weather conditions," it looks like the PIJ is interesting in another round of escalation that has nothing to do with concern for the well-being of security prisoners. In recent weeks, Syria has been claiming that Israel attacked targets at Latakia port. Various Arab reports point to those targets being part of Iran's attempts to smuggle advanced weapons to Hezbollah.
Higher security tensions or a military operation could distract the Israeli defense establishment from the "between wars" campaign in the north to the seething swamp that is Gaza. In that sense, the security prisoner is a particularly convenient ticking bomb, mainly in providing cover for the PIJ's foreign interests. He can serve as an excuse for them to stir the pot and put themselves into a position to decide what steps Hamas will take.
So rather than reaching a long-term ceasefire agreement with Israel and rebuilding Gaza, Hamas official rushed to say that "all options are open." It appears as if more than anything else, Hamas getting dragged into this can show us what a future "hudna" (truce) with it will be worth, and shed light on its abilities to fulfil its commitments. Abilities that probably don't exist.
