How is the recent escalation in the occupied West Bank linked to the Israel Hamas war ?
Israeli soldiers have been carrying out frequent raids on villages and communities throughout the West Bank since they declared a genocidal war on Gaza in October of last year. The Israelis have been responsible for the murder of over 685 Palestinians, more than 157 of whom are children. They inflicted injuries upon a total of 5,700 individuals and detained more than 10,000 Palestinians from the West Bank.
As per the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there were at least 120 Palestinian murders caused by settler violence.
The military escalation has coincided with a significant increase in Palestinian detentions, evictions, house demolitions, settler violence, and growth of illegal settlements.
Israeli soldiers have been carrying out frequent raids on cities and villages throughout the occupied West Bank since 7 October. According to Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim, the number of raids has tripled since Israel initiated its war on Gaza.The military escalation has coincided with a significant increase in Palestinian arrests, forced evictions, destruction of homes, acts of violence by settlers, and growth of settlements.
Israel focuses the majority of the raids on refugee camps, perceiving them as havens for militant activity. Specifically, Jenin and Nur Shams have been subjected to frequent incursions.
Here are a few examples:
- Israeli forces initiated a siege on Nur Shams on 19 October, causing destruction to its infrastructure and murdering over 7 Palestinians.
- Israeli soldiers carried out a lethal raid into Jenin city and refugee camp on 9 November, killing over 11 Palestinians.
- Approximately one week later, Israeli forces killed 7 Palestinians in Tulkarm through a 15-hour raid. This operation included the use of a drone strike to bomb a home, tear gassing a hospital, the prevention of ambulances from reaching the injured, and the extensive devastation of roads and stores.
- During late December, Israeli forces initiated a days-long raid against many cities in the West Bank, including Nablus, Jenin, Halhul, Hebron, Tulkarm, Jericho, El-Bireh, and Ramallah.
- In January, Israeli commandos, who were dressed as medics, patients, and other Palestinian civilians, conducted a raid on a hospital in Jenin, murdering 3 Palestinians.
- In April, the Israeli military initiated a prolonged attack on the Jenin refugee camp, murdering 14 Palestinians and causing several injuries.
- After that, there was another significant invasion in June, during which Israeli forces murdered 5 Palestinians, including a child.
The Palestine Prisoners Society (PPS) reports that Israeli soldiers have apprehended more than 10,200 Palestinians in the West Bank since October.
The number of captives has increased from 5,200 detained in Israeli prisons prior to 7 October to 9,100, according to the prisoner rights group Addameer's March report.
According to Addameer, the arrests of Palestinians have gotten increasingly brutal since October. They report that Israeli troops frequently carry out violent raids on detainees' houses, vandalizing property, physically abusing people, and making threats against their families.
Subsequent to their arrest, detainees are subjected to severe conditions in Israeli jails, as numerous reports provide detailed accounts of the organized torture and sexual abuse inflicted upon Palestinians while in Israeli custody.
According to Addameer's investigation, 10 prisoners from the West Bank have died while in captivity as of March this year.
Israel has used its genocidal war in Gaza as a cover for a significant increase in Palestinian land theft in the occupied West Bank.
Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, reports that Israel has confiscated 23.7 square kilometers (9.15 square miles) of Palestinian land this year, surpassing the total land seized in the prior two decades.
The number of house demolitions has significantly increased. Israeli authorities have punitively demolished or sealed off a total of 38 structures since October, resulting in the displacement of 170 Palestinians. This represents a twofold increase compared to the number reported in 2023.
As reported by OCHA, Israeli soldiers and settlers have demolished a total of 1,429 structures and displaced 3,244 Palestinians.
In 2023, Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli Finance Minister, was granted extensive authority over civil matters in the West Bank. This included empowering his newly formed settlements administration to accelerate demolitions and facilitate the creation of new settlements.
In late June, Smotrich authorized the establishment of 5 Israeli outposts, citing the legal action taken by the Palestine Authority (PA) against Israel in international courts and the recent recognition of Palestine's statehood by 5 European countries as the reasons for this decision.
In a recent statement on X, Smotrich revealed that Israel has intensified the development of settlements with the aim of eliminating the potential danger posed by Palestinian independence.
The development of settlements has been followed and enforced by a significant increase in settler attacks, which serve to expel Palestinian herding communities in the South Hebron hills, Jordan Valley, and East Jerusalem, and strengthen settler outposts.
According to OCHA, from 7 October to 12 August of this year, there were about 1,250 instances of Israeli settler aggression towards Palestinians, leading to at least of 120 deaths and 1,000 cases of property damage.
Over the course of decades, there has been a significant rise in acts of violence committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. These acts of violence have been carried out by far-right groups that have been provided with weapons by consecutive Israeli governments.
However, as reported by Haaretz, the attacks have escalated and gained more explicit support from the state since October.
The attacks are frequently overseen by the military and have become more structured with the establishment of the Israeli army's Desert Frontier unit, which enlisted individuals from the extremist settler group known as the Hill-Top Youth.
In May, Haaretz reported that at least 17 Palestinian farming communities had been completely eradicated due to escalating Israeli violence.
On 26 February, a group of settlers attacked the town of Huwwara, deliberately burning homes and vehicles, resulting in the death of one Palestinian.
The attack ensued after the fatal shooting of two Israeli settlers and was preceded by demands from various Israeli officials for the complete annihilation of the village.