- Daily Violence and Retaliation: Palestinians and Israelis Caught in Cycle
- The Deep Roots of Conflict: A Century-Long Dispute Over Land Ownership
- Tensions Escalate in Jenin: Israeli Army’s Operation in the Refugee Camp
On the pavements and roadways in the heart of Jenin, a thick layer of black ash has settled.
It originates from barricades of flaming tires erected by young Palestinian men who patrol streets where an Israeli jeep may be spotted. Some of them carry rocks or small homemade explosives to throw at Israeli vehicles passing by. In sporadic bursts, gunfire and explosions reverberate throughout the refugee settlement, which is situated on a hill overlooking the town center. Israeli drones continuously circle overhead.
Occasionally, armed Palestinians emerge from the tire fumes and open fire on Israelis.
This year, violence between Palestinians and Israelis has become almost daily. When blood is spilled, there is frequently a cycle of retaliation involving Palestinian armed groups, Jews living in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the Israeli military. The Israelis stated that they moved into the Jenin camp because more than fifty attacks had been conducted from there in recent years.
However, the origins of violence, despair, and animosity go much deeper than the most recent violent incidents.
They thrive in the toxicity created by a dispute over land ownership that began more than a century ago. In the 1990s, there was a brief period of optimism that peace would result from the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the so-called two-state solution. The effort failed.
The United States, European Union members, and the United Kingdom continue to insist that two states are the only viable solution. Their remarks are meaningless slogans. In 2014, the last American attempt to make the concept work failed.
The Israeli operation in Jenin had been in the planning stages for months. Despite regular smaller Israeli incursions, Palestinian armed groups had grown sufficiently powerful and unified to control the Jenin refugee camp. They appeared to be growing in strength.
A fortnight ago, they blew up an Israeli jeep and fought fiercely to repel an Israeli assault, during which a 15-year-old Palestinian girl was killed. The next day, two Palestinians rushed into a restaurant near Jenin where four Israelis were dining and killed them. In reprisals, the Israeli army shielded Jewish settlers who burned Palestinian towns and vehicles.
It was only a question of time before the Israeli army attacked the Palestinians who governed the Jenin refugee camp.
The organization claims it is conducting a systematic operation to locate and eliminate weapons and explosives.
Young Palestinian males are filled with rage and frustration as they congregate in angry knots at road intersections in the city and in front of a hospital on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp. Their burning tire barricades leave behind black circles, mounds of rubber, and twisted wire.
The Israeli army recovered and deactivated bombs over its two days in the camp and terrorist command headquarters. The businesslike tone of the military communiqués contrasts with the opposition to Palestinian self-determination expressed by Israeli cabinet members.
After a Palestinian was shot and killed in Tel Aviv by a bystander after he drove his vehicle into a throng of Israelis, public security minister Itamar Ben Gvir released a statement declaring that Israel’s war in Jenin was also their war in Tel Aviv. He stated that every Jew was a target for assassins.
Mr. Ben Gvir and his political associates have advocated for a punitive West Bank sweep against their adversaries.
The Israeli military is more cautious because it fears the risks and consequences of escalation more. The Israeli army appears to intend to confine its offensive to the Jenin refugee camp, declare victory, and withdraw.
After such an operation, Israeli victories never last long. Palestinian armed factions replenish their arsenals, and the cycle continues. Plans to expand Jewish settlements on occupied land that Palestinians desire for a state, which Israeli politicians sometimes refer to as a Zionist response, also increase the temperature.
Many Palestinians are disillusioned with their own geriatric and ineffective leaders in the Palestinian Authority, a legacy of the peace process of the 1990s that was intended to establish the institutions required to establish their state.
Historically, when this operation concludes, both parties will claim victory. Then, the current realities of this protracted conflict will reemerge. Anger, despair, and destitution will fuel Palestinian society’s resistance culture, especially in Jenin and Nablus. As long as it remains in power, Israel’s right-wing, hyper nationalist government will attempt to match its rhetoric with action.
The actual threat is that Israelis and Palestinians are entering a more violent phase of their protracted conflict.
