♪ >> you are watching al jazeera. a reminder of our top news stories. more russian shelling in northern ukraine despite promises to scale back. libraries, homes, and markets have been destroyed and northwest keith has seen -- northwest kyiv has seen explosions and fighting. >> russian forces moving away from the capital is not true.

we heard a huge explosion to the north and east. >> the red cross says one facility has been hit by shelling in variable. -- mariupol. and politicians held a virtual session for the first time since a parliament was suspended. russia and china foreign ministers have condemned sanctions imposed on russia because of their invasion of ukraine. foreign ministers are discussing the humanitarian crisis in afghanistan. lockdown in shanghai goes into effect two days earlier than planned as authorities struggled

to slow the spread of covid. people east of the city have been locked down since monday. 86,000 people tested positive on wednesday. the un's and special envoy for yemen says that coalition for a cease-fire is a step in the right direction. there are talks of the saudi capital but the houthi fee are calling for a neutral venue instead. and someone decided -- said he decided not to detonate the explosive device he was wearing but officials have found that it was faulty. inside story is next.

>> what's behind the surge in palestinian attacks on israelis? three incidents in a week kill people. could the upcoming holidays for christians, jews, and muslims lead to more shootings and stabbings? this is "inside story." ♪ hello and welcome to the program. i'm muhammad. more israeli soldiers are being sent to the occupied west bank in response to what the prime minister calls a wave of terrorism. a gunman shot dead five people in an ultra-orthodox jewish town on tuesday. six others were killed in two earlier attacks in tel aviv and birsheva. israeli security forces say isil inspired the attackers.

palestinian president mahmoud abbas warned of repeat incidents as muslims, jews, and christians prepare for ramadan, passover, and easter. harry fossett has more from west jerusalem. harry: the chaotic aftermath of a major attack deep inside israel, the third in just a week. this was banebarak, a densely populated ultra-orthodox town east of tel aviv. mobile phone footage showed what had happened minutes earlier. an attacker on the street, two apparent victims already slumped nearby, brandishing a long-barreled gun. a cyclist narrowly escapes with his life before the gunman confronts a driver, yelling at him to stop, then shooting him at close range. >> i saw a very difficult situation. a police motorbike that hit a wall and a policeman next to it who was shot. he looked dead. i took over the situation. i checked for gunshot wounds. he'd been injured. harry: israeli police say amir khori, the injured officer who later died, was the one who shot the attacker dead.

he's been named as diacha marche from near janine in the occupied west bank, reported to have been working illegally at a construction site in the area of the attack. israel's prime minister naftali bennett convened an emergency security meeting, then warned of a new wave of terror. >> this is a great and complex challenge for the army, the security agency, and the police that requires the security establishment to be creative and for us to adapt ourselves to the new threat and read the tell-tale signs of lone individuals, sometimes without organizational affiliation, and to be in control on the ground. harry: last tuesday in the southern city of bercheva, a resident of a nearby bedouin town killed four people in a car ramming and stabbing attack before himself being shot dead. an israeli court had previously convicted him on charges of supporting isil. on sunday, two palestinian israelis opened fire on a street in hadera, north of tel aviv, killing two security forces members before they too were shot dead. again, israeli authorities

pointed to isil ideology. that attack was followed by arrests in their home town, part of a heightened response including more use of detention without charge, surveillance, and police and military reinforcements. the fear is that this chain of attacks could inspire yet more in an already combustible period from gaza, hamas, and palestinian islamic jihad have hailed this latest shooting as they had the previous attacks. the palestinian president mahmoud abbas condemned the killing of civilians and warned of the risks of a further deterioration in stability. those fears are certainly shared by an israeli government now dealing with the deadliest week of attacks on its citizens in many years. harry fossett, al-jazeera, west jerusalem. mohammed: the shooter came from the town of yabad in the occupied west bank. ibrahim sent us this update. >> while the palestinian president has condemned the

