Israel’s military operation in the northern West Bank has raised concerns that it is undertaking a copy-and-paste of its military assault in Gaza.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned that Israel’s operation in the occupied West Bank “must not constitute the premises of a war extension from Gaza”. He noted with alarm comments from Israel’s foreign minister Yisrael Katz, in which, Borrell said, he had called “to displace people from the West Bank, doing more or less the same thing that they did with the people in Gaza”.
ButKatz said his comments had been taken out of context, stressing that he had advocated merely a temporary transfer of the Palestinian population to get them out of harm’s way.
[ Israeli military incursion into the West Bank the largest since 2002Opens in new window ]
The military operation began early on Wednesday against militant strongholds in cities and refugee camps in the northern West Bank, focusing on Jenin and Tulkarem, where armed Palestinian gunmen have been operating for years with virtual immunity. Israel blocked off access roads to Palestinian areas and even stopped and searched ambulances, suspecting they might be transporting militants. Israel said the operation was aimed at reducing the threat of attacks from militants, who, it was claimed, were funded and supplied with weapons smuggled from Iran via Jordan.
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On Friday, the military announced that Wassam Hazem, the Hamas chief in Jenin, had been killed along with two other militants suspected of involvement in attacks against Israelis. At least 19 gunmen have been killed to date.
The presence of far-right parties in prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition has fuelled speculation, not only among the Palestinians but also among the international community, over the real motives behind the Israeli West Bank assault.
[ Israeli forces claim to have killed local Hamas commander in West BankOpens in new window ]
Many of the coalition members advocate full Israeli sovereignty over the entire West Bank. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionist party, has been given responsibility for civilian affairs in the West Bank, formerly the purview of the army. He has embarked on a policy of de facto annexation, blocking Palestinian construction while encouraging Jewish settlement expansion. Public security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the other far-right coalition party, Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength), has made a number of visits to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, revered by Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif noble sanctuary, sparking fears of further igniting of religious passions.
The ideal scenario for both far-right parties would be what is euphemistically referred to as the transfer of West Bank Palestinians. Could the Gaza war and the West Bank operation provide the ideal cover for a third Nakba, or catastrophe, as the Palestinians refer to the wartime expulsions of 1948 and 1967?
Israel claims the allegations are unfounded, stressing the West Bank operation is limited in scope and will be over in a few days, blaming President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority security forces for failing to curtail the militants in areas under their jurisdiction.
[ Israeli forces kill at least 10 Palestinians in West Bank raidsOpens in new window ]
Abbas cut short a visit to Saudi Arabia after hearing about the Israeli operation and his spokesperson warned that the escalating Israeli raids in the West Bank, alongside the Gaza war, would “lead to dire and dangerous results for which everyone will pay the price”. Nabil Abu Rudeineh called for urgent international action to “curb this extremist [Israeli] government that poses a threat to the stability of the region and the entire world”.
Hamas also condemned the Israeli operation, calling it part of the “brutal genocidal war in Gaza”.
A spokeswoman for the UN human rights office said such an operation “risks seriously deepening the already catastrophic situation”.
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