by Dr Ramzy Baroud, Middle East Monitor, August 19 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240819-prolonging-the-genocide-is-a-smokescreen-for-israels-other-war-in-the-west-bank/ . . . In the first three months of 2024, Israel declared nearly 6,000 acres of the West Bank to be “state-owned land”, and therefore made it eligible for settlement construction. The decision was described by the Israeli watchdog Peace Now as the “largest West Bank land grab in 30 years.”
The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is already under way. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, in the first half of 2024 alone, at least 1,000 Palestinians were forcefully displaced while nearly 160,000 were affected by home demolitions. The Israeli war on the West Bank has come at a high price in Palestinian blood. As of 12 August, at least 632 Palestinians had been killed with 5,400 wounded in the West Bank alone, according to the Ministry of Health. When the war on Gaza is over, the war on the West Bank will grow more intense and bloodier, but with the clear strategic goal of annexing the whole territory, even though the International Court of Justice resolved on 19 July that Israel’s “annexation and… assertion of permanent control” in the West Bank is illegal. To avoid an even greater war and genocide than that which is taking place before our eyes in Gaza, the international community must use all available means to enforce international law and bring to an end Israel’s brutal, genocidal occupation of Palestine. # # # Israeli air raids, settler attacks increasing in the occupied West Bank Al Jazeera, August 27 4 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9mW9NJbHEQ Israeli military launches large-scale operation in occupied West Bank Al Jazeera, August 27 2.5 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7QzYhCsskw Jewish settlers are carrying out pogroms against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank with increasing support from the Israeli government The Cradle, News Desk August 23, 2024 https://thecradle.co/articles/jewish-terrorism-endangers-israels-existence-intelligence-chief . . . Jewish settlers have organized multiple pogroms targeting Palestinians in the West Bank this year to drive them from their villages and farmland. On 15 August, more than 70 armed Jewish settlers invaded the Palestinian town of Jit in the occupied West Bank, firing bullets and tear gas at residents and setting several homes and cars and other property on fire. . . . The Shin Bet [Israel's FBI, dg] head (Ronan Bar) notes the “perpetrators of Jewish terror” have lost all fear of administrative detention “due to the conditions they get in prison and the funds they receive after their release from Knesset members as well as legitimacy and praise, alongside a delegitimization campaign against the defense officials.” Ronan Bar says the character of Jewish terrorist acts has changed “from focused covert activity to broad, open activity ... Sometimes using weapons that were distributed by the state lawfully. From evading the security forces, to attacking the security forces. From cutting themselves off from the establishment to receiving legitimacy from certain officials in the establishment.” Prominent Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who controls the Israeli police, has distributed weapons to Jewish settlers in the West Bank to promote attacks on Palestinians. Ben Gvir has stated he wishes to ethnically cleanse both Gaza and the West Bank of their indigenous Palestinian inhabitants to clear the way for Jewish settlement in their place. . . . Israeli forces launch wide-scale aggression on West Bank by Al Mayadeen English, August 27 https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-forces-launch-wide-scale-aggression-on-west-bank Israeli occupation forces launched an aggression, that is expected to be the largest in 22 years, on several governorates in the occupied West Bank late on Tuesday night. . . . Israeli government to finance al-Aqsa storming by Al Mayadeen English, August 27 https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-government-to-finance-al-aqsa-storming-in-first The Israeli government has committed to financing the storming of the al-Aqsa Mosque by illegal Israeli settlers, according to Israeli media reports on Monday, marking an inflammatory first for the Israeli regime. . . . The inflammatory nature of the plan is exacerbated because it contradicts Netanyahu's repeated claims of preserving the status quo at al-Aqsa Mosque. ... . . . It is noteworthy that in early July, Ben-Gvir declared during a speech at the so-called "Jerusalem Day Flag March," Israeli "sovereignty" over the al-Aqsa Mosque. "Temple Mount is ours, Damascus Gate is ours, let the whole world know that," he said, adding, "Today, according to my policy, Jews entered the Old City freely. And on the Temple Mount Jews prayed freely. We say in the simplest way, it’s ours." Ben-Gvir has included changes to the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque in his ministry's formal action plans. His plan aims to alter the status quo at the Mosque by taking control of the site and allowing access to Israeli settlers. # # # -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#31862): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/31862 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/108137134/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
