by Helen Christopher 

The far-right Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu is facing increasing problems as it continues to pursue its genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza. Not only has it doubled down on this murderous war, it has escalated violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. It is trying to widen the conflict to a regional war by forcing Iran and Hezbollah to respond to its attacks and assassinations. Netanyahu has demonstrated that he is not interested in a ceasefire. If in any doubt about Netanyahu’s position on a ceasefire then read his words from his press conference on 2^nd September, held during the protests in Israel against his failure to get hostages released. He said that the war would only end “when Hamas no longer rules Gaza”. He went on, “when [Hamas] understands we’re not ending the war, they’ll give in.” Not the words of someone who has any intention of entering into negotiations in good faith to achieve a ceasefire

In pursuing all-out war Israel is continuing to lose international support and is engendering growing opposition at home. Notwithstanding the increased pressures however, the Israeli government is committed to the genocide of the Palestinian people and is trying to achieve this as quickly as it can lest it is forced to call a halt at some point.

CEASEFIRE AND HOSTAGE DEAL BLOCKED

Recent negotiations have been around a United States proposed ceasefire deal. First mooted back in May and agreed by the UN Security Council in June, it was accepted by Hamas with a framework agreed in July. Israel had originally accepted the deal as a basis for negotiations as well, but has gone back on this agreement by adding requirements which it knows will be unacceptable to Hamas. In particular it has stated that it wants to keep its troops occupying the Netzarim corridor, preventing free movement between north and south Gaza, and the Philadelphi corridor, Gaza’s border with Egypt. This is the only border Gaza has which is not with Israel. Such a continued armed occupation would be incompatible with a ceasefire and was not part of the original deal, which included the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Israel also introduced a new requirement that in any hostage/prisoner swap, Palestinian prisoners would only be released into exile and not be allowed to return to the West Bank or Gaza. In further negotiations the US has accommodated Israeli demands, but this revised deal has been rejected by Hamas.

As the negotiations drag on so the death toll in Gaza continues to mount, including the deaths of hostages. This latter fact has inflamed public opinion in Israel, where there was already growing dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s lack of commitment to getting the hostages released. At the beginning of September there were massive protests against the government. The trade union centre, the Histadrut, called a general strike, which was outlawed by the courts. Though the protests were huge, Netanyahu still commands a lot of support in Israel, which is deeply divided.

In addition, Israel has launched military attacks against Iran and Hezbollah, which are serious and impossible for them to ignore. Israel has a long history of disregarding its neighbours’ sovereignty and occupying their territory. During this war against the Palestinians there have been further military attacks and assassinations. On 25th August Israel rained rockets down on Lebanon in what it described as a pre-emptive strike aimed at Hezbollah targets– in other words an unprovoked attack on a neighbouring state. Hezbollah responded with rockets and drones aimed at Israeli military targets. Israel has been supported militarily in this by the US which has maintained the presence of two naval carrier strike groups in the area, designed to give cover to Israeli aggression and deter Hezbollah or Iran from responding. The potential for drawing the United States directly into the conflict is evident and has in part conditioned Iran and Hezbollah’s response as they have no interest in a wider regional war.

Hezbollah also described its action as retaliation for the assassination of one of its senior commanders, Fuad Shukr, in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut in July. The following day Israel also assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader, in Teheran. These criminal acts are designed to draw Iran and Hezbollah into military conflict with Israel and to attempt to pull Israel’s allies into the war. With Israel trying to engineer a breakdown in ceasefire negotiations, it may only be a matter of time before that happens. Iran has made its response to Israeli aggression conditional on achieving a ceasefire, so any collapse could lead to it taking action.

WEST BANK  

While Israel continues to lay waste to Gaza it has also escalated its genocidal campaign in the West Bank through the extension of settlements, state sponsored settler violence and incursion by the Israeli Defence Force.

The Israeli settler movement aims to drive Palestinians from their homes and homelands in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in defiance of international law. In July the UN’s top court ordered Israel to stop any further settlement and evacuate settlers from Palestinian land. In the last 50 years Israel has expanded its occupation of Palestinian territories through these settlements. There are now half a million settlers in the West Bank and 200,000 in East Jerusalem. Since Israel’s war in Gaza began, there has been a sharp rise in settler violence. The director of Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security agency, recently asked for more resources to combat what he described as the danger of “Jewish terror”. Yet it is the Israeli government that is supporting and arming the settlers. In June the government announced plans for new settlements and legalised planning for “outposts” on the West Bank in what has been described as the largest theft of land from Palestinians since the Oslo Accords of 1993.

In a PR gesture to try to placate a horrified world, the US government and others have sanctioned a handful of the settlers. But Israeli government ministers have taken action to help individuals avoid these sanctions. Although banks initially froze the settlers accounts, the Israeli finance minister intervened and within a couple of months they were again granted access to their cash. Whilst foreign banks have been punished by the US for doing business with Cuba, the Israeli banks involved have suffered no consequences.

Over 600 Palestinians have been killed on the West Bank since October 7^th.  At the end of August, the Israeli Defence Force invaded the West Bank occupying Jenin and other refugee camps. Thirty-six Palestinians were killed, including children, and hospitals were attacked.

ISOLATE ISRAEL  

While the overwhelming majority of world opinion and decisions by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice have condemned Israel and its leaders, the US and the west do little to curb them. There have been some welcome measures by the new Labour government in the UK, but they do not go far enough. The UK, the US and other western countries which still support Israel need to pull the plug on arms supplies and political protection. That will be the decisive way to stop Israel and save the Palestinians.

 

 

Graffiti in refugee camp in Nablus. photo by almonroth