In the eyes of the world, there are two types of violence against Palestinians. Genocide continues in Gaza, where Israelis are trying to wipe families, communities, lives and livelihoods off the face of the earth. The other is the ongoing violence against Palestinians since the Nakba in 1948. The world does not pay much attention to the later, nor is there much discussion.
However intense, the violence in the West Bank is of the later kind. In recent weeks we have seen an increase in Israeli violence in the region. Politicians seem to assume that attacking the West Bank is justified under the pretext of the Gaza war. But look at the West Bank. There, the totalitarian government is detaining Palestinians without trial. Torturing the prisoners. Economic freedom has been taken away from the Palestinians to enable the occupiers. Palestinians do not even have freedom of movement.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israelis killed 221 Palestinians in the West Bank in the seven weeks following October 7. Not so many people were killed in the whole year 2022.
Among the dead were eight-year-old Adam al-Ghaul and 15-year-old Bassel Abu al-Wafa from the Jenin refugee camp. Another 2 thousand 955 people were injured in the ongoing attack.
Attacks and raids are frequent everywhere, including Palestinian refugee camps, villages, cities. Previously, the raids were carried out secretly at night, now the Israelis are entering the camp in board daylight. Teenagers are being targeted for throwing stones, or simply standing up or challenging the Israeli military. And they are using drones and snipers for this work.
Medical teams in the West Bank are also not allowed to approach the wounded for nursing care. The World Health Organization reported 229 attacks on healthcare systems from October 7 to November 28. The attacks were carried out during operations. Ambulances were not allowed to enter, healthcare workers were detained, force was used on them and military operations were conducted in healthcare facilities during this time.
The extent of the destruction shows that Israel's aim is to inflict a second Nakba not only on Gaza, but on the whole of Palestine. They bombed the Balata refugee camp on November 18. Then Israeli armored vehicles and bulldozers raided the narrow streets.
Such is the condition of the roads of the West Bank. Roads and emergency infrastructure were further damaged in the Israeli offensive. This is a very old strategy of the Israelis. They want to destroy everything that is needed for daily living. Israeli cut off electricity and destroyed water pipes, roads and carriages in Jenin earlier this year.
We know from previous experience what the results of these expeditions are. The result was a campaign for mass arrests. According to the Palestinian Authority, after October 7, Israel arrested 3,300 Palestinians. 80 percent of people arrested in administrative detention can be detained without trial for up to six months. This arrest is demonic.
Israeli soldiers beat the Palestinians and destroyed their property. They have been reforming after reforming their martial law. This has made it possible to detain Palestinians for as long as they like without judicial evaluation. Detainees cannot meet with a lawyer even if they want to. They even changed their anti-terror laws. They are also legally prohibited from following someone on social media.
Torture in Israeli prisons is not new. But the situation is now worse than before. Israel has now begun full-scale torture of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian prisoner are now completely cut off from the outside world. As a result, none of their statements reach us. Based on comments from recently released prisoners and lawyers, Amnesty International has warned of a number of issues. The organization says the prisoners are blindfolded and kept naked. You have to bow your head and sing Israeli songs. Six Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since October 7. This treatment of Palestinian prisoners is called collective punishment.
Although several Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for hostages, Israel arrested many more during this period. According the Palestinian Prisoners Club, 169 children and 71 women were released. And again the Israelis arrested 260 people including a 12-years old child.
Meanwhile, the Israelis fired stun grenades, bullets and tear gas shells at those who had gathered to celebrate the release of the prisoners. Yasin Al Asmar and Fadi Adran were killed and many others were injured. Israel wants to control even our emotions they have banned the release celebrations. Before the release, the houses were raided and visitors were thrown out, they threw away chocolates and threatened with a fine of 70,000 shekels.
Israelis are also running economic coercion. They reduced the taxes they paid to the Palestinian Authority. Israel is no longer allowing those who used to work in the occupied territories to work. Palestinians are unable to harvest the fruit from the olive tree due to the oppression of the occupying Israeli military forces. 80,000 to 100,00 Palestinian families depend on these olives. People do not have freedom of movement in the cities and villages of the West Bank. The squatters harassed them regularly. Attacked the car. Some places, like Huara, are completely closed to Palestinians. This city now has a ghostly look. Even if you want to cross the main road, you have to take permission from the army here.
When the violence Gaza ends and the media withdraws from the Palestinian issue, another type of violence will begin. Daily oppression will continue from with the state structure. Perhaps the level of this persecution will increase. This world will also return to its previous place. No one will notice the Israeli occupation and blockade the. That is why we Palestinians want to go back to the roots. I want to say that the root of this violence is the violence of the occupying colonial power. Our liberation lies in resistance colonial powers.
- Leith Hanbali is a health researcher working at Birzeit University in Ramallah, Palestine.
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