With the world’s eyes focused on the
ongoing carnage in Gaza—now pushing deeper into the fourth month – little attention is
being given to Israel’s other war in the West Bank; not as deadly, but
dangerous enough that it could trigger a new uprising, a collapse of the PA and
an attempt by extremists to drive Palestinians out of villages and towns; i.e.,
ethnic cleansing. That war has been going on for decades in the form of
systemic land grab, summary execution of civilians, demolition of houses,
expanding illegal settlements, carrying out of military raids by the Israeli
army of towns and refugee camps, detention without charge of Palestinians and,
more recently, enabling Jewish extremist settlers to terrorize local residents.
اضافة اعلان
The spike in Israeli atrocities in the
West Bank picked up as soon as
Benyamin Netanyahu formed the most far-right
government in the history of the state in December of 2022. By bringing in two
of the most extremist figures in the political field; Itamar Ben Gvir and
Bezalel Smotrich, Netanyahu looked the other way as both men put their
anti-Palestinian rhetoric and racist ideology into practice. Today, both the PA
and West Bank Palestinians are the target of the most nefarious extremist
scheme that has one goal in mind: To kill the idea of Palestinian statehood.
Since
October 7 of last year, when Hamas
carried out its attack on Israel and the latter’s bloody response, the Israeli
military has been carrying out almost daily raids against Palestinian refugee
camps and towns in the West Bank.
Netanyahu has never supported the two-state solution or the Oslo Accords. And more recently he has appealed to Israel’s conservatives by presenting himself as the one leader who would never allow a Palestinian state or give up on full Israeli security control over all historical Palestine.
The result? More than 360 Palestinians died,
including at least one
Palestinian-American, and over 6,000 arrested. The
deliberate destruction of infrastructure by Israel has been huge: public roads,
electric transformers, water pipes, private property, and cell phone towers,
among others.
Jewish
settler attacks have been on the rise since early last year. Human rights
organizations have reported that from January 1 to September 19, 2023, Israeli
settlers and forces killed 189 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and
wounded 8192. Ben Gvir has weaponized over 800,000 settlers by arming them and
allowing them to kill Palestinians with impunity.
Meanwhile,
Finance Minister Smotrich has
blocked tax money from going to the PA, all while pushing for its collapse.
While the PA is no longer popular among Palestinians, it remains the only
recognized entity that represents the
Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Netanyahu finds himself puzzled between killing the PA and keeping it on life
support as long as it honors security coordination.
Netanyahu has never supported the two-state
solution or the Oslo Accords. And more recently he has appealed to Israel’s
conservatives by presenting himself as the one leader who would never allow a
Palestinian state or give up on full Israeli security control over all
historical Palestine.
Currently, there are two immediate objectives
that he and his extremist partners are trying to achieve. One: is to isolate
East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, including pushing the remaining
Arab residents out through economic hardship and intimidation. The second is to
absorb as much territory of the West Bank into Israel, such as Area C, so that
the only remaining areas are Palestinian towns such as Nablus, parts of Hebron,
Nablus, Jenin, and Tulkarim. The refugee camps would be strangulated so that
they would eventually be abandoned.
While
Gaza and its future occupy the attention of world leaders, the fate of the West Bank is currently at stake. Without the
West Bank, there can never be a Palestinian state. This is now the main concern
of Netanyahu’s partners. They would aim to annex as much territory of the West
Bank so that there will be only concentrations of Palestinians left in
designated cities and towns. What happens next is yet to be decided.
If Netanyahu and his far-right partners
continue calling the short, then we should expect a scenario where
Gazans are forced to flee into the Sinai desert and West Bank Palestinians slowly heading
to Jordan.
While Gaza and its future occupy the attention of world leaders, the fate of the West Bank is currently at stake. Without the West Bank, there can never be a Palestinian state. This is now the main concern of Netanyahu’s partners. They would aim to annex as much territory of the West Bank so that there will be only concentrations of Palestinians left in designated cities and towns. What happens next is yet to be decided.
Netanyahu is already appealing to Israeli
voters as he prepares for a possible snap election in a few months. For him
completing a far-right project in the
West Bank and Gaza has become hislegacy—one that replaces the utter failure of
October 7.
Netanyahu’s scheme could succeed. He knows the
inner workings of US politics more than any other Israeli politician. He knows
that President Joe Biden is fighting for his political life and that any hint
of abandoning Israel would be used against him by the likes of Donald Trump and
Nikki Haley. Netanyahu hopes the US presidential elections will deflect
attention from any other foreign conflict in a few months. He wants to use this
to prolong the war in
Gaza while destroying any hope for a contiguous Palestinian
entity in the West Bank.
The sad thing is that Netanyahu, despite his
domestic ordeal, is getting away with murder, not only in
Gaza but in the West Bank as well. He has rejected Biden’s statements on the two-state solution and
attacked the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He has also ignored strong
calls by families of the
Gaza captives.
The West Bank will get more tense in the
coming days. Reportedly, Israel is
relocating fighting units from Gaza to the
West Bank. The Israeli security is warning of a possible conflagration in the
West Bank. Pushing Palestinians to the edge will ignite a new Intifada. Perhaps
that is what Ben Gvir, Smotrich, and Netanyahu are wishing for. Such a scenario
could lead to a new status quo; one that could disrupt the region.
Without the West Bank, the two-state solution
will become irrelevant. While the US is giving lip service to that solution,
under Netanyahu such a path now seems impossible. This is a clear and present
danger and the international community must step in to circumvent what
Netanyahu and partners are pushing for.
Derailing Netanyahu’s plan requires
international solid rejection. While the Biden administration finds itself in a
bind at this stage, other countries should come out to denounce Israeli actions
not only in
Gaza but also in the West Bank. Focusing on Israeli atrocities in
the West Bank is a must, but blocking its plan to destroy all paths to an
independent Palestinian state is a duty.
Osama Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
Disclaimer:
Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Jordan News' point of view.
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