Could Gaza genocide continue in the occupied West Bank?
Yara Hawari, a senior analyst with Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, says while the Gaza ceasefire is a positive step the danger to the occupied West Bank from an Israeli invasion continues to rise.
“It’s brought about a huge amount of relief that the bombardment will stop, but I think crucially the ceasefire does not mean an end to the occupation neither in Gaza or the West Bank,” she told Al Jazeera.
“So people are under no illusion that this means an end to Israeli control over their lives. I think people are pessimistic as to whether the ceasefire will actually hold because they know the Israeli regime is already trying to sabotage it.”
Hawari noted the situation in the occupied West Bank “remains as precarious as ever”.
“We saw a year of genocide in Gaza go unchecked so the big question is could they do the same in the West Bank? I’m afraid without accountability measures the answer is yes.”
Israeli military warns of "significant operations" in the occupied West Bank
The Israeli military chief on Monday warned of the possibility of “significant operations” in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“Alongside the intensified defensive preparations in the Gaza Strip, we must be ready for significant operations in Judea and Samaria in the coming days – to preempt and capture terrorists before they reach our civilians,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of the general staff, said in a statement, using the biblical term by which some Israelis refer to the West Bank.
“Those who engage in terror, like in Gaza, will be dealt with as in Gaza,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said during a visit to the West Bank earlier this month.
In the shadow of the war in Gaza, Israeli security forces have been engaged in intense conflict with militants in the West Bank for more than a year, including in the Jenin refugee camp – deploying tactics, such as airstrikes, that were once nearly unheard of there.
More than 500 Palestinian civilians were killed in the West Bank in 2024, according to the UN. Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces and Jewish settlers have killed at least 169 children in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the UN said.
Meanwhile, 2024 was the third-deadliest year for Israelis in the West Bank since data collection began in 2008, according to the UN, which recorded the deaths of 34 Israelis – 15 soldiers and 19 civilians. Of those civilians, seven were settlers.
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