West Bank Dispatch: Paying the price of resistance

Key Developments (Nov 28 – Dec 5)

• 11 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in a single week.
• Israel escalates shoot-to-kill policy in one of the deadliest weeks for Palestinians during Israel’s ongoing military campaign.
• Several regional strikes declared across the West Bank in mourning over the slain.

In-Depth

It was a bloody week, one of the deadliest we have witnessed in the past few months. 

It didn’t happen because of one event, or a discrete massacre that can be explained away as an “unfortunate” pull of the trigger. It was merely the continuation of the same campaign we’ve seen since last February, and it’s not just targeting armed resistance groups. All of Palestinian society is under attack, as it has always been and will continue to be. This is what it means to live under settler-colonialism, for the colonizer to always be in a state of war with the colonized.

With clear shoot-to-kill orders, the death toll of Palestinian youth facing off against soldiers in armored jeeps has made a steep climb. The timing of this uptick in repression is no secret, a clear retaliation through collective punishment for the operations against Israeli targets, from the Jerusalem twin bombings of last week, when Israel’s incoming government minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for exacting a “heavy price” from “terrorists,” to the ramming operation of an Israeli soldier outside the settlement of Kochav Yaakov. 

The retribution has been brazen in its honesty. The usual “non-lethal” crowd dispersal methods have been dispensed with, and colonial soldiers are now clearly on orders to mow down any Palestinian displaying the slightest sign of resistance. It’s a decision to increase the human cost of resistance.

That cost was paid in full this week.

The bloodiest day was the first, November 29, in which five people were killed across the West Bank. At dawn, brothers Thafer and Jawwad were shot by Israeli forces passing through Kufr Ein. Mufid Ikhlayel in Beit Ummar was shot with a bullet to the head. Rani Fayez Abul Ali was gunned down outside Kochav Yaakov settlement after running over an Israeli soldier. Raed Naasan was shot in the chest in his home village of al-Mughayyir. 

The next day, Muhammad Tawfiq Badarneh was killed in Yaabad outside of Jenin during a military raid, while Isaa Hani Talaqat from Al-Naqab succumbed to wounds sustained on November 1.

The day after, December 1, the Israeli army invaded Jenin refugee camp in its ongoing hunt for armed Palestinian resistance fighters. It assassinated two members of the Jenin Brigade, Muhammad Al-Saadi and Naim Zubeidi. 

Eight Palestinians were dead in under 72 hours.

The day after the Jenin raid, the horrific execution of Ammar Mefleh from point-blank range at Huwwara was caught on video.

And just this morning, December 5, the Israeli army conducted a raid in Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem and shot and killed 22-year-old Omar Manna.

Ammar Mefleh’s execution perhaps received the most attention. In part, it was because it was an unequivocal reminder that Israeli death squads will target you even if you haven’t picked up the rifle. The deliberate delay of medical attention made it clear that the death sentence was a matter of policy, and the border police officer was simply an executioner authorized to carry it out. Ben-Gvir said as much when he praised the “hero” officer for doing his job.

The killing of the martyrs of Beit Rima, Jawad and Thafer Rimawi, was another illustration of the escalating deterrence policy. They were killed with live bullets without warning as Israeli forces were pulling out of Beit Rima and passing through the village of Kufr Ein after the conclusion of a raid. The two brothers, called “the twins” among their community, were killed a few meters from one another, as a wounded Jawwad called for help from his brother Thafer before he, too, was shot.

Despite the apparent rabidity of the killing spree, it was also guided by a deliberate and targeted strategy. Jenin, where the resurgence of armed resistance first started a year ago, remains in the crosshairs after Israel initially claimed “success” in rooting out the Lions’ Den in Nablus. But the campaign against Jenin refugee camp has so far not been as earnest as the assassination operations in Nablus’ Old City, perhaps because Jenin will prove harder to handle as a longtime haven of armed resistance. All the same, the assassination of Al-Saadi and Zubeidi shows that Israel’s “liquidation” strategy shows no signs of slowing down. Similar raids and assassination operations in Jenin are only expected to increase in frequency.

The Israeli deterrence strategy is betting that enough death and human loss will make resistance too costly for Palestinians. It is a gamble, and the resurgent resistance movement has conjured a storm in response to the Israeli attempts to “Break the Wave.” So far, 2022 has been a year of resistance without an uprising. The year that follows might make Israel pay the price of its repression.

Important figures

• 211 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in 2022 in the West Bank and Gaza.
• 159 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem alone