Itongadol.- Just over a year ago, a survey was conducted in the West Bank to ascertain the various channels through which Palestinians receive the news. The results were astonishing: More than 80 percent of Palestinians receive their news from Facebook and Twitter. Palestinian terrorist groups were among the first to identify this trend, and they therefore began devoting significant resources into online efforts.
Hamas leads in its exploitation of this trend. The abilities of the the organization to operate freely in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem is limited by the operations undertaken by the IDF and the Palestinian security apparatus.
But the cyber world is open to all. Besides the shared posts on Facebook about what is done in the West Bank, Hamas began embedding its message on the pages inciting its readers to violence, glorifying terrorists, and aggressively encouraging persons to go out and commit more attacks.
During the recent months, which have been marked by a deterioration in the security situation, social media have been flooded with graphics, cartoon pictures, and animated videos depicting terrorist attacks. Even more seriously, training videos are posted explaining how to stab one\’s victims in the most effective way to maximize damage.
In this way, Hamas has managed to entrench itself in the hearts of the Palestinians—especially in the hearts of the younger generation, which has grown tired of the Palestinian Authority.
Several months after the the outbreak of violence that began in the autumn of 2015, the IDF established a system to monitor social networks. The goals was to reach the inciting individuals and to arrest them.
The Israeli police also operates in a similar fashion in East Jerusalem, the area which witnessed the most significant decline at the outset of the current wave of terrorism. Since last October, the IDF has arrested 85 Palestinians from the West Bank for inciting to violence on Facebook. However, the Palestinians techniques employed on social media have proven that the success has been only partially successful.
In addition to the hatred spewed against Israel on social media, Hamas also incites against the PA and its security cooperation with Israel.