After failing to dismantle Hamas, destroy Hezbollah, topple the Iranian government, or redraw the Middle East, Netanyahu and his allies have only one thing left to show for their time in power: the de facto annexation of the West Bank.
Gaza is paying the price for the failed U.S.-Israeli wars across the Middle East. As the countries have become mired in Lebanon and Iran, Gaza has faded into the background, and Palestinians’ hopes of ending the genocide have faded as well.
As Israeli settler attacks on water sources multiply across the West Bank, Palestinian communities that have farmed the land for generations are being forced out. “If this continues, we will barely be allowed to drink,” a resident tells Mondoweiss.
Morning radio shows in Palestine have a talent for making it sound like a free country, all while reporting on which checkpoints are closed and how many people were killed in Gaza today.
Israeli settler violence since October 2023 has systematically rendered farmland inaccessible across the West Bank. The state-backed policy is destroying harvests, driving up the price of produce, and dismantling an entire way of life.
Municipal elections were the last democratic outlet Palestinians had. This year, barely anyone is running, as two years of genocide and Israeli crackdown have hollowed out Palestinian political life.
While the world is focused on Iran, Israel is signaling plans to restart the genocide in Gaza.
Israel is approving the construction of new West Bank settlements at an unprecedented rate because it knows its window of impunity is closing — especially if Iran emerges intact from the war and the Republicans lose the U.S. midterms.
Netanyahu may have been “coerced” by Trump into a ceasefire with Lebanon, but this won’t stop Israel from following a well-worn playbook: exploit sectarian divisions to weaken or disarm resistance while entrenching Israeli expansionism.
After Israel revoked the work permits of over 200,000 Palestinian laborers following October 7, West Bank families are burning through savings, skipping meals, and losing hope for any kind of future.