Israel sends tanks to West Bank for the first time in 20 years; understand

The Military Forces of Israel sent tanks to the busy West Bank this weekend for the first time in two decades.

In the context of a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel has constantly intensified an intense military operation in Palestinian cities in the West Bank, killing tens and shifting tens of thousands of residents.

Since the Hamas attack on October 7, Israel has regularly launched air strikes in the West Bank, which was almost unheard of before. His defense minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that he had instructed the military to stay for a year and “prevent residents’ return.”

United States President Donald Trump has been harshly criticized for his proposal to expel 2.1 million Gaza Palestinians. And yet, as the leftist Israeli newspaper Haaretz claimed in an editorial on Monday (24), “Israel is already doing in the West Bank what threatens to do in Gaza.”

What is the West Bank?

The West Bank, a territory that is west of the Jordan River between Israel and Jordan, has been occupied by the Israeli army since 1967. It is the home of more than 3.3 million Palestinians.

Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem – including the Old City, with its religious milestones – from Jordan after a brief war in 1967. Many Israelis believe that Jews have a biblical right to Earth, which they call Judea and Samaria.

Since Israel captured the West Bank, about half a million Israeli Jews have built houses in cities known as “settlements.” As the West Bank is considered occupied by international law, these settlements are illegal but tolerated – and even encouraged – by the Israeli government.

In the 1990s, Israel and Palestinian factions began a peace process that came to be known as Oslo agreements. The agreement established a Palestinian government, known as Palestinian authority, which would have jurisdiction in parts of the West Bank and Gaza, before the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Many communities in Palestinian cities are known as refugee camps. Although now they resemble urban neighborhoods, they were established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war for Palestinians who fled or forced to leave their homes during the creation of Israel.

In July, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Superior Court, issued an unprecedented advisory opinion that considered Israel’s presence in the West Bank and illegal East Jerusalem and asked Israel to end its decades.

What has happened since October 7?

There has always been tension between the Palestinians and the Israeli government in the West Bank. Israel has been conducting regular incursions in Palestinian communities for many years – aiming, says Palestinian militants.

But Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 inaugurated a new era.

The Israeli Army increased its restrictions on Palestinians, establishing new control posts and restricting who could cross from West Bank to Israel. There was a peak of Jewish settlers against Palestinians, killing dozens.

Israel launched a major military foray into northern West Bank in August, which called “Operation Summer Camps”. Sent armored vehicles to the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem, cutting water and electricity and leading the Palestinians to ration food, residents told the residents CNN .

The Israeli excavators often rip paved roads during these raids. Israel argues that it is a tactic necessary to dig up makeshift explosive devices, but often leaves whole neighborhoods totally impassable.

Israel also targets other aspects of Palestinian life in West Bank. Knesset, the country’s parliament, passed a law last year that would make the United Nations agency extremely difficult for Palestinians to continue operations, claiming that Unrwa, as it is known, did not do enough to suppress extremism in its rows. Unrwa educates 45,000 Palestinians in West Bank and provides nearly one million annual consultations to patients in 43 health facilities.

What is happening now?

Israel launched an even more aggressive military operation in northern West Bank in January, focused on the Jenin Refugee Field, nicknamed “Iron Wall Operation”. Israel says the operation is necessary to eradicate Iran -supported militants that threaten their safety.

The Defense Minister said Israel is applying his Gaza Manual to the West Bank.

“A powerful operation to eliminate terrorists and terror infrastructure in the countryside, ensuring that terrorism does not return to the field after the end of the operation – the first lesson of the repeated attack method in Gaza,” Katz said last month.

Israel’s operation forced more than 40,000 Palestinians to leave their homes in the West Bank, according to the United Nations. The military has killed more than a thousand Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, 2023, according to the Ministry of Palestinian Health, which makes no distinction between civilians and combatants. Among them are at least 184 children. This weekend alone, the Israeli military admitted that their forces killed two 13 -year -olds and were investigating the incidents.

Jenin’s mayor told CNN that the Israeli military destroyed at least 120 residential buildings and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in destruction. “I believe this operation from the beginning was a disguised political agenda involved in a military and security operation,” said Mohammad Jarra earlier this month. “But it’s very clear-we all know the goals of this far-right government policy.”

Israel Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Brussels on Monday that “there are military operations going on against terrorists and no more objective beyond this.”

What is Trump’s role?

It is impossible to ignore Trump’s role. His election encouraged those in Israel who want the government to extend Israeli sovereignty complete to the Senior’s settlements, a process known as annexation. Some want to go even further and attach all the West Bank.

Trump said earlier this month that “people like the idea” of annexation, “but we haven’t taken a position on it yet.”

“But we will probably make an announcement about this very specific topic in the next four weeks,” the American said.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is responsible for the West Bank settlements, ordered preparations for annexation, saying that Trump’s election “brings an important opportunity to the State of Israel.” The only way to remove the “threat” from a Palestinian state, he said, “is to apply Israeli sovereignty to all settlements in Judea and Samaria.”

The finance minister seems to play a big role in Netanyahu’s most aggressive approach. Smotrich was against the ceasefire in Gaza and is pressing the prime to return to war there. He himself is a colonist of the West Bank. In January, Smotrich said the government now considers security in the West Bank as an official “objective of war”.

“After Gaza and Lebanon today, with God’s help, we began to change the concept of security in Judea and Samaria,” he said.

How did things change this weekend?

The Israeli invasion of Jenin’s refugee camp was already a significant climb. But this weekend it was clear that there was no end in sight.

On Friday (21), Netanyahu visited Jenin and praised the “wonderful work” that the troops were doing. A photo of him sitting with commanders inside a Palestinian house that the military requested as a command center circulated.

“We are eliminating terrorists, commanders,” he said. “We are doing a very important job against Hamas’s desire and other terrorist elements to harm us.”

Then, on Sunday, Israel’s defense forces (IDF) sent a tanks platoon to Jenin – the first time tanks have been sent to the West Bank since 2002 during the second intifad. It is a sign of how militarized the operation has become. The Israeli military no longer believes land troops – and even air attacks – are sufficient.

And while Trump and Israel’s extremist ministers make plans to expel the population of Gaza, Defense Minister Katz has announced that tens of thousands of Palestinians who have left their homes in the West Bank in recent weeks will not be allowed to return.

“Today, I instructed IDF to prepare for an extended presence in the clean fields for next year, and not allow the return of residents and the resurgence of terror,” he said.

The Red Cross International Committee (CIAB) said in a statement on Monday that it was “deeply concerned” about the impact of Israel’s operations on the West Bank on civilians.

“Civilian civilians in northern West Bank need urgent assistance,” he said, noting that many people are struggling to access essential items, including clean water, food, shelter and medical care.

“The CIAP reiterates that the population should be treated humanly and protected from violence,” the committee added.

What is the International Criminal Court and who can arrest Netanyahu?

This content was originally published in Israel sends tanks to West Bank for the first time in 20 years; Understand on CNN Brazil.

Source: CNN Brasil