On November 19, a Palestinian man in the West Bank Israeli settlement of Gush Etzion fired a submachine gun into a crowd and then rammed his car into another. The attacker killed five people, including 18-year-old Ezra Schwartz of Sharon, Massachusetts. The attack is just one of many stabbings and shootings since September. American, Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian leaders have met in recent weeks to discuss calming tensions, but these attacks have been fueled by a steady stream of rhetoric that shows no signs of abating.

A gruesome October attack on a Jerusalem bus killed American-Israeli peace activist Richard Lakin. After video of the attack went viral, a New York Times op-ed by Lakin’s son referred to the current violence as “the Facebook intifada.” The Times of Israel’s Avi Issacharoff argued that many of those carrying out attacks are not users of social media, but one cannot ignore the role social media is playing in spreading incitement. On November 6, a Palestinian teenager took to Facebook to claim responsibility for stabbing a middle-aged Israeli man earlier that day. Bara’a Issa says no group pressured him ahead of the attack, which he carried out to protect the al-Aqsa mosque and the “occupied land of Palestine.”

Social media is just one medium carrying the steady stream of rhetoric driving the violence. In the West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas continues to chastise Israel for harsh crackdowns on Palestinian protesters and spread rumors of an Israeli takeover of the al-Aqsa mosque. Jordanian media and officials have cast the unrest as a response to unjust Israeli policies. Palestinian religious leaders, such as al-Aqsa mosque preacher Sheikh Khaled al-Mughrabi, continue to preach that Jews intend to build a new temple dedicated to the devil, and every Muslim who defends al-Aqsa will receive 70 virgins. Israeli police arrested al-Mughrabi on November 4, but there are many others like him.

In Gaza, Hamas deputy leader Ismail Haniyeh declared the start of a new Palestinian intifada (uprising), which “is the only path that will lead to liberation. Gaza will fulfil its role in the Jerusalem intifada and it is more than ready for confrontation.” Despite such tough talk, rockets are not flying out of Gaza. The attacks so far are emanating from the West Bank or being perpetrated by Israeli Arabs and Jerusalem’s Arab residents. After three wars with Israel in six years, reconstruction in Gaza remains slow to non-existent. Gaza’s borders are largely closed and Egypt has destroyed most underground smuggling tunnels beneath its border, cutting off Hamas’s supply lifeline and Gazans’ economic lifeline. The violence against Israeli citizens gives Hamas an opportunity to distract Gazans from their own misery. Still, Hamas does not want to invite another Israeli confrontation so soon after the last, so it essentially supports the violence from a safe distance. Nor is the Palestinian Authority, despite its rhetoric, eager for another intifada. The second intifada brought economic ruin and diminished the PA’s control as Israel enacted tougher security measures. A third intifada could further weaken the PA and lead to a Hamas takeover similar to 2007, when the PA was driven from Gaza.

What Hamas and the PA want, however, might have little bearing. After 10 years in power, Abbas has delivered few tangibles to the Palestinian people. The peace process is at a standstill, casting doubt on the efficacy of Abbas’s non-violent strategy. The U.N. raised the Palestinian flag, but that doesn’t translate into better jobs or greater freedom of movement. While trying to maintain order, the PA cannot risk being seen as unsupportive of “resistance” activities. It would lose more credibility with a Palestinian street that increasingly sees PA leaders as more interested in lining their pockets than standing up for the Palestinian people.

Following the deadly attacks in Paris that killed 130, PA media published cartoons and opinions casting blame for the killings on Israel rather than ISIS. The Palestinian people have received little from their governments beyond rhetoric that finds a way to blame Israel for every problem. The Palestinian people may have little confidence in their leaders, but it is Israelis who they are lashing out against.

Hamas and the PA may not be driving this latest wave of violence, but they certainly put the gas in the car.