The Israeli army announced the elimination of 12 Palestinian fighters and 10 captured. The IDF launched a large-scale operation in the West Bank, which comes as Israeli settlers intensify attacks on the Palestinian population in the area.
On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the launch of its largest offensive in the occupied West Bank in a year, carrying out airstrikes and airstrikes in densely populated civilian areas, including in Jenin, Tulkarma, Tubas and Nablus, which have so far resulted in the deaths of at least 15 people.
According to the Israeli army, the aim of the operation is to defeat the growing strength of Palestinian terrorist groups in these areas, mainly Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and to prevent planned attacks against Israel.
Israel has signaled that its operation is just beginning. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Israel to immediately end the operation, saying he was “deeply concerned” by the development.
Palestinian media reports that this is the largest operation by Israeli troops in the West Bank since the end of the Second Intifada in 2005 – the Palestinian uprising against Israel. More than 3,000 people have died there. Palestinians and about a thousand Israelis.
Since the start of open war with Hamas in October 2023, 600 Palestinians and several dozen Israelis have been killed in the West Bank.
While the world is focused on the events in Gaza, the tragedy of the Palestinians in the enclave is compounded by another tragedy in the form of the IDF operation in the disputed territory of the West Bank.
Areas located between Israel and Jordan are illegally inhabited, according to international law 700,000 settlers spread across 146 settlementsmany of which were built in Palestinian villages or on private Palestinian land, much of it in the West Bank approximately 3.3 million.
The occupation of these areas by Israeli citizens began 57 years ago, after the so-called Six-Day War. Jews believe they have a biblical right to settle on these lands, but in July the International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest body, issued an unprecedented advisory opinion declaring Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal and calling on Israel to end its decades-long occupation.
To no avail. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies are largely based on cultivating radical, anti-Palestinian sentiments, and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank has become one of the government’s priorities.
The West Bank areas are considered by the Palestinians themselves as potential future territory for a Palestinian state. Israeli claims in this area constitute one of the most serious obstacles to peace in the region. The IDF offensive in this area will certainly not help to calm the situation. In addition, the actions of regular troops coincide with the intensification of settler attacks on the Palestinian population.
In early August alone, more than 70 armed settlers entered the town of Jit, shooting Palestinian residents, using tear gas and setting fire to homes and cars. The attacks were condemned by senior Israeli officials, but far-right members of Netanyahu’s government and settlement leaders remained indifferent to the violence.
