The Israeli campaign to quash armed resistance in the West Bank continues to intensify. However, a new generation of fighters says they will continue to resist due to the reality of living under occupation.
Events in Jerusalem over the past few days show that Ben Gvir’s declared war on East Jerusalem has already begun, as Israeli authorities crack down on Palestinians across the city.
In 2021, Harun Abu Aram was shot in his neck at point blank range by Israeli soldiers when he was trying to prevent the confiscation of a communal generator. He was left paralyzed from the neck down.
After a car-ramming operation in Jerusalem, Itamar Ben-Gvir is calling for the re-invasion of the West Bank, while Israel’s usual policy of collective punishment and retribution continues.
Hamza Ashqar, 16, reportedly threw a piece of metal towards the army vehicles almost 100 feet away, when an Israeli soldier fired two fatal shots at him from inside one of the vehicles.
As the death toll from a devastating earthquake in Syria and Turkey continues to climb, dozens of the dead have been identified as Palestinian, and thousands of refugees have been newly displaced.
In the aftermath of the Jenin raid and the shooting operations in Jerusalem, Israeli government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have called for swift and sweeping policies of retribution across the occupied Palestinian territory – promising increased punitive home demolitions and other measures meant to target the families of Palestinians who carry out attacks against Israelis.
But despite the government’s moves towards more collective punishment, the tension on the ground continues to swell, and shows no signs of stopping.
The past three days have been some of the deadliest recorded in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem in years. Here is a full breakdown of what has transpired.
Israeli forces launched a brutal assault on Jenin refugee camp that killed 9 Palestinians and a tenth later in the day during clashes in al-Ram, making it the deadliest day of 2023, and one of the single deadliest raids in the West Bank in years.
Two Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces in separate events in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israeli forces shot and killed 20-year-old Aref Lahlouh was shot and killed near the city of Qalqilya in the West Bank, claiming that he attempted to stab soldiers. 17-year-old Mohammad Ali was killed during confrontations in the Shu’fat refugee camp.
It was a typical Friday afternoon when Ibrahim Kharoubi led a popular local hiking group on a trip from Ramallah to the outskirts of Jericho. However, midway through the hike they saw a group of hooded figures coming down from the hilltop in front of them.
As the group got closer, the hikers could make out the wooden clubs in their hands and M16’s strapped around them. It was in that moment when it dawned on them that they were in real danger.