{"id":287451,"date":"2025-02-03T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T12:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=287451"},"modified":"2025-02-03T06:31:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T06:31:03","slug":"after-gaza-ceasefire-israel-turns-its-firepower-on-the-west-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/02\/after-gaza-ceasefire-israel-turns-its-firepower-on-the-west-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"After Gaza Ceasefire, Israel Turns Its Firepower on the West Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Bassam Assous holds the body of his granddaughter, Laila Al-Khatib, after she was killed in her home by Israeli forces, 26 Jan 2025.
(Wahaj Bani Moufleh\/Activestills)<\/p><\/div>\n

Two-year-old Laila Al-Khatib is the youngest victim of Israel’s military campaign in Jenin, while road closures suffocate the entire territory.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

28 Jan 2025 <\/em>– Bassam Assous was eating dinner at home with his family when the gunfire started. It was around 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25, and unbeknownst to them, Israeli soldiers had entered their village of Muthalath Al-Shuhada, located near Jenin in the occupied West Bank. \u201cThe windows and shutters were closed \u2014 we had no idea what was going on outside until we heard shooting very close by,\u201d Assous told +972 Magazine.<\/p>\n

Assous and his wife, Ghada, quickly moved away from the windows, while their two daughters, Shaimaa and Teema, hid in a bedroom with Teema\u2019s 2-year-old daughter, Laila.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, Assous heard his daughters screaming. \u201cI rushed to the bedroom with my wife; Shaimaa was holding Laila tightly, while Teema was screaming next to them,\u201d he recounted. \u201cI took hold of Laila, and my hands quickly became covered in blood. It was coming from her head \u2014 she had been hit with a bullet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carrying his granddaughter, bleeding and unconscious, Assous ran outside to the street only to find that it was full of Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles. \u201cMy wife screamed, \u2018Why did you kill the girl? What did she do to you?\u2019\u201d he continued. \u201cOne of the soldiers, standing some distance away, responded, \u2018Sorry.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI shouted back, \u2018Why did you shoot her?\u2019\u201d Assous went on. \u201cThe soldiers pointed their weapons at me and told me not to come closer. My wife kept screaming, and one of the soldiers pointed to a spot 100 meters away and told her, \u2018Go over there and wait for an ambulance.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bassam<\/a><\/p>\n
Bassam Assous shows a video of his granddaughter Laila on his phone, Jan. 28, 2025. (Oren Ziv)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When the ambulance arrived, Ghada got in with Laila. Shaimaa, who had sustained shrapnel wounds from the shooting in her jaw and side, and Teema, who had shrapnel wounds in her right hand, also needed treatment. \u201cI told the soldiers I wanted to go with my daughters, but they said, \u2018No, you will come with us,\u2019\u201d Assous added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe soldiers took me to my uncle\u2019s house, where they had already detained four of his sons while my uncle and the rest of the family sat nearby,\u201d he recounted. \u201cI had no idea what was happening with my wife and daughters \u2014 we weren\u2019t allowed to use our phones or even speak. When I insisted on calling, a soldier threatened to handcuff me. I remained detained like this until around 11:30 p.m. when the soldiers withdrew from the area. They didn\u2019t arrest anyone or confiscate anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the soldiers left, neighbors came to check on us,\u201d Assous went on. \u201cThat\u2019s when I learned that Leila had passed away, as they began offering their condolences. I was in shock, but I quickly realized I had to appear strong for my daughter Teema, who broke down in tears and couldn\u2019t comprehend the loss of her child. I took her to a nearby medical center, where she was given sedatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assous explained that Teema \u2014 who is a master\u2019s student at An-Najah University in Nablus, specializing in environmental and water engineering \u2014 had already lost her husband, Mohammad Al-Khatib, two years ago in a workplace accident. \u201cShe had been struggling with the trauma of losing her husband, so I brought her and her daughter to live with us at home,\u201d he explained. \u201cShe used to say, \u2018I just want to raise my daughter and take care of her.\u2019 Now, she keeps asking me, \u2018Why did they kill my daughter? What did this little child do to deserve this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rabia,<\/a><\/p>\n
Rabia, a cousin of Laila Al-Khatib, looks at the holes left by Israeli army bullets in the window of his family\u2019s home, which was also hit during Israel\u2019s operation in Jenin, Jan. 28, 2025. (Oren Ziv)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In response to +972\u2019s inquiry, a spokesperson for the Israeli army said it \u201cregrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians,\u201d and claimed it had received intelligence about terrorists barricading themselves inside a building in the village. According to the spokesperson, soldiers warned everyone inside \u201cmultiple times\u201d to exit before opening fire. Assous denied hearing any such warning.<\/p>\n

