Israel’s assault on refugee camps within the occupied West Financial institution has dominated headlines.
Israel has killed at the least 20 individuals because it launched its assaults on the cities and refugee camps of Jenin, Nablus, Tubas and Tulkarem in a single day on Wednesday.
This is what you’ll want to find out about this assault and the refugee camps within the occupied territories it impacts.
What’s the occupied West Financial institution? Who’re the refugees there?
The occupied West Financial institution is a part of historic Palestine on the west financial institution of the Jordan River, measuring 5,650 sq. kilometres (2,180 sq mi) of landlocked territory surrounded by Israel, Jordan and the Useless Sea.
Roughly three million Palestinians reside there, alongside a rising variety of Israelis who’ve constructed unlawful settlements and outposts on land forcibly seized from Palestinian households.
There are some 871,000 registered refugees within the West Financial institution, 1 / 4 of whom reside in 19 refugee camps, descendants of Palestinians who had been ethnically cleansed from their houses and lands to make method for the creation of Israel within the 1948 Nakba.
What does this need to do with Gaza?
The occupied West Financial institution and Gaza are each components of Palestine, however are separated from one another by the State of Israel.
Each Gaza and the West Financial institution had been occupied by Israel in 1967 and remained so for many years, till Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
Israel continues to assault Gaza, killing greater than 40,000 individuals and wounding practically 100,000.
The techniques Israel is utilizing in Gaza have been talked about by some Israeli ministers who’ve demanded that the identical be achieved in assaults within the occupied West Financial institution, together with forcing individuals to depart their houses to clear sure areas.
What does it imply that the West Financial institution is “occupied”?
Within the 1967 conflict, Israel took possession of land from Jordan, the provisional nation, that the UN had allotted as a part of a future Palestinian state.
Even with the institution of the Palestinian Authority after the Oslo Accords, the Israeli army operates unchecked and successfully controls the territory and nonetheless controls a number of important administrative and governmental features.
On the finish of the day, Palestinians do not even management their very own land.
In principle, the boundaries of Israel’s occupation of the West Financial institution needs to be regulated by worldwide legislation.
Underneath the 1949 Geneva Conference, the switch of all or a part of an occupying inhabitants right into a territory it has occupied (similar to Israeli settlements constructed on Palestinian land) is prohibited.
In 2004 and 2016, respectively, the Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ) and the United Nations Safety Council declared Israeli settlement building within the West Financial institution unlawful.
In July this yr, the ICJ once more dominated that Israel’s presence within the West Financial institution was unlawful and should finish “as expeditiously as attainable.”
So, is the development of latest settlements over?
Certainly not.
Whereas settlement building was pretty gradual till the Nineteen Eighties, it has elevated since then and a whole bunch of latest settlements and outposts have been established.
Earlier than October 7, greater than 700,000 Israelis lived within the West Financial institution, unfold throughout greater than 150 unlawful settlements and quite a few outposts.
The numbers have elevated dramatically after October 7.
In keeping with Israel, the settlements are vital for safety, as they function safety towards different hostile Arab states, along with Iran.
Israel additionally says the Oslo Accords don’t explicitly ban settlements in all areas and that some are permitted beneath the phrases of the settlement.
Israeli settlers additionally declare the biblical Jewish territories of Samaria and Judea, each within the present-day West Financial institution, utilizing spiritual justifications to grab Palestinian land.
How have Palestinians within the West Financial institution responded to the occupation?
In brief, with resistance and anger.
Tens of hundreds of Palestinians have been killed throughout the Israeli occupation of the West Financial institution.
Displacement, dispossession, lack of rights, financial hardship and army management over every day life have fueled Palestinian anger.
Nevertheless, what has brought on the best outrage is the continued and systematic confiscation of land for the development of Israeli settlements.
Have the Palestinians rebelled?
There have been two Intifadas (uprisings) towards the Israeli occupation.
The primary Intifada, from 1987 to 1993, started with protests and demonstrations, together with stone throwing and civil disobedience, earlier than escalating right into a widespread revolt.
Israel’s army response – curfews, mass arrests and the usage of reside ammunition and tear gasoline – exacerbated the state of affairs and sparked worldwide criticism.
Israel killed round 1,000 Palestinians, of whom about 250 had been youngsters. 160 Israelis had been killed within the combating.
The second Intifada, from 2000 to 2005, was triggered by the provocative go to of then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
The protests and stone throwing shortly escalated into violence as Israel responded with overwhelming pressure.
Round 3,000 Palestinians and greater than 1,000 Israelis, in addition to 64 foreigners, had been killed.
Israel’s response – in depth army operations, focused killings and large-scale raids – was closely criticised by worldwide our bodies and human rights teams.
What’s life like within the West Financial institution at this time?
In a phrase, “tough.” Typically it appears unimaginable.
Checkpoints and different restrictions on motion are among the many every day challenges affecting all Palestinians within the West Financial institution.
In refugee camps, overcrowding and poor infrastructure compound the difficulties confronted by households whose houses usually now not exist inside dwelling reminiscence.
The Israeli separation barrier, which has enclosed a lot of the West Financial institution since its building started in 2002, limits Palestinian entry to assets and jobs.
The wall was dominated unlawful by the ICJ in 2019 and has been cited as proof of Israel’s apartheid insurance policies by human rights teams all over the world.
