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by Allison Kaplan Sommer,
‘Eradicating terror’ in the West Bank, just like ‘total victory’ in Gaza, will only happen once Israel embraces and actively participates in shaping an alternative vision for Palestinian self-rule. Until then, both will be condemned to a future of endless conflict
The IDF assault on the West Bank city of Jenin in the past few days has been accompanied by a different kind of campaign: a PR offensive, in the form of embedding reporters across Israel’s media to document the aggressive operation taking place there.
Haaretz military correspondent Yaniv Kubovich detailed the PR campaign, explaining in his reporting that the IDF is pushing a narrative of the operation in Jenin being “substantially different” from those in the past. The operation’s mission is branded as “neutralizing the Jenin battalion.”
But it doesn’t seem clear exactly what is being neutralized by the airstrikes and bulldozers, at the cost of civilian lives alongside those of armed militants. One officer interviewed referred to the target as the “Hamas battalion” but, when pushed, admitted that it’s “not really a battalion.” And, Kubovich observed, it’s also not really Hamas, but local “thugs” frequently targeted by Israeli forces. Now those thugs are being “rebranded” by the IDF.
The politics behind it, it seems, is appeasing the far-right elements of the Netanyahu government who must currently swallow the images of Palestinian prisoners being released and the Palestinian population of Gaza streaming back to the northern Strip under Hamas’ supervision, the same area where they fantasize about resurrecting the Jewish settlements dismantled 20 years ago.
As guns and bombs are temporarily silent in Gaza, thanks to the pressure from President Donald Trump to close a deal, fighting the “Jenin battalion” is intended to reassure Bezalel Smotrich – as well as his Religious Zionism party and its voters – that the war against Hamas is continuing, but in the West Bank. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised that the aim of this military campaign is so that terrorism will be “eradicated” – an absurdly absolutist declaration that mirrors the “total victory” he promised in Gaza.
To be sure, while they may not be building battalions, Hamas – along with Palestinian Islamic Jihad – has been gaining support, prestige and strength in West Bank strongholds like Jenin, as the Palestinian Authority weakens.
That prestige and support will surely only grow as Hamas remains the default ruler of Gaza, its leaders and militants emerging from the tunnels and celebrating on the streets as they did in their recent hostage release pageant, and exulting at the failure of the Netzarim corridor to keep Gazans from returning northwards.
But effectively countering Hamas’ strength in the West Bank, such as it is, won’t come solely from using guns, attack helicopters and bulldozers.
“Eradicating terror” in the West Bank, just like “total victory” in Gaza, will only happen once Israel embraces and actively participates in shaping an alternative vision for Palestinian self-rule. Until then, both will be condemned to a future of endless conflict. No PR campaign can whitewash that.
Source: https://www.haaretz.com
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