In the early hours of Monday, Ahmed al-Amouri, 56, watched three Israeli tanks ironically taking place in his hometown, Jenin, in an occupied West Bank.
The last time he had seen tanks more than two decades ago when Israel sought to crush the second intifada in 2002.
This time, the scene seemed to provoke more humor than alarm.
He joined passers -by who took selfies in front of the armored vehicles or trampled on them with rocks when they entered Jenin.
“There is no need to bring these tanks here. The city is empty! The father of five said.
“I and thousands of others have already been driven out, and unless they fight their own demons, they will not find anyone in the camp to fight,” he said.
He had followed the tanks of Wad Burkeen, the village where he is now based, about 10 minutes walk from his home in Jenin’s camp, which he had been forced to go out, as well as 14 family members on January 26.
The Cisjordani refugee camps welcome thousands of Palestinians whose ancestors were ethnically cleaned by Zionist gangs to make way for the statement of Israel in 1948.
Over the years, armed resistance has occurred there. In 2002, while Israeli tanks were bullyed the alleys of these camps, the combatants were ready with traps and ambushes.
But while the three tanks took place in Jenin this week and got into post in the Al-Jabriyat district, they found no resistance.
Politics, non -tactical
The deployment of the reservoir comes after more than a month of Israeli assault against the occupied West Bank, nicknamed “Operation Iron Wall”, which she launched just when a ceasefire settles in Gaza.
According to analysts, Israel’s motivation is political rather than led by security, considered a decision to appease the far-right Israeli politicians angry by the ceasefire.
Westthror assaults have killed at least 61 people and has moved more than 40,000 people since the end of January.
“The war in Gaza and now in the West Bank is part of the collective strategy of the punishments of Israel,” said Wasel Abu Yousef, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
“The destruction of Palestinian cities and the displacement of residents are … political maneuvers designed to tighten the grip of Israel in the occupied territories”, adding that it would open the way to the construction of more illegal Israeli colonies.
A test for the long -term plans of Israel
Jenin’s latest developments, according to analysts, are Israel testing his vision of the West Bank, especially since the Minister of Defense Israel Katz said that those who had been moved from the refugee camps would not be authorized to return.
According to Palestinian political analyst Ahmad Abu al-Hija, the deployment of tanks is part of an Israeli strategy to reshape the security and governance structures of the West Bank.
“What is happening in Jenin is … to redefine Israeli control and potentially integrate elements of the Palestinian Authority Security forces in an Israeli home framework,” he said.
These attacks, he added, are also linked to the thrust of Israel to dismantle the refugee camps and to the concept of the Palestinians as refugees, who have become apparent when he launched what seemed to be a campaign against UNRWA, the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees
“The elimination of UNRWA is part of the erasure of the right to return from the Palestinians. If the Jenin camp is dismantled, it will establish a precedent for other West Bank camps, transforming them into regular urban districts and forcing the Palestinians to integrate into the municipal systems controlled by Israeli, “he explained.
Extreme right pressure and annexation of the West Bank
For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces growing domestic disorders on his management of the Gaza War and a ceasefire reached despite his far-right partners, climbing in the West Bank serves as political distraction.
His extreme right allies, including the Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich and the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, have long called for the annexation of the West Bank and the expulsion of the Palestinians.
“Netanyahu tries to survive politically by offering a military climbing as a concession to his far -right coalition,” said Suleiman Basharat, director of Yabous Center for Strategic Studies.
“The deployment of tanks in Jenin is … a show designed to send a message to its basis that it takes decisive measures” and “to shock the Palestinians in submission.
“By deploying heavy military machines, he aims to create a feeling of inevitability about his control over the West Bank.”
A manufactured crisis
Palestinian analyst Ahmed Rafiq Awad, director of the Al-Quds political study center, said that even if Israel was aimed at representing his military operations as necessary security measures, the excessive force used in the West Bank may re-turn generalized Palestinian resistance.
“The level of brutality we see – mass arrests, home demolitions and continuous raids – could push the Palestinians to another uprising,” warned Basharat.
“If Israel continues this level of violence, we can see a return to popular mass confrontations similar to those of the first and second intifadas.”
Awad agreed that in the midst of a “gourmet” response of the international community, and “without real consequences, Netanyahu and its far right allies will continue to extend the colonies, to erase the refugee camps and to remove the occupation under the cover of security.”
For Palestinians like Al-Amouri, the presence of Israeli tanks in Jenin is a dark reminder that the occupation deepens.
“We lived under their occupation all our lives. It’s nothing new. In fact, it’s too familiar, “he said.
This play was published in collaboration with EGAB.