\u2018A state of terror\u2019 in Jenin refugee camp<\/b><\/h3>\n

Laila\u2019s killing did not occur in isolation. Since the morning of Jan. 21, only two days after the Gaza ceasefire came into effect, the Israeli army has been engaged in a major military campaign in the northern West Bank. The army says the operation, named \u201cIron Wall,\u201d is intended to \u201cpreserve the IDF\u2019s freedom of action\u201d and suppress armed resistance<\/a> in the occupied territory, and follows on the heels of a seven-week campaign<\/a> by the Palestinian Authority<\/a> (PA) against armed groups in Jenin<\/a> refugee camp.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military\u2019s activity is also focused on Jenin and its environs, as well as Tulkarem<\/a>. So far, the operation has killed 16 Palestinians in Jenin and three in Tulkarem, while causing widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure in both cities, and forcibly displacing thousands of Palestinians from their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt approximately 11 a.m. last Tuesday, a special force of the occupation army stormed the camp,\u201d Ahmed Hawashin, a researcher at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and resident of Jenin refugee camp, told +972. \u201cThe soldiers \u2014 I suspect they were a sniper squad \u2014 positioned themselves in buildings overlooking the camp, and began shooting indiscriminately while missiles were fired from the air. PA vehicles, which had been present in the camp for 45 days, began to withdraw.<\/p>\n

\u201cFear spread among all citizens as news circulated about the military operation in Jenin,\u201d Hawashin continued. \u201cMy family fled outside the camp, and came under fire despite being civilians. I fled to a friend\u2019s home in the camp\u2019s Joret A-Dahab neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore military vehicles arrived and imposed a siege on the camp as forces began incursions,\u201d he recounted. \u201cThroughout the night, the sounds of gunfire and explosions did not stop. Twice, while I was sitting with a group of ambulance volunteers in front of my friend\u2019s house, a drone dropped grenades on us. One of the young men was wounded by shrapnel \u2014 we were in a state of terror.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Israeli<\/a><\/p>\n
Israeli forces seen near the government hospital in Jenin, blocking the main entrance to the refugee camp, Jan. 28, 2025. (Oren Ziv)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The following morning, an Israeli drone broadcast a message from the army ordering all of the camp\u2019s residents to evacuate. As hordes of families began streaming out, Hawashin decided that it would be too dangerous to stay there any longer. \u201cThe situation on the ground and what was circulating in the media about this invasion frightened us \u2014 we didn\u2019t know what they were going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Hawashin, a group of around 100 people from the Jorat A-Dahab neighborhood gathered to leave together \u2014 and were accompanied by a military drone until they reached the western entrance of the camp. At that point, soldiers ordered them via loudspeaker to divide into groups of five and proceed for inspection. \u201cThere was a camera taking pictures, and the soldiers decided who to stop based on the camera data,\u201d he recounted. \u201cWe then continued on our way into the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the city of Jenin itself, where Israeli forces have besieged hospitals, \u201clife is also at a standstill. Some clashes take place [between the Israeli army and Palestinian resistance groups], and military vehicles pass through the streets. Shops are closed, and most citizens do not leave their homes, fearing for their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conditions in the camp are rapidly deteriorating. Schools have been shut since the start of the PA\u2019s operation in early December, while the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has been unable<\/a> to provide any services for over a month. Electricity has also been completely cut off from the camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe camp has also become a health hazard,\u201d Hawashin added. \u201cSince the beginning of the PA\u2019s campaign, waste has not been collected, leaving piles of garbage accumulating on the sides of the streets. Streets and water infrastructure are still destroyed from previous Israeli invasions, so people have been relying on water tanks and rooftop containers \u2014 but many of these have been damaged by gunfire during the PA\u2019s campaign and the current Israeli operation, rendering them unusable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Palestinian<\/a><\/p>\n
Palestinian children cross destroyed roads and sewage near the rear entrance to Jenin refugee camp, Jan. 28, 2025. (Oren Ziv)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018I never faced such a long wait at the checkpoint\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

