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Israel Sizes Up West Bank Operation As Palestinian Armed Groups Re-emerge

On Sunday, September 4, three Palestinians trailed an Israeli bus filled with soldiers, before pulling up in front of it and opening fire through the front window. Six Israeli soldiers were injured in the attack, one seriously, in addition to an Israeli settler. The attack sent fears throughout Israel’s military that they are not safe anywhere in the occupied territory, inspiring new armed attacks across the West Bank and, in return, Israeli reprisal raids.

At least 113 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year, as of October 1, making this year the deadliest in the territory since at least 2016, and it could get worse in the coming months. Israel has claimed this is solely due to an increase in armed attacks on Israeli occupation forces and settlers, suggesting the excessive killing is of “terrorists”, yet it is evident from the number of children, disabled, elderly, journalists, and women killed that this is false.

Israel is currently in the process of sealing off the West Bank to outsiders. Due to 97-page ordinance issued earlier this year, foreigners wanting to enter the West Bank must now notify the Israeli authorities prior to entry and this will often mean complete denial of entry altogether. Attacks on journalists are also clearly on the rise in the West Bank, as are the frequent raids on Palestinian villages, cities, and refugee camps. It is no coincidence that Israel is also killing and arresting journalists at this time either, in addition to raiding and shutting down the most trusted Palestinian human rights groups, both of which work to document Israeli violations committed against civilians.

The Palestinians of the West Bank, specifically the younger generation, are fed up, and this year has seen the return of daily gunfire towards Israeli checkpoints, settlements, and guard towers, not seen since the second Intifada [uprising between 2000 & 2007]. After the recent Sunday morning attack on an Israeli bus, transporting soldiers and settlers inside the Jordan Valley area, the feeling that nowhere is going to be safe for settlers and soldiers has emanated through the Hebrew media, sparking fear of a “third Intifada”.

The Jordan Valley, located in the East of the West Bank, has been viewed, up until this point, as being safe to Israelis, as opposed to the more built-up areas of the West Bank. The Jordan Valley settlements, especially, are exposed and are not as heavily fortified as settlements elsewhere in the West Bank, making the illegal settlers nervous.

What is particularly special about the action, coming from Palestinians in the West Bank today, is that we are now seeing young men take up arms all throughout the territory and form themselves into militias. This first started in Jenin last year, then spreading to Nablus, both located in the northern West Bank, but has since spread throughout the territory, with armed gunmen now calling press conferences in large groups, primarily from inside refugee camps. The stated aim of each force, which represent their local areas, is to focus on combating the invasion of Israeli occupation forces into their villages, cities and/or refugee camps.

Although the militia forces are not well trained, proving incapable of repelling the attacks of the much more powerful Israeli military, they nevertheless impose a huge burden on the occupation army. Because these groups are not formed of well trained fighters, with professional structures of command, they prove to be unpredictable and are hard to crush in a single blow. The ideology of these fighters, who range between the ages of 17-25 in most cases, is that of fighting to liberate their areas from the influence of the occupation forces and to die as martyrs doing as such.

In the first four days of September, for instance, there were at least 10 shooting attacks and a knife assault against Israeli soldiers. Not only this, but Israeli Army Radio has speculated in the past week, that the Palestinian Authority — the quasi-governmental organization which works for Israel’s security in the West Bank — could end up losing control over Jenin and Nablus as a result of the current trends. Through altering its “open fire” policy, to allow its soldiers to shoot-to-kill Palestinians who pose no direct threat to Israelis, Israel thought that they would violently stamp out armed resistance. The very opposite has been the case. The already desperate and suffering youth of the West Bank have only seen the increasing Israeli murder campaigns as a green light to fight fire with fire.

When The Last American Vagabond spoke to a West Bank armed group member earlier this year (who requested to remain anonymous), and the question of liberating Palestinian land was brought up, it was explicitly stated that:

“What was taken by force, must be returned by force.”

“Growing up living in a hell, in a prison, what do you expect of us? If you couldn’t move, have no prospects for jobs, see your camp raided constantly, are treated less than animals and have your friends killed, what would you be doing, sitting and waiting to die? No, not us.”

It is important that the escalation in violence is understood in the above quoted context, which gives perspective here. Palestinians in these areas are in overwhelming support of the young fighters, they take pride in the fact that the youth are fighting back. There is, however, a tragedy to this situation, which is that many of these fighters were robbed of any other option, of their childhoods, and do not fear death in the slightest — some of them seeking it. This is not a normal trait for young men, and Israel will undoubtably face huge problems due to its continued approach of maximum force and no mercy.

Robert Inlakesh
Robert Inlakesh
Robert Inlakesh is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, writer, Middle-East analyst & news correspondent for The Last American Vagabond.
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