Palestinians clash with Israeli forces after an army raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday.
Majdi Mohammed/AP
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Majdi Mohammed/AP
Palestinians clash with Israeli forces after an army raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday.
Majdi Mohammed/AP
TEL AVIV, Israel — What is often referred to as a “cycle of violence” in Jerusalem and the West Bank has suddenly escalated to levels not seen in years.
Thursday was the Israeli army’s deadliest operation in the occupied West Bank since at least 2005. The troops killed nine Palestinians including armed men and a 61-year-old woman during a raid against the suspects in the crowded Jenin refugee camp. Dozens more were injured.
Friday marked the deadliest Palestinian attack against Israelis since 2008. An armed Palestinian man killed seven people — and wounded three — outside a synagogue in an Israeli settlement neighborhood of Jerusalem, at the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath. Saturday saw another Palestinian shooting outside an Israeli settlement enclave in Jerusalem, wounding two.
What could be leading to this increase in violence?
Israel’s 10-month crackdown on the West Bank
A series of deadly attacks by Palestinians on Israelis last year prompted a major Israeli military campaign called Operation Breakwater, which began on March 31. Since then, almost every day, Israel has carried out raids in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to arrest suspected militants and patrol. weapons Almost every week, Palestinians were killed.
This resulted in the highest number of cumulative deaths in the West Bank since 2004. Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops last year, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. This includes armed men but also uninvolved civilians and young Palestinians who were throwing stones at the troops. It also includes Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was also killed in the Jenin refugee camp. Israel says she was probably killed by an unsuspecting soldier.
The weakening of the Palestinian security forces
Palestinian security forces are trained by the United States and international forces to patrol the West Bank, round up Palestinian militants, and coordinate with Israeli officials to prevent attacks on Israelis. But those forces have lost a lot of legitimacy among their own people. Many Palestinians see them as doing Israel’s bidding, maintaining Israel’s military occupation rather than resisting it.
Increasingly, pockets of the West Bank have become no-go areas for Palestinian Authority forces, who now either refuse to enter or find it too dangerous. This includes the Jenin refugee camp, a dense district of concrete buildings and home to many armed militant groups dedicated to the fight against Israel. Israel says it is stepping in to fill the void and has stepped up its arrest raids in these densely populated areas. Its troops are met by armed men encouraged by groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad or newer militant groups, leading to deadly clashes.
After the Israeli raid Thursday, the Palestinian Authority said it was officially suspending its US-supervised security cooperation with Israel, but it is not clear to what extent this will happen.
Members of the Zaka Rescue and Recovery team check on the victims of a shooting attack that killed seven people and injured three near a synagogue in Jerusalem on Friday.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
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Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Members of the Zaka Rescue and Recovery team check on the victims of a shooting attack that killed seven people and injured three near a synagogue in Jerusalem on Friday.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Israel’s half-century occupation shows no sign of ending
Palestinian leaders want to establish an independent state in the West Bank. But Israel has occupied the West Bank for almost 56 years and continues to strengthen its control over it. He says that the Palestinians are not ready to make peace with Israel and that the occupation is a security necessity. But it has also enabled and supported hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers across the West Bank, and the new far-right government promises to legalize dozens of small settlement sites deep in the heart of -territory, making it more difficult to envision a future Palestinian state. there.
Younger Palestinians have grown up knowing nothing but Israel’s harsh permit regime that controls Palestinian entry and movement, and some of their only interactions with Israelis are with often hostile settlers. , or soldiers who enforce the occupation, who often raid homes and imprison people for months. without charges. Some young Palestinians see violent resistance against Israel as their only viable path to freedom, with young militants condemned on social media.
As the Palestinian leadership weakens, Israel’s far right rises
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, 87, one of the Middle East’s oldest leaders, has lost the support of most Palestinians, according to survey. He tried to promote Palestinian independence through nonviolence and diplomatic negotiations with Israel, but that approach failed. In the 19th year of what was supposed to be a four-year term, Abbas lost control of Gaza to Hamas militants, stopped elections for a new leadership, allowed the corruption of the government succeeds, and has not mapped out a clear future for the Palestinians.
On the other hand, Israel’s longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu is back as prime minister with a far-right coalition that has drawn up a plan to deepen its control over the West Bank and take tougher action against the Palestinians. Only a month into office, the government has sparked a series of controversies, including over the status of the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. Israeli officials are already preparing for a tense month of April, when Ramadan and Easter coincide, a combustible mix for potential religious and nationalist violence.