Alongside attacks on the Jenin refugee camp and surrounding areas, the Israeli military has closed main roads throughout the West Bank \u2014 by checkpoints, iron gates, and earth mounds \u2014 as a form of collective punishment, only opening some roads during specific times of the day. These closures are forcing residents to wait for long hours in traffic jams, take alternative routes through fields and dirt roads, or avoid traveling altogether. At checkpoints, soldiers have employed additional repressive practices such as arbitrarily confiscating people\u2019s car keys for hours on end.<\/p>\n

Mohammad Hureini, an English literature student at Birzeit University near Ramallah and an activist with Youth of Sumud<\/a>, was supposed to sit an exam last week \u2014 only for it to be postponed after Israel launched its military operation in the West Bank, which prevented many of the students from reaching the university.<\/p>\n

The following day, Hureini, who had already been staying near the university, decided to drive back to his village of A-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills<\/a> \u2014 a journey that, prior to October 7, would usually take around two hours. After the war in Gaza started and Israel expanded restrictions on Palestinian movement across the West Bank, however, Hureini would spend four or five hours driving home. This time, with the additional closures, the journey took 13 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Nablus, I headed to \u2018Atara checkpoint, north of Ramallah, but it was closed and dozens of cars were stuck there,\u201d he said. \u201cI turned around to go to Jaba\u2019 checkpoint, southwest of Ramallah, but as I got closer there were severe traffic jams: soldiers had closed the checkpoint to virtually all traffic and were searching vehicles one after another.\u201d<\/p>\n

For hours, Hureini sat in traffic as hundreds \u2014 if not thousands \u2014 of cars lined up for inspection. \u201cIt felt like one vehicle passed every half hour,\u201d he recounted. \u201cAfter three hours, I saw people abandoning their vehicles and calling taxis to pick them up from the other side of the checkpoint after they crossed by foot. I had never experienced such a long wait at this checkpoint before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/a><\/p>\n
Palestinians wait at a checkpoint south of the West Bank city of Nablus, Jan. 6, 2025.<\/div>\n
(Nasser Ishtayeh\/Flash90)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Around six hours later, it was finally Hureini\u2019s turn to undergo inspection. \u201cThere were two soldiers at the checkpoint,\u201d he explained. \u201cOne signaled for me to stop, so I turned off the engine. Both soldiers were on their phones, not paying any attention to me or all the vehicles queuing behind me. As I waited, it became clear to me that they were doing this to humiliate people, break their morale, and disrupt our lives \u2014 nothing else.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen minutes later, the soldier asked for my ID and began searching the vehicle, asking me: \u2018Where are you from? Where are you going? What do you do?\u2019 After five minutes of this, he told me to go ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hureini\u2019s ordeal wasn\u2019t over. \u201cAfter that, I drove along the bypass road<\/a> \u2014 which, of course, has no checkpoints because settlers use it \u2014 until I reached the Container checkpoint<\/a>, separating the northern and southern parts of the West Bank. There were three lanes of traffic leading to the checkpoint. Again, for the first time, I saw what looked like thousands of vehicles at a standstill. I learned that the soldiers had closed the checkpoint without giving a reason and were not allowing anyone to pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cI waited for half an hour without moving as more cars kept arriving behind me,\u201d he continued. \u201cOne of the drivers told me about a dirt road that could be used to bypass the checkpoint. He started driving and I followed him. Dozens of vehicles soon joined behind us. The road was dangerous \u2014 it was full of rocks and holes. I drove cautiously along it for 45 minutes, worried that my car would break down. That distance could have been covered in five minutes if not for the checkpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

