Have you noticed that clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank have escalated since Israels war with Hamas militants began in Gaza nearly 11 months ago ?
The Israeli military's offensive on four refugee camps and nearly all towns in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, including military-grade weapons, helicopter landings executed by commando units, drones, and bulldozers, cannot be categorized as a reaction to the war in Gaza.
This operation claimed by Israel is significantly more in scale than a mere "counter-terrorism" operation.
The war in the West Bank was premeditated prior to Hamas's strike on October 7th of the previous year.
It was postponed by the Gaza war, but also refined and honed by it.
Israel became more confident in inflicting the same level of devastation and displacement on the occupied West Bank, after witnessing the extent to which the US and Europe were willing to accept Palestinian deaths and wreckage in Gaza.
If the West Bank is destroyed, the Palestinian people may finally bid farewell to their state.
This is the message that settler and far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich has been publicly and consistently broadcasting in his efforts to shift control of the occupied West Bank from the military to settlers.
Similar to the Gaza war, "Operation Summer Camps" does not primarily target local resistance groups or their leaders, although it has already resulted in the targeting and elimination of several of them.
Similar to the situation in Gaza, the assaults on Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas from both land and air, along with the imposition of a blockade, the isolation of medical facilities, and the detention of healthcare professionals, target the civilian populace.
The bulldozers are sent not to create a pathway for the tanks, but to remove the vital water pipes and drainage systems, knowing full well that within six months, the occupied West Bank will see significant disease outbreaks and epidemics, similar to the current situation in Gaza.
Let's reject the idea that this is solely Smotrich's strategy to covertly steal a significant portion of the West Bank and force the eviction of a huge population to Area A, which is currently under the nominal jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority (PA), or preferably, from Israel's perspective, to Jordan.
It is a governmental endeavor. Following the commencement of the military offensive, Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, advocated for population transfers, disguised as "temporary evacuation."
"This is a war for everything and we must win it," Katz stated.
Smotrich himself disclosed in a speech to settlers, which was recorded by a Peace Now activist, that his plan enjoys the complete support of the prime minister. According to Smotrich, Benjamin Netanyahu was "with us full on."
He characterized his plan to permanently modify the governance of the occupied West Bank as "mega-dramatic", further stating that "such changes change a system's DNA".
For the typical Jewish Israeli citizen, the West Bank operation is meat and drink.
They justify their actions by thinking that if the international community allowed them to relocate almost two million Palestinians from Gaza, they are entitled to do the same in the West Bank, unrestrained by Israel's legal responsibilities as an occupying power and without any restrictions or limits.
Moreover, it is unfortunate that their conclusion is accurate.
Gaza has pushed forward the implementation of the Smotrich plan to annex the occupied West Bank.
According to an editorial in Haaretz, the line between the settlements and the army, which was previously undefined, has been fully erased since 7 October.
Settlers who previously engaged in the destruction of Palestinian homes and crops have now resurfaced in a formal capacity, wearing military uniforms and wielding the weapons and might of the Israeli army.
Within a mere span of 10 days following the Hamas attack, at least 62 Palestinians lost their lives and numerous more sustained injuries as a result of settler attacks. Additionally, roadblocks were erected with a clear objective in mind: to forcibly displace Palestinians from their homes and agricultural lands.
B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, recorded the forced displacement of eight complete communities, consisting of 87 families totaling 472 individuals, including 136 children, within a span of one week.
Do not be deceived by the infrequent and progressively solitary rational opinions expressed by Israel's security experts. Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, issued a warning about the escalating and prominent acts of violence by settlers, stating that it is causing immeasurable harm to Israel and changing it beyond recognition.
The assault on the refugee camps of Balata, Nur Shams, Jenin, and Far'a serves a strategic objective.
The camps represent the high concentration of the Palestinian populace from many backgrounds. Israel's objective is to engage in ethnic cleansing of the camps in order to eliminate any remaining evidence of the Palestinian people's fundamental demand for the right to return.
"There is no serious plan, because the most important aspect of resisting the Israeli action is having one Palestinian leadership and one Palestinian vision, which would mean ending the division between Fatah and Hamas. And yet the PA is not serious about it," stated a knowledgeable source inside Fatah.
The Palestinian response is uncertain due to the absence of leadership. However, it is important to note that none of the significant occurrences that altered the trajectory of this "conflict" were foreseen or anticipated.
The outbreak of the First Intifada caught everyone by surprise. The occurrence of Operation al-Aqsa Flood caught everyone by surprise.
We Palestinians consistently exhibit innovative and unique reactions, characterized by unwavering resilience and refusal to surrender.
However, it is undeniable that genocide, an atrocity that the global community pledged would never occur again since the Holocaust, is becoming increasingly accepted as a daily occurrence. This will have an impact not just on our future as Palestinians, but also on the future of the entire globe.
On a daily basis, for the past 11 months, I have been regularly exposed to images depicting dead human beings, severely cracked skulls, and body parts being gathered and placed into body bags.
While the Israeli media and the western world do not display any images of Israel's barbarity, Arab and Muslim audiences regularly encounter such images.
Other nations can also replicate the actions taken by the Israeli military. Somehow, we're unwittingly ushering in a new age of brutality.
As this daily carnage continued, Kamala Harris emerged as the new Democratic presidential nominee, and the party's convention organizers made every effort to remove a Palestinian speaker from the main platform.
Keeping the conference "unified" was their stated goal, they told the Washington Post.
For me, a Palestinian, the inhumanity of this present era is terrifying.
It is common knowledge among us Palestinians that Israel may do anything it wants to us and will not face any consequences whatsoever.
Despite efforts by the US and others to silence them, perhaps the International Criminal Court or the International Court of Justice will ultimately succeed. However, none of these measures currently protect Jenin, Tukarm, or Tubas. Despite this, Israel continues to drop bombs weighing 1,000 pounds on tents.
Whether we are Palestinians residing in Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank, Gaza, or Israel, the Israeli state has complete control over our lives. I, my house, and my family may vanish overnight, no questions asked.
The reality in Gaza and the occupied West Bank has made it clear that no red lines exist. At what point will the international community demand an end to the slaughter of innocent children?
There is no limit; that is the answer.