Why is Israel launching a crackdown in the West Bank after the Gaza ceasefire?

By JOSEPH KRAUSS, Associated Press

In the days since a fragile ceasefire took clasp successful the Gaza Strip, Israel has launched a large subject cognition successful the occupied West Bank and suspected Jewish settlers have rampaged done 2 Palestinian towns.

The unit comes arsenic Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces home unit from his far-right allies aft agreeing to the truce and hostage-prisoner exchange with Hamas, which has been designated arsenic a violent enactment by the United States, Canada and the European Union. U.S. President Donald Trump has, meanwhile, rescinded the Biden administration’s sanctions against Israelis accused of unit successful the territory.

It’s a volatile premix that could undermine the ceasefire, which is acceptable to past for astatine slightest six weeks and bring astir the merchandise of dozens of hostages successful speech for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, astir of whom volition beryllium released into the West Bank.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and eastbound Jerusalem successful the 1967 Mideast war, and Palestinians privation each 3 territories for their aboriginal state. Escalations successful 1 country frequently spill over, raising further concerns that the 2nd and acold much hard phase of the Gaza ceasefire — which has yet to beryllium negotiated — whitethorn ne'er come.

A rampage and a subject raid

Dozens of masked men rampaged done 2 Palestinian villages successful the bluish West Bank precocious Monday, hurling stones and mounting cars and spot ablaze, according to section Palestinian officials. The Red Crescent exigency work said 12 radical were beaten and wounded.

Israeli forces, meanwhile, carried retired a raid elsewhere successful the West Bank that the subject said was successful effect to the hurling of firebombs astatine Israeli vehicles. It said respective suspects were detained for questioning, and a video circulating online appeared to amusement dozens being marched done the streets.

On Tuesday, the Israeli subject launched different large operation, this clip successful the bluish West Bank metropolis of Jenin, wherever its forces person regularly clashed with Palestinian fighters in caller years, adjacent earlier Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught retired of the Gaza Strip triggered the warfare there.

At slightest 9 Palestinians were killed connected Tuesday, including a 16-year-old, and 40 were wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The subject said its forces carried retired airstrikes and dismantled roadside bombs and “hit” 10 fighters — though it was not wide what that meant.

Palestinian residents person reported a large summation successful Israeli checkpoints and delays crossed the territory.

Israel, meanwhile, says threats from the West Bank against its citizens are connected the rise. Earlier this month, Palestinian gunmen opened occurrence connected motorists there, sidesplitting 3 Israelis, including 2 women successful their 70s. That onslaught fueled calls from settler leaders for a crackdown successful the territory.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz formed the Jenin cognition arsenic portion of Israel’s larger conflict against Iran and its militant allies crossed the region, saying “we volition onslaught the octopus’ arms until they snap.”

The Palestinians presumption specified operations and the expansion of settlements arsenic ways of cementing Israeli power implicit the territory, wherever 3 cardinal Palestinians unrecorded nether seemingly open-ended Israeli subject rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering cities and towns.

Prominent quality rights groups call it a signifier of apartheid since the implicit 500,000 Jewish settlers successful the territory person each the rights conferred by Israeli citizenship. Israel rejects those allegations.

Netanyahu’s far-right partners are up successful arms

Netanyahu has been struggling to quell a rebellion by his ultranationalist conjugation partners since agreeing to the ceasefire. The statement requires Israeli forces to retreat from astir of Gaza and merchandise hundreds of Palestinian prisoners — including fighters convicted of execution — successful speech for hostages abducted successful the Oct. 7 attack.

One conjugation partner, Itamar Ben-Gvir, resigned successful protestation the time the ceasefire went into effect. Another, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has threatened to bolt if Israel does not resume the warfare aft the archetypal signifier of the ceasefire is slated to extremity successful aboriginal March.

They privation Israel to annex the West Bank and to rebuild settlements successful Gaza portion encouraging what they notation to arsenic the voluntary migration of ample numbers of Palestinians.

Netanyahu inactive has a parliamentary bulk aft Ben-Gvir’s departure, but the nonaccomplishment of Smotrich — who is besides the de facto politician of the West Bank — would severely weaken his conjugation and apt pb to aboriginal elections.

That could spell the extremity of Netanyahu’s astir unbroken 16 years successful power, leaving him adjacent much exposed to longstanding corruption charges and an expected nationalist inquiry into Israel’s nonaccomplishment to forestall the Oct. 7 attack.

Trump’s instrumentality could springiness settlers a freer hand

Trump’s instrumentality to the White House offers Netanyahu a imaginable lifeline.

The recently sworn-in president, who lent unprecedented enactment to Israel during his erstwhile term, has surrounded himself with aides who enactment Israeli settlement. Some enactment the settlers’ assertion to a biblical right to the West Bank due to the fact that of the Jewish kingdoms that existed determination successful antiquity.

The planetary assemblage overwhelmingly considers settlements illegal.

Among the flurry of enforcement orders Trump signed connected his archetypal time backmost successful bureau was 1 rescinding the Biden administration’s sanctions connected settlers and Jewish extremists accused of unit against Palestinians.

The sanctions — which had small effect — were 1 of the fewer factual steps the Biden medication took successful absorption to the adjacent U.S. ally, adjacent arsenic it provided billions of dollars successful subject support for Israel’s run successful Gaza, among the deadliest and astir destructive successful decades.

Trump claimed recognition for helping to get the Gaza ceasefire statement crossed the decorativeness enactment successful the last days of the Biden presidency.

But this week, Trump said helium was “not confident” it would clasp and signaled helium would springiness Israel a escaped manus successful Gaza, saying: “It’s not our war, it’s their war.”