Israel is acting with insolence

Israel has been intensifying illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, notwithstanding international condemnation. This action is part of Israel’s plan to annex and ethnically cleanse a region it has been militarily occupying since 1967. For decades, Israel has been pursuing a maximalist policy of expansion in the West Bank, but different governing coalitions have approached the same goals with diverse tactics. What we are seeing right now with Israel’s far-right governing coalition is more of an accelerationist approach that aims to validate what has for so long been a de facto reality on the ground. That process has intensified since October 7. Israeli bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people while many are more likely to die from other impacts of the war, even if fighting were to stop instantly. Ceasefire talks have not stopped the violence, which follows a familiar pattern by the Israelis. During that time, Israel has killed more than 630 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the most recent death coming overnight on Friday as disguised settlers stormed through Palestinian towns, attacking people and setting property burning. Before the recent war on Gaza, near-daily military raids and attacks on Palestinians by settlers in 2023 made it the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005, the year the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) began recording fatalities. The continuous Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank signal constant ethnic cleansing or even a possible full annexation. Although analysts say Israel’s policies of expansion have existed even under extra liberal-leaning governments, they point out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current administration’s far-right elements are taking advantage of the war in Gaza to push their agenda. Tel Aviv has been exploiting the ongoing war in Gaza to settle old colonial scores in the West Bank by imposing sovereignty, annexing Area C, and legitimizing settlements, ultimately leading to the expulsion and displacement of Palestinians. Area C is a West Bank division set by the 1993 Oslo Accords seen as a path to a Palestinian state. Areas A and B are only occupied by Palestinians, while Area C is fully under Israeli security control. The international community regularly criticizes Israel’s expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank. The country’s major backer and ally, the United States also criticizes. It’s been longstanding US policy, under Republican and Democratic administrations alike, that new settlements are fruitless to reaching an enduring peace, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the press in February. They are also inconsistent with international law. Our administration maintains a firm opposition to settlement expansion. In our judgment, this only weakens; it does not strengthen Israel’s security. However, in practice, the US does little to deter Israel’s illegal settlement policies supported by most across Israel’s political divides. Despite the continued unlawful occupation of the eastern half of the city by Israel, the US moved its embassy to West Jerusalem in 2018. The next year, the US recognized Israel’s unlawful annexation of the Golan Heights, which are occupied Syrian territory. Both occurred during former US President Donald Trump’s administration but remained unchanged under President Joe Biden. Settlers continue to do everything to annoy Palestinians and to throw them actively off their land including all sorts of miniature-scale ethnic cleansings backed up by the Israeli military. Unless the US and others in the international community change their approach and start holding Israel accountable for their policies and actions in the occupied West Bank, the ethnic cleansing and annexation will only continue. Israel is acting with increasing insolence because the international community has made it clear that it is not willing to take actual measures to hold Israel accountable.