Israeli occupation forces killed at least 10 Palestinians, injuring over 100 others, during a violent raid against the old city of Nablus in the West Bank. The attack brings the total death toll of Palestinians this year to at least 62, igniting protests across all of occupied Palestine and leading to threats from the armed groups in Gaza against the Israeli military.
On Monday, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) issued a watered-down Presidential statement condemning Israeli illegal settlement expansion, expressing “dismay” and “concern”. This came after the Palestinian Authority (PA), based in Ramallah, withdrew the UNSC resolution it had put up a for a vote, owing to pressure from the Biden administration. Less than two days later, on Wednesday, the Israeli regime would go on to commit the largest mass shooting of West Bank civilians in a single day, in Nablus city, since the early 2000s; additionally demolishing more Palestinian homes and announcing new settlement expansion plans for over 1,000 illegal settlement units again.
The PA had withdrawn its UNSC resolution, which was set to be voted on, in return for pledges on the Israeli and US side, to provide additional funds for the unelected, semi-autonomous, West Bank authority. According to a report from Axios, the US government had reportedly informed the PA that if they were to withdraw the proposed resolution, they would sign onto a UNSC condemnation of settlements and would get Israel to pause settlement expansion, in addition to reducing violent raids in the West Bank for a period of a few months. The PA was also asked to make concessions in order for Tel Aviv to respect its side of the bargain, including returning to ‘security coordination’ with Israel and setting up a US-trained PA security force unit that will be tasked with hunting down Palestinian resistance groups in the northern West Bank. According to the report by Axios, the PA accepted these terms. However, an unnamed source in the Israeli PM’s office said the following:
“There are no understandings. We finished all the building plans last week and had no intention of convening the committee to approve new ones in the next three months anyway”.
A similar reaction was given by the Israeli government to another proposal, which was apparently worked upon by the US delegation during their visit to occupied Palestine, headed by Secretary of state Antony Blinken in late January. Following this first proposal, Israel announced that it was recognizing 9 illegal settler outposts, as well as the construction of 4,000 new settlement units. The Israeli military also decided to launch a deadly attack on the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp, in Ariha (Jericho), which killed 5 Palestinians, after the area was blockaded for 10 days.
Despite the repeated Israeli violations of the understandings that it allegedly reached with the US, in exchange for the PA to work with Tel Aviv once again, the Palestinian Authority continues to ignore the calls from its people to properly respond against Israel and instead concedes for more funding every time. Although Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ordered the end of ‘Security Coordination’ with Israel, there have been clear cases were the coordination has continued. When Israeli troops entered Nablus this Wednesday, the PA Security Forces withdrew in coordination, as usual. The man considered as the PA President’s second-in-command is Hussein al-Sheikh, who proudly posted on Twitter earlier this week that he had met with the AIPAC lobby group, it was also alleged that Mahmoud Abbas had established a secret line of communication to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
The above being said, it is clear that the Palestinian Authority cannot be relied upon to help the Palestinians, or defend them when their people are being massacred. The only hope now is that members of the PASF decide to switch sides and begin fighting for their own people, instead of collaborating with the Israeli occupation.
This Wednesday morning, Israeli occupation forces stormed the old city of Nablus, the stronghold of the Lion’s Den armed group. Israel’s elite special force units were deployed into the city, along with hundreds of regular infantry. Israel used helicopters, attack drones, anti-tank missiles, and the protection of their military vehicles to shelter them from the bullet fire of the Palestinian resistance fighters. Two fighters were eventually cornered into a building in the old city, and fearing to enter the structure, Israeli special forces decided to hit the building with anti-tank missiles and buried the two fighters beneath the rubble. Along the way, Israeli forces shot at everything that moved in the old city and its surroundings. Videos emerged of indiscriminate fire into market places, at unarmed protesters and towards a group of young men who were simply standing around. Two elderly men and two children were killed by Israeli fire, whilst around 100 Palestinians were shot and injured. Ambulances were prevented from entering areas where the dead and wounded were laying on the ground facing gunfire when they attempted to access the bodies; Palestinian journalists were also shot at for attempting to report on the raid — both of which are undeniable war crimes.
Following the brutal attack, Israeli settlers near the Shomron settlement roundabout, danced in joy, sang songs and handed out sweets to passersby, celebrating the murder of at least 6 Palestinian civilians and four fighters. Unlike the recent case of a Palestinian man who shot dead 7 Israeli settlers in Neve Yaakov illegal settlement on January 27, the Western media did not report this recent Israeli attack non-stop and create a false narrative to make people feel sorry for the victims. This attack, much larger than the illegal settlement shooting, was reported to suggest that Israeli forces were simply carrying out an arrest raid. The BBC wrote a report on the Nablus shooting, calling the incident “clashes”, quoting the Israeli military’s narrative that they were going after terrorists who were about to carry out attacks against Israelis. Even more disgraceful is the fact that the BBC writes the following to conclude their report: “So far this year, at least 50 Palestinians – including militants and civilians – have been killed, while 11 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis”, which not only refuses to acknowledge that Israeli militants were also among the dead, but understates the Palestinian death toll by 12. No Western media acknowledged the celebrating Israeli settlers, whilst it was widely reported that there were Palestinians who celebrated the settlement shooting.
This violent raid instantly triggered widespread localized strikes, to mourn the dead and protest Israel, in addition to demonstrations ranging from Gaza, to Umm al-Fahm, to Bethlehem. The spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam brigades commander Abu Obeida, warned Israel that they are watching the events in the West Bank and that their temper is running low. Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, also stressed that there would be a response. This has led to fears that a new Israeli war with the Gaza Strip could erupt.
