Who knows where the violence in the West Bank might lead – but it could well take Abbas with it

In recent days the situation in Jerusalem and the West Bank has been unravelling. For some years now, fighting between Israelis and Palestinians has tended to come in the form of intermittent clashes in and around Gaza. Rocket warfare, Israeli airstrikes and subterranean tunnel attacks have become a familiar part of the latest chapter of this now century long confrontation. In the last couple of weeks, however, the focus of tensions has shifted from Hamas controlled Gaza to the West Bank, where the major Palestinian population centres are under the security control of the somewhat more moderate Fatah.

The violence that we are seeing now is taking the form of roadside shootings, stabbings, rock throwing attacks and rioting. Four Israeli civilians have already been killed over the weekend and several more wounded in similar attempted attacks, while four Palestinians have been killed in riots and clashes with Israeli security forces.

Unsurprisingly, many observers are now asking whether what we are witnessing is the onset of a third Palestinian intifada.