Israel's military siege of West Bank cities continues

The "anti-terrorism" operation launched by the Israeli army on Palestinian cities and refugee camps continues.

The military operation launched by Israel in the West Bank in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday continues for the second day in a row, causing deaths among Palestinians already during the first hours.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headed simultaneously towards four of the main cities located in Palestinian territory – Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas – attacking them both with an incursion by land and from the air.The IDF implemented a real siege, isolating the centers targeted by the operation and cutting off the roads connecting to the rest of the territory.The large refugee camps of Jenin and Tulkarem were also targeted by military raids, which ordered their evacuation.Tel Aviv motivated the operation by talking about “terrorist activities” in the area to be tackled.The large deployment of forces deployed by the IDF has led many observers to compare the incursion to those carried out during the Second Intifada at the beginning of the 2000s, believing the operations are still ongoing the most massive military operation on Palestinian territory in the last twenty years.Also for this reason, the United Nations reacted by defining Israel's methods of conduct as one “violation of international law”.

The number of Palestinian deaths is set to rise

On Thursday morning the IDF announced the killing of five Palestinians hiding in a mosque in Tulkarem, adding to Wednesday's death toll.In the first hours after the attack began, local media had talked about at least 10 people killed, concentrated mainly in the areas of Tulkarem, Jenin and Tubas.The IDF specified that they were "terrorists".According to a statement from the Palestinian Red Crescent, four people were killed by Israeli forces in the Fara'a refugee camp in Tubas, three people in an Israeli drone attack on a vehicle in the village of Seir, near the city of Jenin, and two they were killed in Jenin itself.The Palestinian news agency Wafa then spoke of a person killed by gunfire in the village of Kafr Dan, also near Jenin.

According to the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian National Authority which governs the West Bank territory, at least eighteen Palestinians were killed, in addition to dozens of injured.The local media have repeatedly underlined how the IDF's military action is comparable to a real siege, conducted with hundreds of soldiers deployed on the streets, planes and drones and bulldozer, the means by which Israel destroys Palestinian buildings before seizing territory through illegal settlements.Tel Aviv has, until now, remained vague regarding the duration of the military operation, without specifying when the offensive will stop.

West Bank refugee camps under siege 

On Thursday the IDF announced the killing of Muhammad Jaber, named “the number one wanted terrorist in the West Bank” according to Channel 12.Jaber was the commander of the Islamic Jihad military wing in Nur Shams, the Tulkaerm refugee camp.

Among the main objectives of the ongoing Tel Aviv offensive are above all the refugee camps scattered across Palestinian territory and not far from the affected cities.This is the aforementioned Fara'a camp in Tubas which, according to UNRWA data, hosts almost 11 thousand Palestinian refugees, that of Jenin, with over 23 thousand people and its own Nur Shams in Tulkarem, where 13 thousand Palestinians are allocated.The IDF and Nethanyau's government have long considered refugee camps to be places where Islamic terrorists hide.In this regard, Foreign Minister Israel Katz justified the operation with the need to hinder the terrorist plans supported by Iran, arguing that the Tehran government wants to broaden the threat to Israel by opening an eastern front, precisely in the West Bank.Katz then spoke about “temporary evacuation” of Palestinians from the West Bank, raising fears that Israel is attempting to organize the forced displacement of Palestinians from the territory.

As reported to Al Jazeera by Omar Baddar, political analyst of the Middle East, this latest request would be part of a broader strategy in line with Tel Aviv's operations in Gaza:“I think it's worth noting the context, which is the fact that Israel has been intending to annex and ethnically cleanse large parts of the West Bank for a long, long time,” Baddar said.

In truth, Israel's offensives in the West Bank did not begin last night:from 7 October to today, in addition to the 40 thousand victims reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health, there have been added i 662 Palestinians killed in West Bank.Meanwhile, clashes between the Palestinians and the IDF continue in Jenin:last night the residents of the refugee camp attacked bulldozers and military vehicles.

The UN condemnation and Borrell's words

In addition to the prompt condemnation of the United Nations, which defined the Israeli offensive as "a violation of international law", the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union Josep Borrell also spoke on Thursday, speaking about the possibility of sanctioning some Israeli ministers:“Some ministers of Israel have sent hateful messages, incitement to commit war crimes against the Palestinians and I believe that the EU must use all the tools at its disposal:but I cannot decide, I can only propose and the Member States will decide", concluded the Spaniard.