Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
On January 21, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s latest operation was aimed at “eradicating terrorism” and that it would be “extensive and significant.” The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has launched “Iron Wall”, a large-scale military raid in Jenin that has killed 12 Palestinians and injured 40 others.
Jenin is in the West Bank, which came under Israeli occupation in 1967. In 2017, Jenin had a population of about 50,000 people, while the Jenin refugee camp had a population of about 10,000, housing Palestinians who were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestine War.
Jenin has been severely damaged during the Israeli war on Gaza. By June 2024 repeated bombing attacks and incursions with bulldozers by IDF had destroyed every street and left every public square a pile of rubble. The governor of Jenin said, “The Israelis are besieging the hospitals and cutting off the city from the refugee camp, which has become a military zone with no access…neither the civil defense, nor the ambulances, nor the journalists can go and see what is happening there.”
On January 22, as some of the IDF withdrew from Gaza, the Israeli military said it was carrying out an operation in Jenin. The city has for decades been a center for armed resistance, and a target of raids by the IDF. A spokeswoman for the IDF said that 10 militants had been “hit” during the operation in Jenin. Earlier, Israel said that it had killed eight militants since the start of the raid.
Recently, the IDF has burned Palestinian homes, used heavy machinery to demolish more homes, arrested dozens of Palestinians, and transferred them to interrogation centers, known for human rights abuses.
Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, Hamas has been attracting the young men in Jenin, who view armed resistance to occupation as the only way to confront Israel, which is never held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Other West Bank cities were also targeted in raids, with at least 25 Palestinians across the West Bank arrested since January 21.
Since October 7, 2023, the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank has been losing support to factions like Hamas that favor armed struggle and are actively fighting Israel, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
The PA is the governing body in some areas of the occupied West Bank. In December, its security forces began cracking down on militants in and around Jenin, where the authority has lost control.
In the Occupied West Bank, it is the IDF that controls security, with the PA handling some local matters, including trash collection, education, hospitals, and schools and has its police who coordinate with their Israeli counterparts but have limited authority.
While the IDF raids are carried out, deadly attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank have escalated. Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are both extremist settlers and have emboldened the illegal settlers with a cloak of official sanctioning of brutality. Following the Gaza ceasefire, settlers have been attacking Palestinian villages and stoning vehicles, injuring several Palestinians. Houses and cars have been set on fire.
Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said in a speech on January 21, that the IDF had killed 794 militants in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began. “In most cases, we thwarted the threat in advance before the terrorists could reach Israeli citizens,” he said.
Iran is operating a clandestine smuggling route across the Middle East to deliver weapons to Palestinians in the West Bank.
Gaza Ceasefire
The Israeli-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza is in stage one, and four more Israeli female hostages were released on Saturday. The longest-serving Palestinian prisoner released on Saturday, in the prisoners swap between Israel and Hamas, was Raed Al-Saadi, a 49-year-old from Jenin who was detained on August 28, 1989. He was sentenced to two life sentences in prison for carrying out attacks during the First Intifada.
According to Addameer, a Palestinian prisoners’ rights group, 7,000 Palestinians were detained by Israel as of July, 458 of whom were serving life sentences.
Ethnic cleansing
Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), has accused Israel of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” in the Jenin refugee camp.
On Friday, Barghouti said, “The occupation is committing a dangerous ethnic cleansing operation in Jenin, forcing civilians and families to leave their homes on foot after subjecting them to humiliating repression and searches.”
This “is a reflection of the statements by the occupation army’s Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi stating that their repressive goals and practices are similar between Gaza and the West Bank, as the latter is being subjected to a campaign of collective punishment that includes checkpoints, arrests, and abuse,” Barghouthi said.
Barghouthi called on the international community and human rights groups to confront the genocide committed by the Israeli occupation state against the Palestinians.
The UN report
The UN issued a report concerning the use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin. The deadly Israeli operations recently have raised serious concerns about unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, including methods and means developed for warfighting, in violation of international human rights law, norms, and standards applicable to law enforcement operations.
The UN cites violations including multiple airstrikes and random shooting at unarmed residents attempting to flee or find safety, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
Israel, as the occupying power, has the responsibility to protect the population in the territory it occupies. The UN has verified that at least 12 Palestinians have been killed and 40 injured by Israeli security forces since January 21, most of them unarmed. Among the wounded were a doctor and two nurses.
According to the UN, by Israel’s persistent failure to hold accountable members of the IDF responsible for unlawful killings, Israel is violating its obligations under international law, and encouraging the continuing of such killings.
Over 3,000 families have been displaced after weeks of violence by both Israeli and Palestinian security forces in Jenin.
The UN report cited repeated comments from Israeli officials about plans to expand settlements, in breach of international law. The transfer of Israeli Jews into the Occupied Territories is a war crime.
The Trump effect on Palestinians
Analysts assumed President Donald Trump forced Netanyahu to make the ceasefire deal just days before Trump took office for the second time. President Joe Biden had a promise from Netanyahu in July 2024 for the ceasefire, but Netanyahu reneged on the promise, leaving Biden to drop his candidacy for a second term.
Liberal Zionists, who want to see the creation of a Palestinian state, are wondering if Trump can bring peace to the Middle East, and get Saudi Arabia to sign a normalization agreement with Israel.
Trump said the ceasefire “better hold.” Trump promised an end to “all wars” in his inaugural address, and has a reputation as a dealmaker, brokering normalization agreements between Israel and four Arab countries. Trump wants an Israel-Saudi Arabia treaty.
Saudi officials are demanding progress toward a Palestinian state as part of the deal. Netanyahu’s office sent out the following official statement: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acted, and is acting, against the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger the security of Israel.”
The Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies found that fully three-quarters of Israeli Jews support a deal that entails Saudi normalization, regional partnership to oppose Iran, and “a pathway to separation from the Palestinians.”
The 23-state solution is being discussed, and entails regional integration with the Arab states surrounding Israel, with the result of a Palestinian state.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist.
Copyright are for Steven Sahiounie.