And still, there was more. \u201cI reached Bethlehem at 7:30 p.m. only to find the main gate to the city closed. I took an alternative route through Beit Jala, where soldiers had set up a checkpoint and were searching vehicles. After learning of an alternate road that bypassed the checkpoint, I followed it until I reached the main road again and continued driving to my village.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter setting off from Birzeit University near Ramallah at 8 a.m., I arrived home at 9 p.m., exhausted and with a headache. I hadn\u2019t eaten anything all day, so I had some dinner and went straight to bed. The situation since the Israeli army launched its new operation has become unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/a><\/p>\n
Palestinians line up for inspection at the Israeli military checkpoint of Awarta, east of Nablus, October 20, 2022. (Anne Paq\/Activestills)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In response to +972\u2019s request for comment regarding the extensive new road closures, the Israeli army referred us to a briefing by the army\u2019s international spokesperson in which he stated: \u201cCheckpoints are a tool we use in the fight against terror, enabling civilian movement while providing a layer of screening to prevent terrorists from escaping and undermining the operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The occupation doesn\u2019t need any excuse to destroy us\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

To make sense of Israel\u2019s new military operation and collective punishment measures, Palestinians in the West Bank are drawing a direct connection to the Gaza ceasefire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israeli government has a lack of morale after leaving Gaza \u2014 despite committing genocide, killing tens of thousands of people, and destroying the Gaza Strip,\u201d Omar Assaf, a resident of Deir Ammar refugee camp near Ramallah who runs an initiative<\/a> to rebuild popular Palestinian leadership across Palestine and the diaspora, told +972. \u201cTo compensate, it launched a military campaign targeting Jenin refugee camp and closing off the rest of the Palestinian cities and villages in search of a victory image in this war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe West Bank has always been a major front for the occupation, but there has always been Palestinian resistance against its ambitions,\u201d Assaf continued. \u201cIn recent years, armed groups have emerged in the northern West Bank to oppose the occupation, settler attacks, and the expansion of settlements on Palestinian land. In response, there was a development in the relationship between the PA and the occupation in confronting these groups, evolving from security coordination to outright cooperation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PA succeeded in putting an end to the Lions\u2019 Den<\/a> in Nablus by recruiting<\/a> some of its fighters into the PA\u2019s security forces,\u201d he said. \u201cThe [Israeli] occupation had to deal with armed groups in Jenin refugee camp [by force], and so far it is failing to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PA\u2019s seven-week incursion into the camp, prior to Israel\u2019s latest operation, was \u201can unprecedented move in the history of the Palestinian cause,\u201d Assaf asserted. And while the PA claimed that it was cracking down on armed resistance in order to protect the camp from the fate of the Gaza Strip, he sees this as \u201ca shameful statement,\u201d adding: \u201cThe occupation doesn\u2019t need excuses to destroy us, occupy our land, and build settlements; it does so because this is its primary project.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PA, Assaf concluded, should do one of two things: \u201cIt can return to the Palestinian people, stand by them against the occupation policies, unify the internal Palestinian front, and end the division. Or, if it cannot do so, it should hold elections to allow the Palestinian people to choose leadership that represents them and leads them toward achieving their aspirations. If the PA continues in its current approach, it will increase tensions among the people and weaken the internal front in the face of the occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Basel Adraa is an activist, journalist, and photographer from the village of a-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original – 972mag.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

28 Jan 2025 – Two-year-old Laila Al-Khatib is the youngest victim of Israel’s military campaign in Jenin, while road closures suffocate the entire territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":287453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1854,1199,87,865,3264,1644,88,2416,70,965,1025],"class_list":["post-287451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide","tag-crimes-against-humanity","tag-ethnic-cleansing","tag-gaza","tag-genocide","tag-idf","tag-international-court-of-justice-icj","tag-israel","tag-israeli-occupation","tag-usa","tag-war-crimes","tag-west-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287451"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":287454,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287451\/revisions\/287454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}