In the days since a fragile ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip, Israel has launched a major military operation in the occupied West Bank and suspected Jewish settlers have rampaged through two Palestinian towns<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The violence comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces domestic pressure from his far-right allies after agreeing to the truce and hostage-prisoner exchange with the Hamas militant group. U.S. President Donald Trump has, meanwhile, rescinded the Biden administration\u2019s sanctions against Israelis accused of violence in the territory<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a volatile mix that could undermine the ceasefire, which is set to last for at least six weeks and bring about the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, most of whom will be released into the West Bank<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. Escalations in one area frequently spill over, raising further concerns that the second and far more difficult phase of the Gaza ceasefire \u2014 which has yet to be negotiated \u2014 may never come<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dozens of masked men rampaged through two Palestinian villages in the northern West Bank late Monday, hurling stones and setting cars and property ablaze, according to local Palestinian officials. The Red Crescent emergency service said 12 people were beaten and wounded<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israeli forces, meanwhile, carried out a raid elsewhere in the West Bank that the military said was in response to the hurling of firebombs at Israeli vehicles. It said several suspects were detained for questioning, and a video circulating online appeared to show dozens being marched through the streets<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Tuesday, the Israeli military launched another major operation, this time in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, where its forces have regularly clashed with Palestinian militants in recent years, even before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip triggered the war there<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least nine Palestinians were killed on Tuesday, including a 16-year-old, and 40 were wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The military said its forces carried out airstrikes and dismantled roadside bombs and \u201chit\u201d 10 militants \u2014 though it was not clear what that meant<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Palestinian residents have reported a major increase in Israeli checkpoints and delays across the territory<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel, meanwhile, says threats from the West Bank against its citizens are on the rise. Earlier this month, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on motorists there, killing three Israelis, including two women in their 70s. That attack fueled calls from settler leaders for a crackdown in the territory<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz cast the Jenin operation as part of Israel\u2019s larger struggle against Iran and its militant allies across the region, saying \u201cwe will strike the octopus’ arms until they snap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Palestinians view such operations and the expansion of settlements as ways of cementing Israeli control over the territory, where three million Palestinians live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering cities and towns<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prominent human rights groups call it a form of apartheid since the over 500,000 Jewish settlers in the territory have all the rights conferred by Israeli citizenship. Israel rejects those allegations<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netanyahu has been struggling to quell a rebellion by his ultranationalist coalition partners since agreeing to the ceasefire. The agreement requires Israeli forces to withdraw from most of Gaza and release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners \u2014 including militants convicted of murder \u2014 in exchange for hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 attack<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One coalition partner, Itamar Ben-Gvir, resigned in protest the day the ceasefire went into effect. Another, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has threatened to bolt if Israel does not resume the war after the first phase of the ceasefire is slated to end in early March<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They want Israel to annex the West Bank and to rebuild settlements in Gaza while encouraging what they refer to as the voluntary migration of large numbers of Palestinians<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netanyahu still has a parliamentary majority after Ben-Gvir\u2019s departure, but the loss of Smotrich \u2014 who is also the de facto governor of the West Bank \u2014 would severely weaken his coalition and likely lead to early elections<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That could spell the end of Netanyahu\u2019s nearly unbroken 16 years in power, leaving him even more exposed to longstanding corruption charges and an expected public inquiry into Israel\u2019s failure to prevent the Oct. 7 attack<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s return to the White House offers Netanyahu a potential lifeline<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The newly sworn-in president, who lent unprecedented support to Israel during his previous term, has surrounded himself with aides who support Israeli settlement. Some support the settlers’ claim to a biblical right to the West Bank because of the Jewish kingdoms that existed there in antiquity<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The international community overwhelmingly considers settlements illegal<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the flurry of executive orders Trump signed on his first day back in office was one rescinding the Biden administration\u2019s sanctions on settlers and Jewish extremists accused of violence against Palestinians<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sanctions \u2014 which had little effect \u2014 were one of the few concrete steps the Biden administration took in opposition to the close U.S. ally, even as it provided billions of dollars in military support for Israel\u2019s campaign in Gaza, among the deadliest and most destructive in decades<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump claimed credit for helping to get the Gaza ceasefire agreement across the finish line in the final days of the Biden presidency<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this week, Trump said he was \u201cnot confident\u201d it would hold and signaled he would give Israel a free hand in Gaza, saying: \u201cIt\u2019s not our war, it\u2019s their war.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the days since a fragile ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip, Israel has launched a major military operation in the occupied West Bank and suspected Jewish settlers have rampaged through two Palestinian towns The violence comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces domestic pressure from his far-right allies after agreeing to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":32913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n