The Israeli army creates a special unit to pursue what it describes as inciters in the West Bank

Tel Aviv - Ofek News - A Hebrew report revealed that the Central Command of the Israeli army established, after October 7, 2023, a special unit to monitor what it describes as incitement to carry out attacks through Palestinian social media networks, and transform the information it collects into field operations targeting people it accuses of incitement.

According to the Hebrew "Mako" website, the establishment of the unit, which was called the "Incitement Unit," came in the wake of monitoring an increase in attempts at incitement through Palestinian social networks. The Israeli military establishment said its goal was to ignite the situation in the West Bank.

The report indicated that the Israeli army decided to follow a policy of “zero tolerance” for what it describes as incitement, so that the unit monitors accounts and videos published on social networks, identifies what it considers to be hotspots for incitement to carry out attacks, and then uses digital information to carry out field operations and arrest people it classifies as potential perpetrators of attacks.

The report quoted an official in the Central Command as saying: “We know how to reach those who glorify or praise an attack, present Hamas as a solution, or raise terrorist symbols.”

The official added: "Sometimes we arrive to carry out an arrest on the grounds of possession of weapons, and we also detect terrorist flags or indicators of incitement, and we deal with this issue as well."

The report explained that the unit works in cooperation with the Israeli Border Guard in the West Bank and the West Bank area police, and that it was established with the aim of reducing what Israel calls “individual terrorism” and attacks inspired by content published on the Internet.

According to the report, the unit’s work depends on converting information obtained from social networks into field operations, as publishing content that glorifies operations or calls for “violence” may lead to carrying out a specific night raid and arresting those whom Israel accuses of incitement.

“People are influenced by what they see on the Internet,” the military official said, adding that content that glorifies operations spreads widely and may eventually turn into actual events on the ground.

The report stated that, as part of these operations, Israeli forces arrested more than 600 people, whom they described as among the most prominent instigators, and they were referred to trial on charges related to publishing content related to what Israel describes as terrorism and expressing support for the perpetrators of the attacks.

He added that a large number of these arrests targeted people who expressed their support for the attack on October 7, 2023.

Demolishing memorials and closing printing presses

The report indicated that Israeli operations to combat what it describes as incitement are continuing, with a noticeable increase in the number of arrests, pointing out that the pace of arrest and frustration, according to Israeli military expression, is increasing annually.

He added that since the beginning of this year, Israeli forces have carried out 215 arrest operations, while the last week witnessed extensive operations focused on targeting what the military establishment describes as incitement infrastructure.

According to the report, the forces stormed about 70 sites that they classified as related to incitement, and carried out more than a thousand field activities, field investigations, and warning conversations with people suspected of involvement in activities related to terrorism.

During the same week, the forces also removed about 30 banners, symbols and statues that they said glorified the Palestinian martyrs who carried out the attacks.

According to the report, these operations include raids carried out by the occupation forces to demolish memorials throughout the West Bank, in addition to the arrest of people they accuse of working to finance activities related to what Israel describes as terrorism or incitement around its symbols.

In parallel, the report indicated targeting funding sources, explaining that since the beginning of the war, the Israeli authorities have closed more than 24 charitable organizations suspected of being used to promote and finance activities related to “terrorism.”

It also closed more than 40 money exchange shops and confiscated sums of money that it said were intended, according to suspicion, to finance “terrorist” activities, in addition to closing printing presses that it accuses of using its facilities to produce inflammatory materials.

An official in the Central Command of the occupation army said that these measures come in light of what he described as a shift in the nature of the threat, adding that "terrorism increasingly depends on incitement, influence and social pressure, and to a lesser extent on a traditional organizational structure."

The official continued: "We must always stay one step ahead and learn the nature of this phenomenon."