Support growing in Jerusalem Arab communities for new ‘Lion’s Den’ group from Nablus
The “Gov Aryot” (Lion’s Den) youth group from Nablus is gaining a lot of power and a lot of sympathy in the Palestinian Authority and in Jerusalem.
Weapons Confiscated by the IDF
An activist in the eastern part of the city told TPS, “The PA and even Hamas failed to connect Jerusalem with Jenin and Nablus. Where the big organizations failed, the youth group from Nablus is succeeding and it has become the hottest thing on the street today.”
In Jerusalem, it is said that “Lion’s Den” is also responsible for the current hostile atmosphere in Jerusalem and calls for a civil uprising.
For example, the heads of the committees and institutions in the Shu’afat and Anata refugee camps returned at the end of the week and called for the continuation of the civil riots against Israel, which is intended to prevent any Israeli presence in the camp, including the departure of students to schools and the departure of workers to workplaces in the city.
(10 days ago, an IDF soldier was killed in a terrorist shooting attack at a checkpoint just outside of the Shu’afat camp in northern Jerusalem.)
In recent days, a new phenomenon of young people shaving their heads to resemble the wanted terrorist Adai Tamimi (the man believed to have committed the terrorist attack) has spread through the area, making it more difficult for the IDF and the police to find him.
Hundreds of young Palestinians, mainly in the Nablus area, marched in support of the residents of Shu’afat, responding to the call of Lions’ Den to come out and show support for the residents of the refugee camp and Jerusalem. The terrorists, the members of the group, called last night on social networks for “everyone who carries a weapon, to move and protect the Shu’afat refugee camp” and promised “Jerusalem was the first bullet and will be the last.”
A Fatah activist from the village of Isawiya, one of the most violent centres in eastern Jerusalem, tells TPS, “The violence in the east of the city is greatly influenced by the great sympathy for Lion’s Den group, which operates from Nablus. Another Fatah activist says, “The calls heard in the refugee camp for civil riots against Israel came after the threats of civil riots against the Palestinian Authority in Nablus, from Lions’ Den following the arrest of the Hamas man, Mazab Shteyeh.”
Violent clashes continued in the area of the Shu’afat refugee camp and the nearby village of Anata. Police and military forces made a series of arrests in and around the camp during the hunt for the terrorist, a resident of the refugee camp, but in East Jerusalem, they say that the attack led to the creation of a front between Nablus and Jerusalem and the barriers that were placed around the camp were used by the “Lions Guard”, the terrorist group from Nablus, for a large show of force in the east of the city.
Along with the support demonstrations in Jerusalem, Lions’ Guard is now also calling on young people in Hebron and Bethlehem to engage in confrontations with IDF forces, and a Palestinian source tells TPS, “In recent days, the participation of armed Hamas operatives in confrontations with the IDF, especially in the Nablus and Samaria area, has been clearly seen.”
In the meantime, the power of the Lion’s Den in Nablus is increasing. One of the members of the Institutions Committee, which unites the Palestinian factions and the institutions of the city of Nablus, says in a conversation with the Israel News Agency that the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to convince the Lion’s Den to lay down their weapons in exchange for the payment of salaries and their recruitment into the Palestinian security mechanisms have failed miserably and the Authority is powerless in the face of the new phenomenon.
On Tuesday, the Palestinian Prime Minister, Muhammad Shteyeh, made a rather unusual visit to the city of Jenin, a step that was recently avoided by senior PA officials, and he also addressed the demonstrations of support for Shafat. The visit was made after the killing of the Palestinian doctor, Dr Abdullah Abu al-Tin, who was himself a member of Tanzim Fatah in the city and Mech who was photographed on social media holding a weapon.
Shteyeh addressed the hundreds of mourners in the camp and said: “Jenin is the Palestinian National School and is a show of brotherhood with Shu’afat, Anata, Nablus, Rafah and the Old City of Jerusalem. I did not come to express my condolences but to receive consolation from you and to tell you that we are united in grief and united in suffering and that this occupation funds his election campaign in Palestinian blood every day.”
Shteyhe was seen in the company of armed and wanted men and even received a salute from Fathi Hazem, formerly a senior officer in the Palestinian security apparatus at the rank of lieutenant colonel, and the father of Red, the terrorist from the Dizengoff attack, and of Abdel Rahman, who was eliminated by the IDF.