killing of civilians, people who have been speaking say that the situation has already been deteriorating because the president has been saying that this killing of civilians is going to be leading towards a deterioration. people talk about expansion of settlements, settler attacks and even almost nightly raids by the israeli army. we're hearing now from people behind us that the israeli army is back to yabad. they've been here overnight, in the morning, and again now. all in all, we have our sources saying that the israeli army arrested palestinians, including the brother of the hamas. we've spoken to his family and they say they had no idea that he was plotting anything. he was having lunch with them and then he left and that they learned of what happened in the news. ♪

muhammad: all right let's bring in our guests. in tel aviv, you'll see mecklenburg, senior consulting research fellow at the chatham house think tank. in dublin, yasir, assistant professor at trinity college dublin. and in london, daniel levy, president of the u.s. middle east project and former israeli negotiator. a warm welcome to you all, and thanks so much for joining us today on "inside story." daniel, let me start with you. from your perspective, why are these attacks happening now? daniel when one has individual : attacks and those should be condemned and i do condemn those, it's sometimes tricky to draw a direct causal line in terms of the act of the individual. however, there is almost an inevitability that if one keeps conditions for the palestinians in which there is permanent dispossession, occupation in which there is a permanent reality for palestinians where

they don't have basic rights and freedoms, you are going both at the popular level, at the collective level, to have efforts to turn against that, and you're going to have at the individual level a depth of frustration, desperation, and despair which will occasionally lend itself to such action. and that is the conducive environment which exists. and we see these things happen periodically. so if the reaction is just to talk about terrorism and securitize steps that need to be taken, and if there is no mention, and there hasn't been thus far on the official israeli side, and unfortunately that's as one would expect, no recognition of the root causes , of the broader circumstances, conditions, realities, of palestinian existence under israeli rule across the entirety of the area where israel rules, then you simply set yourself up for a repeat of this. there are other elements to this. we're coming into a holiday season for the three

monotheistic faiths. we're very close to the start of ramadan. there has been an uptick in frustrations. sometimes if there's an expectation that the situation might improve and it doesn't, that can lead to an added layer of frustration. and i think one shouldn't ignore, and again i'm not drawing a direct causal line, but one shouldn't ignore the extent of provocation against palestinians being undertaken by the region recently. we just had secretary of state blinken in a summit in the negev with certain representatives of arab states who were basically saying, we don't want to address the palestinian question, we're not interested in you. some of them may have given some rhetoric about this, but when you see this uae-israeli-american-led abraham accords continued unquestioningly since its inception under trump, i think

there's an added poking people in the eye, and this was a mistake. muhammad: yeah. let me ask you a similar question. from your vantage point, what is it that's triggering these attacks? >> well i think we need to put it in the context of long-term injustice and in the context of occupation and in the context of oppression that the palestinians have been experiencing since and -- since 1948 and before. palestinians have lost their land, they've lost their society, and they're suffering from occupation. and palestinians in gaza are under blockade. they have been under blockade since. palestinians in the west bank are also under occupation, and they're suffering from checkpoints from the wall. palestinians in jerusalem, as well. and they're being kicked out of their homes. they're being forced out of their homes. palestinians in israel as well are facing discrimination and racism.

and this is the context, this is the context of the palestinian experience. it's an experience and a story of dispossession, a story of injustice that they have experienced, and also a story of occupation and colonialism. and one has to recognize this difficult reality for the palestinians. unfortunately, the international community will not speak about the palestinians unless there is some kind of violent actions on the ground. and violence is not acceptable, of course, but we need to talk about the original context of the violence, the root issues that have led to this violence and have led to these actions. and those root issues are still there. they haven't been addressed, and that includes palestinian rights, and that includes also palestinian independence, that

includes palestinian security. palestinian security is as well important, and it needs to be discussed. international organizations, a human rights organization have come out in recent weeks and including amnesty international human rights watch and israeli human rights organizations who've come out and said palestinians are simply living under apartheid in the occupied territories. so this is really the context that we need to understand when we talk about the palestinian experience. muhammad: let me shift to something that daniel mentioned a couple of moments ago, the fact that these attacks are happening the same week of this summit that was held in israel with the four arab nations, with egypt, bahrain, morocco, the uae, along with the u.s. how significant is this timing?

