One month into Israel’s West Bank offensive, violence and uncertainty are the new normal
Mourners carry the bodies of six Palestinians killed during an Israeli air strike the previous day on Jenin’s refugee camp , on 15 January 2025
Qassam Muaddi reports in Mondoweiss on 18 February 2025:
The ongoing Israeli offensive on the West Bank, dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” has claimed the lives of four more Palestinians over the past week, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed since January 21 to 55.
The offensive, which started in Jenin and expanded to the rest of the northern West Bank, including Tulkarem, Tubas, and their surrounding areas, is the largest Israeli offensive on Palestinian cities in the West Bank since the Second Intifada — over 22 years ago. Israel launched it immediately after the ceasefire deal in Gaza entered into force amidst calls from Israeli far-right politicians and media outlets to “transfer the war to the West Bank.”
The Israeli escalation in the West Bank also came after declarations by hardline Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who is in charge of the Israeli administration of the West Bank, that 2025 will be the year of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank. Smotrich remained in Netanyahu’s government despite opposing the ceasefire deal in Gaza. According to Israeli reports, the offensive in the West Bank was an appeasement made to Smotrich in exchange for refraining from resigning in protest over the ceasefire deal, which would have caused a collapse in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
As Israel’s war minister, Israel Katz, has repeatedly stated that Israel will continue to expand the current offensive to the rest of the West Bank, the rising casualties and mass displacement of people from targeted areas have become a part of Palestinians’ daily life.