Key Developments (Oct 31 – Nov 7)
- Six Palestinians killed, including two teenagers, one university student
- Israel elects one of the most far-right extremist governments in its recent history
- 11 incidents of settler violence reported by Palestinian media
- At least 57 Palestinians arrested during army raids
In-Depth
In light of Israel’s claims to have “succeeded” in snuffing out the armed Palestinian resistance group based in Nablus, the Lions’ Den, the weeks-long blockade on the city has been lifted. But the return to “normalcy” in the Nablus district has not meant a return to calm in the West Bank. This week has been no less deadly than the ones that preceded it, as Israeli forces have killed 6 Palestinians. Five of them were slain within the span of 24 bloody hours between November 2 and November 3. Only two days later, a sixth Palestinian was slain.
The context of the killing spree is familiar, a combination of settler attacks on Palestinian livelihoods, the destruction of Palestinian homes, and an Israeli military crackdown on Palestinian resistance.
In the small town of Beit Duqqo northwest of Jerusalem, a 54-year-old man was shot dead in his car by the Israeli army, which claimed he was attempting a ramming attack against Israeli soldiers. The next day, when the army invaded the town again, 42-year-old Daoud Rayyan was killed with a bullet to the heart amidst clashes with the army.
In Jerusalem, 20-year-old Amer Halabiya, a student at Birzeit University, carried out a stabbing attack while being stopped and searched at the entrance of the Al-Aqsa compound, and was shot dead.
In Jenin, the Israeli army turned its attention to the resistance groups in the city’s refugee camp, invading the camp to assassinate a resistance fighter. The army killed 28-year-old Farouq Salamah, and 14-year-old Mohammad Klouf.
Not two days later, 18-year-old Musab Nofal was killed by the Israeli army in the village of Sinjil northwest of Ramallah, as he was picking olives.
What we can infer from this sequence of events is twofold — that the ongoing Israeli effort to stamp out armed Palestinian groups in the West Bank, Operation Break the Wave, is far from over; and that Palestinian resistance to colonial predation is not likely to abate for very long.
As Israeli death squads receive accolades and military honors for their exploits in ‘Break the Wave,’ Israeli colonial society as a whole continues to arm itself to the teeth. One of the most rightwing governments in Israeli history — a high bar, indeed — was elected into office, while settlers in the West Bank, the social vanguard of the Zionist project, continue to attack and harass Palestinian farmers at the height of the olive harvest season.
All this means is that Palestinian resistance will not be so easily set aside. Israel has assassinated resistance members, but has failed to eliminate resistance.
As Mondoweiss’ Yuma Patel and Mariam Barghouti poignantly state in their feature last week detailing the full story of the Lions’ Den:
While the army has snuffed out the lives of several of the Lions’ Den’s leaders and senior members, what it has so far failed to do is squash the influence that the group has wielded over Palestinians, primarily young people, across the West Bank who have been inspired by their messages of independent resistance, unaffiliated with the political parties of yesterday.
And for Israel, that is where the group’s most dangerous aspect lies…the group’s influence has inspired more ‘lone-wolf’ operations across the West Bank that have proved destructive for Israel.
And so, Ahmad Bader Halabiya’s attempted stabbing is unlikely to be the last. A student at Birzeit University, one of Halabiya’s professors at the university eulogized him on Facebook:
“Amer was sparse in his attendance [to class], but he wrote a moving essay about his life in Jerusalem. Today he finished its last line, in a script not of ink.”
Important figures
- 198 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in 2022 (141 in the West Bank and Jerusalem, 52 in Gaza, and 4 Palestinians with Israeli citizenship). 49 of the slain were from Jenin refugee camp, 21 of whom were resistance fighters.
Mondoweiss highlights
- The story of the Lions’ Den, Yumna Patel and Mariam Barghouti