yasir: yeah. first of all i would like to join what you said earlier, and i think we should condemn the killing indiscriminately of civilians and others on other side and definitely what happened here over the last seven days. i think we make some assumptions that there is a sort of a flow -- flaw in communication in which there is the direct connection between for instance the summit and the terrorist attacks. i think it's actually what was mentioned by the other speakers is the bigger picture. it might be a direct connection, it might be, it may be a more of a coincidence. but the reality is the conditions on the ground, the root causes of the conflict, and i say since yes there is an element of again we as much as we support many support the abraham echo cord and such, --

accord and as such, we would like to see countries getting on with one another, but we'd like also to see how the abrahamic court facilitates for negotiation with the palestinians. we would like to see a peace process that come because instead of looking for a peace walkers from external ones from the outside of the region. actually see that the summit like the one that took place in the negev this week. won't be only paid lip service to palestinians or the conditions that palestinians live under the occupation or the blockade in gaza, but actually set a plan with a clear timeline in order to resolve once and for all this conflict. we do not see that. and i think whether it's directly connected to what happened this week and the summit last week or not, i think this will remain to be seen. but what we think really is to look what are the conditions that lead for extremism, radicalization, violence, to prosper. muhammad: daniel, how are the

attacks that have taken place this past week different from attacks in the past, and what kind of a test is this going to be domestically for prime minister naftali bennett? daniel: first of all, we don't know. this could subside. there is a sense, especially because of the timing because this is so close to religious holidays, also something we haven't talked about, but jerusalem itself and the arrangements around jerusalem as a source of tension. we're almost a year since what palestinians have often referred to as the unity intifada, since an outbreak, an escalation that started in jerusalem. so israel would be very well advised not to impose a heavy, not to have a heavy footprint in its security and policing arrangements in jerusalem over the next period. and of course we've also seen

the evictions of palestinian families in that sensitive spot in jerusalem. so we don't know yet how different this is. one thing we have seen is that the first two attacks were claimed by daesh, involved palestinian citizens of israel. yasser referred to the conditions of structural discrimination and inequality in which those citizens live. it's a strange time, almost, for that community when you have a party in the government representing that community. a lot of resentment also towards that. so we don't know how different it's going to be. what we do know is after a long period of rule under netanyahu, this is the first time we're seeing this kind of hybrid bennett coalition dealing with this, and i think there is genuine concern that if bennett were to pursue the extreme

rhetoric that he voiced in the past as his actual policy response, then he's lighting a match. then things will get even more deeply into a spiral, would be the expectation. so i think you've got a spectrum. you could have a very ill-advised, very securitized israeli response. you could have business as usual, which is also pretty bad. or you could have something which i fear is not even on the agenda, which is to say yup, we've got to get to terms with the immediacy of this. but maybe this is the moment to address the deeper political grievance. and if we don't address that, there's the inevitability of more. that is not a narrative one's hearing. so i think this will be a test for bennett. and of course what you will have is a very agitating right wing opposition outside of the

government that will be baying for blood, to use that term. muhammad: prime minister bennett said that we will fight terror with perseverance, stubbornness, and an iron fist. so my first question to you is, what kind of a response do you expect will be seen from israel? my second question to you is, are you also concerned that there will be more attacks? that the attacks that have happened thus far will inspire more attacks, especially at such a fraught time? >> well i mean in terms of israeli response, the kind of response that we have seen over the years and the past decades has always been about using military power against the palestinians. so that has been always the israeli response. and it's a response, that military response for me does not represent a solution, it represents a problem. and it causes more problems on

the ground. and because, let's not forget that the military response is also part of the occupation structure and the israeli military is in the palestinian territories, and it's on a daily basis the israeli military is engaged in military action against the palestinians, is engaged in violence against the palestinians. so i think we need to put that in context. not to defend violence, violence is not acceptable of course on any side or at the international level as well. but really to understand this long palestinian experience of living under occupation, basically what they've been facing is a systematic system of apartheid, a systematic system of occupation that has always presented to the palestinians not a deeper political response

as your speaker referred to, but rather a military response. and that military response for me is about increasing injustice on the ground, it's about also increasing tension on the ground. what we need is a broader political and deeper solution that would deal with the root issues and that and those issues include security, of course, and they include also palestinian rights. and we have to recognize that. now you referred also in your question to the israeli prime minister. bennett is on record saying that he is opposed to palestinian rights, he is against palestinian rights, he is against palestinian statehood. so i'm not expecting a political response from bennett. i'm expecting a hard and extreme right-wing response. and that's not going to help.

