-Analysis-
PARIS — Who still believes that a military solution is possible between Israelis and Palestinians? No reasonable person, apparently. And yet, once again, the language of violence prevails when there is no political solution possible or foreseeable.
This observation could have been made half a century ago just as it is being made today, following a rapid-fire full-scale war operation carried out by the Israeli army in Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank. A terrorist attack claimed by Palestinian Hamas islamists has also occurred in Tel Aviv.
We hadn’t seen anything like this from Israel in 20 years — airstrikes, tanks, hundreds of soldiers assaulting a densely populated Palestinian city.
Violence at its peak
As a result, 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier are dead, over 100 injured, many have been arrested and around 3,000 people have been displaced from their homes due to the fighting in the Jenin refugee camp — refugees two times over.
As a response to this urban warfare, there was a car-ramming attack Tuesday in Tel Aviv, injuring nine people. The Palestinian driver was shot dead by a passerby.
This surge of violence is the result of a well-known, explosive mix: accumulated frustration, the radical activism of a new Palestinian generation, unhindered colonization, and Israeli politicians with dangerous rhetoric.
Same speeches
Since the beginning of last year, violent incidents have been multiplying in various forms — anti-Israeli terrorism, settler violence reminiscent of anti-Palestinian pogroms, and military operations. The death toll is rising at a pace not seen since the two intifadas in the 1980s and 2000s.
The speeches have stayed the same for so long. How many times has an Israeli Prime Minister, like Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Tuesday that “the fight against terrorism in Jenin will continue until it is eliminated”?
If violence could be eradicated through force, Israel, with its overwhelming military superiority, would have succeeded in doing so decades ago. It has been 56 years, almost to the day, since Israel took control of Palestinian territories in the 1967 war. The same goes for Palestinians.
Vicious cycle
It is, therefore, a dangerous deadlock because the current status quo is becoming increasingly unsustainable. It is exploding because the settler movement, which now has representatives within the Netanyahu government, is advancing its agenda.
The Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, one of the leaders of the far right, recently encouraged an illegal settlement on Palestinian land. He expressed his wish for more settlements on every hill in the West Bank and called for a counter-terrorist military operation that would result in “hundreds, and if necessary, thousands of deaths.” These are his words.
Israelis and Palestinians are inexorably sinking deeper into the vicious cycle of violence.
These inflammatory statements are protected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who cannot govern without the far-right. Now, Ben Gvir’s wish has become a reality with the large-scale operation in Jenin. Israelis and Palestinians are inexorably sinking deeper into the vicious cycle of violence.
