Third Front Opens in West Bank as Israeli Economy Shuts Down After Deaths of Six Hostages

The bodies of six Israeli hostages, retrieved from one of Hamas’ tunnels in the Gaza Strip, has set off a chain reaction in Israel.

The country shut down for most of Monday as recriminations between the families of the hostages, Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, the Israeli ceasefire negotiating team and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist allies, reverberate with the future of his coalition.

Simultaneously, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) intelligence warned that a new front had opened in the West Bank, in addition to the war in Gaza and the war on Israel’s northern border with Hezbollah.

That coincided with Israel carrying out its largest military operation in the Palestinian territory, since the second Palestinian uprising or Intifada which ended in 2005, which entered its seventh day on Tuesday. At least 30 Palestinians have been killed, including one middle-aged man who died after an hour in the custody of Israeli soldiers, with Palestinian medical teams asserting he had been tortured.

During the same period, Palestinians initiated several car bombings and attacks on Israeli settlers and security forces.

Three of the dead Israeli hostages, whom Israel said were shot dead while Hamas said they died in Israeli bombings, were meant to be released in the first part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

As the news broke, hundreds of thousands of enraged Israelis took to the streets over the weekend blaming Netanyahu for sabotaging a ceasefire deal by adding new conditions to a deal he knew Hamas would not accept.

The main point was Netanyahu refusing to withdraw Israeli forces from the Philadelphia corridor which divides Gaza from Egypt despite IDF assurances that the military could quickly re-enter the area if necessary, and despite the Israeli negotiating team and defence minister Gallant warning Netanyahu that it was either a withdrawal and a ceasefire or no withdrawal and the possible death of more hostages.

Monday’s one-day strike, called by Israel’s largest labour union Histradut, paralysed the country for almost the entire day as up to 500,000 Israelis followed the call which was initially prompted by opposition leader Yair Lapid.

Chaos reigned at Ben Gurion International Airport as most staff failed to show up. Medical facilities were reduced to skeletal public holiday operations, schools and universities closed, local municipalities, major businesses, the IT sector and councils all closed.

The strike ended after Netanyahu and Israel Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich took the case to court arguing that the strike was political and not labour-related, with Israel’s Labour Court ordering it to end by mid-afternoon.

Smotrich ordered the finance ministry to ensure that those striking were not paid for the day and accused those on strike of “serving Hamas’ interests”.

While the Israeli premier stopped the strike, which had threatened to go into Tuesday, his coalition is ripping apart at the seams, torn between those who support him and those who accuse him of destroying Israel and endangering the lives of the approximately 100 hostages still captive in Gaza.

As unrest and anger continue to simmer in Israel, the Israeli military declared that a new front has opened in the Palestinian West Bank.

While the war on Gaza in the south rages and Israel’s northern border with Lebanon remains a no-go zone, due to continued fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, previous warnings about the West Bank exploding are now becoming a reality.

For seven days, the IDF has been conducting a massive military operation in the West Bank, targeting several refugee camps, specifically the Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps in the northern West Bank.

Approximately 30 Palestinians have been killed as hundreds of Israeli soldiers, accompanied by bulldozers and armoured vehicles, attack drones and fighter aircraft have levelled large swathes of the camps, destroying much of the infrastructure, including roads, electricity, cars, shops and trees.

A military siege on Jenin refugee camp, and much of the city, has cut off food, electricity, water, stopped internet services, and prevented ambulances from reaching the wounded and hospitals.

Several of the seriously wounded shot by Israeli soldiers were left to bleed-out in the streets as ambulances and paramedics were stopped by Israeli soldiers at gun point.

One elderly man was allegedly beaten to death by Israeli soldiers within an hour of his arrest. His son is wanted by the Israeli authorities for allegedly being involved in the resistance.

Abed Zakarna* and his four children continue to be trapped in their home near the camp.

The banker added to Byline Times: “Most citizens have not been able to go out to buy food and water but ambulances have been trying to deliver the basic necessities.”

Amnesty International said the level of force used in the West Bank was at “war standards” and unacceptable. It said Israel should be arresting people it considers an imminent threat.

The EU warned Israel not to extend the Gaza war to the West Bank while the UN called for a halt to the operation, saying it exceeded law enforcement.

The international warnings followed Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz calling for the expulsion of Palestinians in the northern West Bank and for the army to take whatever steps were necessary.

Israel said the military operation was a preemptive strike against Palestinian gunmen and resistance groups as they prepared to carry out attacks on Israeli settlers and return to Israeli streets with suicide bombings.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have vowed to return to suicide bombings and to increase their resistance to the Israeli occupation.

On Monday morning a car packed with explosives was stopped near an illegal Israeli settlement, near Ramallah, as it attempted to enter the settlement.

And over the weekend two car bombs exploded near the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank. Two Palestinians linked to the vehicles were killed by Israeli security forces.

Several weeks ago, a Palestinian suicide bomber was killed when the explosives in his backpack exploded prematurely in Tel Aviv.

Over the weekend, three Israeli police officers were killed near Hebron by a Palestinian gunman, who used to work as a presidential guard for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

He was subsequently killed by an anti-tank missile fired by Israeli security forces at a house he was hiding out in Hebron.

However, Mustafa Barghouti, the leader of the Palestinian National Initiative party, dismissed the assertion that this was a war. “This is not a fight between two armies, it’s a unilateral military operation against an occupied people by a very powerful Israeli military,” he told Byline Times.

As a result of the ongoing expulsion of Palestinians from villages and towns across the West Bank following Israeli settler violence – under the protection of the Israeli military – the US and the EU have sanctioned a number of Israeli settlers and a settler group called Hashomer Yosh which is partially funded by the Israeli government.

However, the US has avoided sanctioning an IDF brigade responsible for numerous human rights abuses while also refusing to consider sanctions against the Israeli government.

It has also continued to supply weapons to Israel despite a US State Department report stating some units of the IDF were responsible for rights abuses.

Barghouti said the token sanctions were just for show and would not deter the settler attacks, explaining: “If they were serious they would be sanctioning the Israeli ministers who support the settlers. These symbolic sanctions are not having any effect as can be seen by the ongoing daily settler attacks that have destroyed property and lives.”

*Name changed for security reasons