Losing sight of West Bank turmoil would be a mistake

Relatives and friends attend the funerals of two Palestinian men killed in an Israeli air strike at Al Ansar Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. Reuters

A little more than four months ago, The National reported how Israel’s military used an Apache attack helicopter to fire missiles above the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. Many were shocked at the escalation; it was the first time such firepower had been used by Israel since the Second Intifada 20 years before. Fast forward to Sunday, and the level of force being used in the West Bank has only increased: a senior Palestinian official said that an early morning strike by Israeli F-16 warplanes destroyed a mosque in the Jenin refugee camp and a residential building nearby.

Much of the world remains transfixed in horror at the continuing suffering of civilians in Gaza plus the grim wait for an expected Israeli ground invasion. In addition, the violent exchanges taking place along the Israeli-Lebanese border and the possibility of a regional conflict have captured the focus of many diplomats, politicians and analysts. Amid the chaos, the current turmoil in the West Bank has been somewhat overshadowed. This is understandable but a mistake.

Decades of occupation, the cantonisation of Palestinian land by settlers, the subjecting of Palestinian civilians to Israeli military law as well as chronic economic problems such as unemployment and poverty have all left the West Bank more volatile than ever. This risks creating a third front for an Israeli military that is already on collision course with a host of enemies.

Palestinian women look on during the funeral of Anas Manasra, who was killed by Israeli forces, in Qabatiya near Jenin on October 17. Reuters

Although there have been attempts to splinter Palestinian society into two entities over the years, those in the West Bank still feel a strong sense of kinship with their family, friends and compatriots in Gaza. As one Bethlehem resident told The National recently: “If Gaza falls, we will suffer immeasurably.” What is taking place in Gaza will have serious repercussions in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority has shown itself unable to challenge Israel or to thwart the settlement building that has hamstrung the idea of a truly independent Palestinian state. It has also been outmanoeuvred politically, and many Palestinians are acutely aware of this powerlessness and failing leadership. The idea of law and order in the West Bank has broken down, as Palestinians are harassed, attacked and sometimes killed with impunity.

A Palestinian pushes a burning tyre during clashes with Israeli troops at the northern entrance of the West Bank city of Ramallah. EPA

Into this vacuum have stepped several armed factions that act independently of the Palestinian Authority and are, as in Jenin, further adding to a powder-keg situation. This is nothing to say of the situation in Jerusalem where anger at the seizure of Palestinian homes by Israelis has added to the resentment caused by provocative and inflammatory visits to Al Aqsa Mosque by extremist Jewish Israelis, facilitated by the security forces. The fact that Hamas’s October 7 attack was called Al Aqsa Flood shows how the issue of Jerusalem remains a key part of the conflict.

Israeli governments have ignored repeated warnings and advice from Arab countries concerning Jerusalem and the West Bank for years. Meanwhile, settlers, who now have representation at the highest levels of Israel’s government, have entangled the Israeli state in decades of West Bank unrest. Several critical voices in Israel have already attacked what they see as the misuse of the country’s military to protect and enable the settler project in the West Bank, leaving the border with Gaza relatively unprotected. The acute violence witnessed in Gaza has only exposed Israeli strategic failure in the West Bank, too.

Right now, much of the focus is on finding a way to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and to get critical humanitarian aid to millions of civilians. And rightly so. But October 7 was a pivotal moment, and there should be no going back to the failed policies of the past. Finding a new path forward to tackle the underlying causes of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is vital – and this means ending the mistreatment of Palestinians in the West Bank who have been living under the world’s longest military occupation. The tragedy is that it took a full-scale war in Gaza and the deaths of many Palestinian and Israeli civilians to end years of political neglect and bring the long-simmering situation in Palestine to light.

