Taybeh, a small West Bank village known for its Christian heritage, is far from Gaza. But in the two years since October 7, life has changed dramatically as the genocide and Israeli occupation have affected all Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority is criticized for aiding the Israeli occupation, and yet Israeli leaders are threatening to shut it down. This is because even its basic efforts to be recognized as a state challenge Israel’s colonial project.
As countries around the world recognize a Palestinian state, Israel is doing everything it can to prevent the possibility of any future state. One way it plans on doing that is through financial strangulation.
Netanyahu officially approved a settlement plan last week and announced his intentions to greenlight other settlements just like it. Together, these plans would end the West Bank as a geographic and political entity.
In the aftermath of a Palestinian shooting attack that killed six Israelis, Israeli analysts and security officials warn of an “explosion” in the West Bank. Meanwhile, Palestinians are bracing for the ensuing collective punishment by Israel.
Israel uprooted 10,000 olive trees in al-Mughayyir during a three-day siege of the West Bank Palestinian village. The Israeli army stated that uprooting the trees was intended to “deter” village residents and make them “pay a heavy price.”
Israel is reviving a settlement plan that would annex a strategic tract of land east of Jerusalem and effectively split the West Bank in two, “burying” the possibility of any future Palestinian state in the territory.
The Knesset’s motion supporting the annexation of the West Bank signals Israel’s intention of formalizing what it has already been doing at an accelerated pace since October 7 — establishing total Israeli control over Palestinian land.
Palestinians in the West Bank are facing an unprecedented crisis in accessing enough water. But drying water resources isn’t the problem — it’s the fact that Israel extracts and controls all of the water from under their feet.
Israeli settlers have been targeting villages on the eastern slopes of Ramallah for months, with the latest attacks turning deadly. Villagers say it’s all part of Israel’s plans to drive Palestinians out of the area and pave the way for annexation.