Oh the US can impose sanctions, on the resistance of course
US imposes sanctions on Palestinian ‘Lion’s Den’
The US State Department has imposed sanctions on the “Lion’s Den” Palestinian armed group in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In a statement announcing the action, spokesperson Matthew Miller cited attacks by the group on Israelis, as well as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2022. The statement did not name any individuals subject to sanctions.
The emergence of the Lions’ Den comes as public support for armed resistance increases among Palestinians. While its roots go back to February 2022, the Lions’ Den formally emerged in September 2023.
Inside the Lions’ Den: Will Palestinian resistance keep growing?
Nablus’ Old City has emerged as a hub of armed resistance in the occupied West Bank, which Israel wants to crush.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/11/11/inside-the-lions-den-where-is-palestinian-resistance-headed
In March 2022, following a string of attacks by Palestinians that killed 19 people in Israel, the Israeli army launched an operation it calls Break the Wave, through which it is attempting to crush a phenomenon of growing armed resistance, particularly in Nablus and Jenin, by carrying out near-daily raids, killings and arrests in the two northern West Bank cities.
Israel’s three-day assault on the blockaded Gaza Strip in August, in which at least 49 Palestinians, including 17 children, were killed, was also conducted as part of that campaign.
The emergence of the Lions’ Den comes as public support for armed resistance increases among Palestinians. It is not the first new armed group to emerge: In September 2021, the Jenin Brigades, affiliated mostly with the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), announced itself. In May 2022, a similar group also affiliated with the PIJ – the Nablus Brigades – was formed.
While its roots go back to February 2022, the Lions’ Den formally emerged in September.
“We are a group and not an organisation. Anyone who wants to resist the occupation is welcome,” one fighter told Al Jazeera in the old city of Nablus, adding that members use rifles they acquired on their own and not in an organised or funded manner.
“It’s about sending a message [to Israel], that we will not sit idly by,” he said. “We know we can’t liberate Palestine now, but we will leave this to the next generation.”
Israeli army drones with explosives used in the attack on Wadee al-Hawah’s home
Since February, a number of Lions’ Den fighters have either been killed or seriously wounded by Israel, or have handed themselves and their weapons over to the PA in exchange for amnesty from Israel, granted they serve time in PA prisons. “They are being fought against by two sides, the PA has told them to hand in their weapons,” the official said.
The PA has been offering deals to fighters from the Lions’ Den, including employment in the security forces, similar to what happened at the end of the second Intifada in the 2000s.
“The PA presented Wadee with temptations,” said Sabreen. “In a meeting with officials two days before he was martyred, they told him we’ll give you a salary of $6,000 if you work with us. You’ll get a house and a car. He was completely against it,” she explained.
In September, clashes broke out between Palestinian fighters and PA security forces in the centre of Nablus, after the latter arrested two fighters, including Musab Shtayyeh, a member of the Lions’ Den and one of the most sought-after ones on Israel’s wanted list.
The home of Lions’ Den commander Wadee al-Hawah in the Old City of Nablus following Israel’s attack on October 25
Future of resistance
On October 23, days before the killing of the five men in Nablus and just a few metres away from Wadee al-Hawah’s home, Palestinians accuse Israel of killing Tamer Kilani, a commander in the Lions’ Den. A bomb planted on a motorcycle detonated as he walked by.
The Israeli army has not commented on Kilani’s death.
The 33-year-old fighter, who was publicly affiliated with the PFLP (The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), had defected from the PA’s presidential guard.
Wearing a thread necklace with a photo of Kilani, rifle in hand, the slain fighter’s father, 56-year-old Sufian, said his son had been wanted by Israel after he left the security services. He was then detained in Israeli prisons for four years in 2014, before being imprisoned by the PA for several months after his release.
“The men of this country face either prison or martyrdom, so I expected this for Tamer at any minute,” continued Sufian.
“Tamer was 13 when he was injured by live ammunition from the [Israeli] occupation forces during confrontations, and 17 when he was first detained,” he said. “I still have a photo of him as a teenager butting heads with an Israeli soldier in [the West Bank town of] Huwwara, carrying the Palestinian flag.”
The motorcycle that exploded as Tamer Kilani walked by remains in its place, a few metres away from al-Hawah’s home
The killing of Wadee al-Hawah, Tamer Kilani and others before them has represented a blow to Lions’ Den, but, despite Israeli and PA pressure, new groups are emerging.
Last week, the Balata Brigades, an armed group that grew out of the refugee camp in Nablus city, announced itself to the public. Armed operations have also spread to the cities of Jerusalem and Hebron.
“The fighters’ confidence is not shaking,” said the Fatah official in Nablus. “The more youth they [Israel] assassinate the more want to join the resistance.”
