The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Wednesday that Israeli forces have killed over two dozen people in the West Bank just over the past week, while the Palestinian Health Ministry reports a death toll of at least 39 people so far, with over 145 people injured. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has said that the past week was the deadliest in the occupied West Bank since November.
Over the past week alone, Israel has cut northern parts of the region off from the rest of the West Bank, putting cities there under siege as Israeli forces turned neighborhoods into war zones and razed others. Soldiers have used bulldozers to tear up major streets.
On Sunday — just a few days into Israel’s current assault — Jenin officials reported that the Israeli army had already bulldozed over 70 percent of Jenin’s streets, destroyed 20 kilometers miles of water and sewage infrastructure, and cut off water to 80 percent of the city. OCHA reports that Israel has destroyed the homes of at least 120 people in Tulkarem, while 13,000 people in Nur Shams have lost water access to their homes.
Meanwhile, Palestinians say that Israel’s endless assaults on the occupied West Bank are constantly radicalizing the victims of such attacks. “What do you think they’re doing? They’re pushing for escalation so that they can fully depopulate us,” one resident of Jenin told +972 Magazine. “They’re making life for us unbearable.”
Yeah. Honestly, if you asked me even in November of last year, I would have bitterly said that I wouldn’t expect US public opinion of Israel to shift for several more decades. It’s heartening to see that sometimes positive change comes faster than you hoped - though obviously not fast enough, considering the ongoing situation.
I had no clue what the situation of Israel/Palestine was really like not that long ago. The reality was nothing like what was touched on during my highschool education, and I’m sure that’s been the situation for most Americans. Even the public sentiment on Lemmy, a left-leaning platform, was entirely different not more than a year ago. I’m glad public sentiment is changing, I hope it continues to do so and influences our representatives to shift too, before it’s too late.