In Gaza and Lebanon, Israel is projecting its force while burrowing itself deeper into a quagmire. While it may achieve brief operational successes, it fails to extinguish the spirit of the resistance or coerce it into submission.
The UN has said that Israel is now using “war-like tactics” against Palestinians in the northern West Bank. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has reiterated his insistence on maintaining an Israeli military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor.
The current operation in the West Bank is meant to test the boundaries of what Israel will be allowed to get away with. It is setting the stage for the forced ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.
As the Israeli assault on the northern West Bank enters its sixth day, Palestinians launched two attacks on Israelis in Hebron to the south. Meanwhile, the death of six Israeli captives in Gaza caused widespread anti-Netanyahu protests in Tel Aviv.
Israel’s old policy of containing armed resistance in the West Bank is over. Palestinians are now wondering whether the war on Gaza has expanded to the West Bank.
The Israeli army’s large-scale assault on the northern West Bank has entered its second day. During a battle in Nur Shams refugee camp, the Israeli army killed wanted resistance fighter Muhammad Jaber “Abu Shuja’,” leader of the Tulkarem Brigade.
The Israeli army claims that its operation in the northern West Bank cities of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas is the largest since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.
In a testimony obtained by Mondoweiss, a resident of Shuja’iyya recounts his motivations for wanting to join Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades to fight against the Israeli army.
Israel has committed a new massacre in Nuseirat as it launches a new invasion of Gaza City. Meanwhile, Hamas says it has recruited thousands of new resistance fighters.
The West Bank remains unusually calm as Israel carries out its genocide in Gaza. But while Israeli repression has dissuaded an uprising in the streets, the tectonic plates underneath continue to shift.