Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday, Aug 28, conducted a series of deadly raids in the West Bank, killing at least 18 Palestinians in the largest assault on the occupied territory in over two decades. Israeli raids on the cities of Jenin, Nablus, Tubas, and Tulkarem began early Wednesday. Al Jazeera reported that it was the largest Israeli incursion into the West Bank since 2002.
In coordinated raids on four cities in the northern West Bank, occupation forces employed hundreds of ground troops as well as fighter aircraft, drones, and bulldozers. Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, indicated that this was a planned escalation, saying the military was operating in “full force.” He called for evacuations in the West Bank, as in Gaza, and “whatever steps are required,” explaining that “this is a war for everything, and we must win it.”
The Communist Party of Israel (CPI) and Hadash issued a common communique who said “The occupation’s attacks in the West Bank is a continuation of the campaign of destruction in Gaza.” They called for occupation forces to cease military operations in the West Bank.
Palestine Red Crescent crews have transported 12 Palestinians killed and 22 injured due to the Israeli occupation’s raids in the occupied West Bank, Aug 28, 2024 (Photo: Palestine Red Crescent)
According to Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, “The assault by the occupation forces on the West Bank has nothing to do with the security of Israel. It is just another layer in the total war that the Israeli government has been waging against the entire Palestinian people to annex their land and expel them from their homeland. Stop the war! End the occupation!”
MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash) called it the “Gazafication of all Palestinian land” and part of a plan to “ethnically cleanse the West Bank.” “What is happening now in the northern West-Bank is the Gazafication of all Palestinian land. The Israeli army is attacking with massive troops, including airplanes, and is about to invade a central hospital in Jenin. Early this morning Israel’s Foreign Minister tweeted about the need to displace Palestinians from areas in the West Bank. Now reports are arriving of such evacuation orders given to Palestinians communities in refugee camps in the region, while full-scale destruction and the cutting of water supply is already underway. The Israeli media, meanwhile, is barely reporting on the offensive. This is not ‘counterterrorism’ but the perfect storm for the execution of the Minister Betzalel Smotrich and the settler’s plan to ethnically cleanse the West Bank. The international community must intervene now!” she said.
In the West Bank, where nightly raids have become commonplace, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 646 people over the last 11 months, including 148 children, according to Palestinian health officials. In its condemnation of Israeli aggression in the West Bank, the U.N. Human Rights Office wrote that the situation “could worsen dramatically if [Israeli occupation forces] continue to systematically use unlawful lethal force and ignore violence perpetrated by settlers.” The agency warned of “extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings and destruction of Palestinian homes and infrastructure,” and said that the settler violence was made possible by political support from Israel’s leadership.
“The U.N. Human Rights Office has reported for years on settlers attacking Palestinian communities in their land in the West Bank with impunity,” the statement says. “This longstanding trend has dramatically escalated since October 7, as the settler movement, with political backing at the highest levels of Israeli government, has seized the opportunity to escalate attacks against Palestinians, forcing them to leave their lands, and expand settlements and Israel’s control over the West Bank.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls on Israel |to comply with its relevant obligations under international humanitarian law and to take measures to protect civilians and ensure their safety.” He urges “security forces to exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when it is strictly unavoidable to protect life.” “These dangerous developments are fueling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank and further undermining the Palestinian Authority. Ultimately, only an end to the occupation and a return to a meaningful political process that will establish a two-state solution will bring an end to the violence.”
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32055
