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This is an opinion piece written by Rachel Yi. Graphic design by Rosie Phillips. The Israeli military has been waging a constant barrage against Palestine, with noted brutality in Jenin, Nablus, and East Jerusalem. Violence from the Israeli state and settler groups is increasing, along with armed resistance from Palestinians. On March 30th, 2022, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declared “Citizens of Israel, we are currently experiencing a wave of murderous terrorism and, just like in all the previous waves, we will prevail together… In the last 24 hours, the security establishment has been acting with full force to restore security to Israel’s cities and a feeling of security for you, the citizens.” The joint security operation is named “Break the Wave”, which follows the related “Operation Law and Order” . Despite increasing repression of Palestinians, including the killings of at least 28 children in 2022, the targeting of journalists including the execution of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and attacks on Palestinian human rights groups such as Alhaq, Forensic Architecture, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Addameer, and Bisan Center for Research and Development, a growing number of Arab states are normalizing their relations with Israel. With nothing but empty gestures from the international community, a collapsed peace process, and constant indignities subjected upon Palestinians, Israelis, Palestinians, and observers are all beginning to speak of a full-scale Palestinian revolt against the occupation. Here is an account of the recent situation in Palestine, covering the events from September 29th- October 17th.
On September 29th, Rayan Suleiman, (7) years old, dies after being chased by Israeli soldiers and accused of throwing stones. As soldiers threatened Rayan (7), and his brothers (8 & 10), Rayan collapsed and died. Pediatric specialist Mohamed Ismail states he had no underlying health conditions, and the most probable scenario is that excess adrenaline from fear induced cardiac arrest.
On October 3rd, Basel Basbous (19) and Khaled Anbar (22) are shot and killed by Israeli forces during a raid of Jalazone refugee camp. Rafat Habash (19) was wounded and then detained by Israeli forces. Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, reports that more than 30 rounds were fired at the the three men and the vehicle they were in.
On October 4th, Fayez Khaled Mahmoud Damdoum (17), is shot and killed by Israeli forces in Al-Eizariya. After falling off his motorcycle behind Israeli military vehicles, Fayez attempted to run away. Israeli forces shot him in the neck and was declared dead at a nearby emergency center. Israeli settlers attack a Palestinian school in Huwarrah, south of Nablus. A teacher and two students are minorly injured, and the school day is canceled, and all students sent home.
On October 7th, Adel Ibrahim Adel Daud, (14), is shot and killed by Israeli forces near the Israeli Separation Wall, south of Qalqilya in the West Bank. Mahdi Mohammad Abdulmuti Ladadwa, (17), is shot and killed by Israeli forces in a village north of Ramallah, Al-Mazra Al-Gharbieh.On October 8th, Ahmad Mohhamad Daraghmeh (17) and Mahmoud as-Sous (17) are shot and killed by Israeli military forces during a raid of the Jenin refugee camp. Anwar Abu as-Sebaa and his daughter Iman are injured after being run over by an Israeli military vehicle during a raid of the Jenin refugee camp. IDF soldier Noa Lazar, (18), dies after being shot at a checkpoint in Shuafat refugee camp, and Israel enforces a siege of the Shuafat refugee camp along with the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Dahiyat al-Salam, Ras Shahda, Ras Khamis, and Anata. The Palestinian fighter, Uday Al Tamimi, evades capture for 11 days and carries out another shooting at another Israeli checkpoint. No deaths are reported after the second shooting. Palestinian youth shave their heads after a description of the shooter as bald is released, in order to help Al Tamimi evade capture and inb a show of solidarity. Islamic Jihad releases a statement saying, “The more the occupation perpetrates its crimes, the tougher the resistance will be,”.
On October 10th, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reports Israeli troops prevented ambulance crews from entering Shuafat and Anata. Shawan Jabarin, chair of Palestinian human rights organisation Alhaq, states the siege of the camp is “collective punishment” in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and that "The life of a Palestinian has no sanctity to them, as well as their livelihoods and dignity. This is embedded in the [Israeli] occupation's mindset," A Palestinian child Mahmoud Khalil Samoudi, 12, dies two weeks after being shot by Israeli forces near Jenin.
