Israel is carrying out large-scale military attacks in parts of the occupied West Bank, where the decades-long conflict with the Palestinians had already escalated before the outbreak of the Gaza war.
Israel says the operation, which appears to be the largest since the war began, is aimed at preventing attacks on its citizens. Palestinians view such attacks as part of an attempt to consolidate Israeli control over the territory, where 3 million Palestinians live under military rule.
Violence has increased in recent years, especially since the October 7 Hamas attack from Gaza sparked the war there. The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 650 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank since then, the highest casualty toll since a Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s.
Most of the dead appear to be militants killed in Israeli attacks that often turned into gun battles, but innocent civilians and stone-throwing protesters are also among them. Some have been killed in a parallel wave of settler violence, and the number of Palestinian attacks on Israelis has also increased.
What is the aim of the latest operation?
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers took part in simultaneous attacks across the northern West Bank late Tuesday, focusing on the urban Jenin refugee camp, a major insurgent stronghold in recent years, as well as camps in Tulkarem and the Al-Faraa refugee camp in the Jordan Valley.
Armored vehicles blocked entrances and exits, bulldozers cleared roads and built sand banks, and foot soldiers exchanged fire with insurgents. In Jenin, Israel said its forces had surrounded hospitals to prevent fighters from seeking shelter there. The army launched at least two airstrikes in the West Bank, a tactic that was rarely used in the area until a few years ago.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said a total of 16 people were killed. It did not say whether they were fighters or civilians. Israel said all of those killed were militants, and Hamas claimed 10 of those killed were fighters.
Among the dead was a prominent local militant, Mohammed Jaber, known as Abu Shujaa, who was believed to have survived previous assassination attempts. The military said its forces killed him along with four other militants in a firefight after they hid in a mosque.
The army said operations in Al-Faraa had been completed but were continuing in Jenin.
Similar attacks, carried out almost daily, have killed hundreds of militants over the years, including senior commanders who appear to have been quickly replaced. The violence has only gotten worse.
The Israelis have long referred to such operations in both the West Bank and Gaza as “mowing the lawn,” and are aware that any security gains will be short-lived.
“When you see something growing, you have to contain it. But that means you’ll be back there in two months,” said Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli army intelligence officer who now works as a Palestinian affairs analyst at Tel Aviv University. “Without a political plan or a strategic move … we’ll be back there.”
What is the connection between the violence in the West Bank and the war in Gaza?
In the 1967 Middle East war, Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians want these territories for a future state and view them as parts of a single country under military occupation.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem in a move not internationally recognized and considers the entire city its capital. It withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but imposed a joint blockade of the territory with Egypt after Hamas seized power in 2007.
In the West Bank, Israel has built well over 100 settlements, home to more than 500,000 Jewish settlers who hold Israeli citizenship. The three million Palestinians in the territory live under seemingly unlimited military rule, while the Western-backed Palestinian Authority exercises limited control over towns and cities. Major human rights groups accuse Israel of the international crime of apartheid, charges that Israel rejects as an attack on its legitimacy.
The Israeli government refers to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, and considers it the historic heartland of the Jewish people. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes a Palestinian state and has announced that he will annex the West Bank at some point.
Hamas, which is active throughout the Palestinian territories, justified its October 7 attack by citing Israel’s actions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The militant group has repeatedly called on Palestinians to rise up against Israeli rule.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recognizes Israel and supports a two-state solution to the conflict, but he is deeply unpopular with Palestinians and has been largely sidelined during the war. His security forces cooperate with the Israeli military but rarely take action against Palestinian militants.
What are refugee camps and why are they militant strongholds?
The Israeli attacks focused on refugee camps dating back to the war that led to the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.
About 700,000 Palestinians – a large part of the pre-war population – fled the territory of present-day Israel during this conflict or were expelled and not allowed to return. This exodus is referred to by Palestinians as the “Nakba” or “catastrophe”.
Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East resemble dense urban slums, housing millions of refugees and their descendants. Their desperation has spawned generations of militants waging an armed struggle to liberate what they see as their homeland. Israel views them as terrorists backed by its enemies in the region – today Iran.
Palestinians believe they have the right to return to their pre-1948 homeland. Israel opposes this because if the idea is fully implemented, it could lead to a Palestinian majority living within its borders. The fate of the refugees has been one of the most sensitive issues during the nearly two decades of US-backed peace talks, which last failed over 15 years ago.
The war in Gaza has displaced well over twice as many people as the Nakba, but most have remained in the besieged area. Israeli officials have spoken of using some of the same tactics in the West Bank that they used in Gaza, raising fears among Palestinians of another mass displacement.
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Eleanor Reich in New York contributed to this report.
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