Palestinians look for survivors of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at Nusseirat refugee camp. AP

A survivor is found in the rubble in Nusseirat. AP

A man is given oxygen and pulled from the rubble in Nusseirat. AP

This desperate search for survivors is being replicated across the Gaza Strip. AP

Yocheved Lifshitz speaks to the media outside a Tel Aviv hospital after being released by Hamas. EPA

Israeli women who were held hostage by Palestinian Hamas militants, Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper (also known as Nurit Yitzhak), are released by the militants. Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron before their talks in Jerusalem. AP

Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli air strike on a house in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

Palestinians inspect the damage of a destroyed house that was hit by an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis. AP

Ms Cooper and Ms Lifshitz arrive at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre after being released by Hamas on Monday. AFP

A woman cries next to the rubble of a building after Israeli strikes on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. AFP

Wateen, a 14-month-old Palestinian baby, who was wounded in an Israeli strike that killed her mother and injured her twin brother Ahmed, recovers at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. Reuters

A Palestinian girl clutches salvaged books as people look for survivors in the rubble of a destroyed building hit in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis. AFP

People mourn during the funeral of members of the Abu Morad family who died following Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis. AFP

A wounded Palestinian man arrives at Nasser Medical Complex, following Israeli air strikes on the town of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. AP

Red Crescent Society employees sort humanitarian aid bound for Palestinians in Gaza, at a warehouse in Arish, Egypt. EPA

Ayman Abou Chamalah stands next to his daughter Mecca as she receives care inside an incubator at a hospital in Rafah. AFP

Israeli soldiers carry the coffin of Erik Kraunik, chief of security in the kibbutz of Be'eri, during his funeral at a cemetery in Yehud, Israel. AP

A man sits among the rubble of a building destroyed in Israel's bombardment of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

A Red Crescent worker sorts aid for Palestinians in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the blockaded enclave. Reuters

Israeli soldiers take part in a drill near the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion. EPA

Men fill fuel containers with drinking water in Rafah. AFP

Smoke billows over Gaza after an air strike, as seen from southern Israel. AP

A person holds a child as Palestinians gather in Khan Younis at the site of a house destroyed during an Israeli bombardment. Reuters

Israeli soldiers sit on top of a tank near the border with Gaza. Getty Images

Buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis. Reuters

Palestinians are evacuated from a building in Rafah that was hit during Israel's bombardment. AP

Shahar Idan, 9, mourns during the funeral of his brother Maayan, 18, who was killed by Hamas gunmen in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz. His father Tzahi is being held hostage in Gaza. Reuters

Palestinian doctors treat a premature baby at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah, Gaza. AP

Rescue crews search for bodies after Hamas militants attacked the kibbutz of Be'eri in Israel. Getty Images

Lorries carrying humanitarian aid head to Deir Al Balah after crossing from Egypt through Rafah. Bloomberg

Palestinians evacuate survivors in Deir Al Balah after an Israeli bombardment. AP

Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes on Gaza. EPA

Israeli soldiers at a position along the border with Lebanon. EPA

A woman leans against the window of an ambulance outside Kuwait Hospital after an Israeli strike in Rafah. AFP

A Palestinian cries as the body of his daughter is recovered from beneath the rubble of a building destroyed during an Israeli air strike on Rafah. AFP

A convoy carrying humanitarian aid arrives in Rafah after crossing into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Bloomberg

The pictures of more than 1,000 people abducted or killed during the attack by Hamas militants are displayed on empty seats at Tel Aviv University. Getty

Palestinians are evacuated from buildings in Rafah after the bombardment of the Gaza Strip. AP

Israeli soldiers gather at an undisclosed location near the border with Gaza. EPA

Palestinians mourn outside a house in Gaza struck by Israel. Reuters

A bullet-riddled fridge in a house in the kibbutz of Kissufim in southern Israel, where 14 people were killed and four were abducted by Hamas militants on October 7. AP

Football fans inside Anfield stadium hold up Palestine flags during the Liverpool-Everton derby on Saturday. Reuters

Palestinians wounded in the bombardment of Gaza are taken to Al Asa Hospital in Deir Al Balah. AP

Rescuers search for victims and survivors in buildings destroyed by air strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza. Getty

Residents of Tel Aviv show support for the families of hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas. Reuters