On October 11th, IDF soldier Ido Baroukh, 21, dies after being shot near an illegal settlement between Jenin and Nablus in the West Bank. Lions’ Den, a militant Palestinian group, claims responsibility for the attack.
On October 12th, Palestinians hold a general strike in Nablus in solidarity with the people of Shuafat and Anata. Birzeit University suspended the university’s working hours for the day, in compliance with the strike. The Palestinian Bar Association suspended all its work in the courts.
On October 13th: Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir is filmed leading settlers into the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem and shouting “If they throw stones, shoot them!” and waving a pistol. Settlers attack Palestinians their houses and businesses in Huwarra, south of Nablus, protected by Israeli forces. Settlers fired live ammunition, beat Palestinians, and threw rocks and pepper spray, and smashed cars and storefronts. Israeli forces shoot and kill Palestinian boy Osama Mahmoud Hasan Adawi (17) at the entrance to the Al-Arroub refugee camp near Hebron.
On October 14th, Abdullah Abu Al-Teen, 43, dies after being shot by Israeli forces in front of the Jenin public hospital. The PA Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh, said that the doctor was “shot dead by Israeli forces while he was trying to rescue casualties”. Mateen Dabaya, 20, commander in the Jenin Brigades, an armed Palestinian resistance group, dies after being shot by Israeli forces.
On October 15th, Qais Imad Shajayyeh, 23, is shot and killed by Israeli forces near Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah. Soldiers withheld the body from the family. Later, Israeli forces raided Shajayyeh’s home in Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, and arrested three people. Qais Imad Shajayyeh shot and injured an Israeli settler near the illegal Beit El settlement, near Ramallah. The name and age of the settler has not been released in the press.
On October 17th, on the last day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, dozens of Israelis entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli police, while Muslims under the age of 50 were prevented from entering the mosque or were forced to leave. Observers say that the Israelis performed Jewish religious rituals within the site, despite rules saying non-Muslims are prohibited from praying at the site, although they are allowed access.
On October 19th, Uday Al-Tamini, the Palestinian man responsible for shooting and killing an IDF soldier, Noa Lazar, and another shooting near an illegal settlement close to Shuafat refugee camp, is shot and killed by the IDF. He dies during a firefight near a checkpoint near Maale Adumim, one of the largest of Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid stated “We will not rest until we lay our hands on every terrorist who harms Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers. We will act with an iron hand and without hesitation against terrorism,” after Uday Al-Tamimi was declared dead. Palestinians have declared a day of mourning for Uday Al Tamimi. Multiple Palestinian cities have gone on general strike in response to his death. In the early morning of October 20th, multiple armed Palestinians groups carried out retaliatory attacks on Israeli forces in Nablus and Jenin, in response to Uday Al- Tamini's death. During 2022, at least 100 Palestinian civilians and fighters have died in the West Bank, the highest death toll in 7 years according to the UN.
An Israeli commentator for Haaretz tells readers that while there is “the terrible feeling of a car hurtling down a slope toward an abyss”, there is nothing left to do but pray. It is easy to look at a timeline of recent events and feel that there is nothing but endless reprisals and senseless hatred, and that there is no hope for a peace process; there is nothing to do but pray for a miracle. That hopelessness is a product of an inability to imagine a future without the occupation of Palestine. The violence in Israel-Palestine can be explained. It is the tool necessary to maintain the occupation of Palestine and repress any possibility of an independent Palestinian state, and then the armed resistance against this grinding brutality.
As long as Israel continues to occupy Palestine, the occupation will require violence. As long as Palestinians live under occupation, they will resist it, and parts of that resistance will be violent. Frantz Fanon wrote “Decolonization is always a violent phenomenon…Their first encounter was marked by violence and their existence together—that is to say the exploitation of the native by the settler—was carried on by dint of a great array of bayonets and cannons.” Once the violence in Israel-Palestine is understood as the violence ingrained in colonization and decolonization, then hope appears. Peace requires justice. Justice can only begin once the occupation ends.
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