In Jenin and Tulkarem, Israel’s war on Palestinian armed resistance is failing
Mourners and armed Palestinians attend the funeral of Palestinians killed during an Israeli military operation in Jenin, 6 June 2024
Fatima AbdulKarim writes in +972 on 14 August 2024:
Nearly 20 years after the Second Intifada ended, the Israeli military has fully resumed its use of air power in the West Bank, particularly in the northern part of the occupied territory. Since October 7, it has launched more than 46 drone attacks and airstrikes in the area — the latter of which killed 77 Palestinians, including 14 children, by the end of June.
This has created a situation that, to many Palestinians, resembles a “mini-Gaza” — a condition in which Israel is repressing the people from the skies, but also an example of a counterinsurgency campaign that is doomed to fail.
Jenin has been a particular target of this campaign. Despite scores of military incursions, a dozen airstrikes, and extensive operations since October 7, Israel has been unable to quell Palestinian armed resistance in the city and its refugee camp — primarily led by the Jenin Brigade, an umbrella group made up of various factional militias.
The situation in Jenin, along with other cities and camps in the West Bank, reflects a classic case of insurgency: an entrenched local resistance leverages its intimate knowledge of the geography of the camp, strong community support, and adaptive tactics to counter a more conventionally powerful military opponent. Such insurgencies typically thrive on the support and sympathy of the local population, exploiting the occupying force’s missteps and the resulting grievances to bolster their ranks.