it's going to increase the tension and the injustice on the ground. and it's a response that israel has tried in the past and the problem hasn't gone away. so that means we need to try something more, we need to try something that is more comprehensive and something that will address the problem, and in my view what will address the problem is a deeper political solution that will facilitate palestinian rights and security for all. muhammad: is the fact that the religious holidays of ramadan, passover, and easter, the fact that they're going to be converging this year, is that something that's also leading to an escalation of tensions? yasir: probably. and their expectation of some increase in violence. i don't think at this level in this sense. i think the security services here were surprised, but interestingly enough, the three incidents, though they have some commonality, the source of it

are quite different. the first incidence in beersheba was actually carried out by bedouin. the second one is actually from benos, from which is a stronghold of the islamist movement. and the third one is actually from the palestinians from in the occupied territories from janine, from yavin. so i think we are trying to connect all the three and no doubts that the conditions on the ground and the lack of hope that was mentioned of peace were mentioned by the other speakers play a part, but i think we still need to, there are no doubt triggers that for us, those of us who deal day in, day out with this conflict, we are not surprised. not because we would like to see violence, is because we keep warning that without a comprehensive solution for the israeli-palestinian conflict, violence is almost inevitable.

and the inability of the leadership to do anything about this and then blame everyone when it does happen is the waterfall effect. reality is enough to either to visit the west bank and to see the complete apathy on the other side of the green line when it comes to the life of palestinians and saying there is a nato divide and then the international community is completely disinterested. those are the reminders. as for how israel is going to react, sadly, i think this kind of situation there will be overreaction. you won't expect the israeli security forces especially this sensitive time of the holidays not to respond to this because as i said myself here in right now in tel aviv you don't know whether god forbid is the next attack. so you will see the presence of more security forces in the streets. but the question if there is an ability to move away just from security response from using more force and then there will

be more palestinian victims as a result of it and probably on the other side too, or to do something else. the sad reality is on both sides there are very weak administration, very weak governments and weak governments tend to overreact instead of actually being reflective. muhammad: daniel, what i hear is that things are not going to change unless there is a real look at the root causes of what is going on and an attempt at a comprehensive solution. is there any hope right now that that is something that can actually be achieved? daniel: unfortunately, no. we are not in the solution zone. there is no willingness on the

israeli side to end the occupation, to end what human rights organizations have designated as a reality of apartheid in the system, which prevails. this is also a significant problem. you have a palestinian authority that has distanced itself so much from its people, that has not allowed itself to be held accountable by its people in elections and is very widely viewed as a subcontractor for the israeli authorities and is therefore not in a position to rally its people in one direction or another. but where i wanted to intervene specifically is that if there is this overreaction, if we get into a cycle, what we have seen in these three attacks,

indiscriminate, on civilians, categorically unacceptable. but once you get into a broader escalation then one has to be reminded of the fact that palestinians have a legitimate right and even responsibility to resist this military occupation . and i say that in the context of the daily commentary and pictures that we see coming out of ukraine, and suddenly when people are stockpiling molotov cocktails, they are being lauded as heroic courageous patriots if -- patriots. if you do that well palestinian, you are almost always declared a terrorist. muhammad: we have run out of time so we have to leave the conversation there. thank you so much to all of our guests. thank you for watching. you can see the program again anytime by visiting our website aljazeera.com and for further

discussion go to our facebook page. that's facebook.com/ajinsidestory. you can also join the conversation on twitter. our handle is @ajinsidestory. bye for now.

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