Israeli aggression on West Bank further intensifies amid war on Gaza
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Some observers believe the crackdown may increase the willingness of Palestinians to join the resistance movement.
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Israeli occupation forces stormed the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus in the West Bank on November 19, 2023. (AFP)
The Israeli occupation has attempted to mask its deadly raids into the West Bank as a guise for uprooting "militant activity" in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and settlers' gunfire in the West Bank and occupied al-Quds since October 7th has risen to 360.
Israeli occupation forces raided the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm, on Thursday, while Resistance fighters confronted the large-scale incursion that included heavy deployment of occupation soldiers on the outskirts of the camp.
Sources told Al Mayadeen that the Israeli raid led to serious damage to Tulkarm's public infrastructure. Reports also revealed that explosions were heard intermittently, as occupation forces prohibited emergency personnel from entering the camp.
Our sources confirmed that the occupation force detained and transferred approximately 10 Palestinians from the camp to detention centers.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that two children were martyred after being shot by Israeli occupation forces in the city of al-Bireh, northern Ramallah, raising the number of children killed by IOF on Sunday to three.
Israeli officials have called the West Bank the third front to the ongoing war, with Lebanon being the second.
Some observers, however, believe the crackdown may increase the willingness of Palestinians to join the resistance movement.
Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, a Ramallah-based think tank, expressed that the killing of civilians is "inviting more people to join" rather than dissuade them.
One former Israeli official said the level of "militancy" in the West Bank is at the highest since the second Intifada.
Hamas' popularity has also spiked in the West Bank, where many Palestinians see the Palestinian Authority as a failed governing body considering the agreements of security coordination with "Israel" to avoid violence.
Netanyahu wants 'Israel' from river to sea, Gaza war to continue
The open secret of growing tensions between Washington and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became more obvious on Thursday when Netanyahu accused the United States of "coercing Israel" into steps that would "endanger" the occupation entity.
In a press conference, the Prime Minister told reporters that "Israel" must "take control" of all "land west of the River Jordan," which would hinder the "two-state solution" concept.
"This is a necessary condition, and it conflicts with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty. What to do? I tell this truth to our American friends, and I also stopped the attempt to impose a reality on us that would harm Israel's security," he said.
US officials have been pressuring Netanyahu to move into the "low-intensity" stage of the war in order to "minimize civilian casualties" as global and public pressure grows on Washington for its support for the genocide.
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
