On Saturday, the Israeli army launched a large-scale military operation in the heart of Hebron, in the south of the West Bank. It occupied homes and forced hundreds of families to leave their homes, in a new process of displacement, in the besieged and closed West Bank. While the authority rejected collective Israeli punishment and called on the world to intervene, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened it with a “big surprise... a surprise.”
The Israeli army stormed Hebron, after closing all accesses to it, after the operation carried out by two Palestinians at an Israeli checkpoint in the Farsh al-Hawa area, on the outskirts of the city. They killed two soldiers and wounded three others. The army occupied homes and expelled residents from their homes in the areas of al-Jalda and Deir Baha, from which the two perpetrators left.
Video footage showed Israeli soldiers in military vehicles asking residents to leave their homes, at dawn on Saturday.
The soldiers repeated over the headphones the phrase: “To all the residents of the neighborhood, pack (gather) your things.” Because your husband (the man since the operation) brought you (brought) immigration.”
Later, other footage showed Palestinians, men, women, and children, leaving their homes in the cover of darkness, actually outside the area.
The mayor of Hebron, Yousef Al-Jaabari, said that 2,200 Palestinians were displaced from their homes in the Al-Jalda and Deir Bahha areas due to the ongoing Israeli operation throughout Hebron.
Al-Jabari added that the Israeli army is besieging the city and preventing anyone from leaving or entering. It has demolished homes and shops in the Farsh al-Hawa area, paralyzing life, storming Hebron neighborhoods and displacing residents. It also stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque, closed it, and completely prevented worshipers from reaching it.
With the start of the military operation, universities and schools announced the closure of classes, the Transport and Communications Syndicate issued a statement also suspending the movement of vehicles, factories closed their doors, and the movement of people and goods to and from Hebron completely stopped.
The Israeli army announced that its operation, which began in Hebron on Saturday, is taking place with the participation of the Shin Bet, border guard forces, and the Liaison Coordination Office, and aims to thwart “terrorism” and reshape the security reality in the region.
The Israeli army spokeswoman, Ella Waiya, said that an operation was launched in the Hebron city area, where the forces began carrying out precise and comprehensive combing operations of the infrastructure in the area, with the aim of detecting and neutralizing terrorist infrastructure and combat means, in addition to investigating dozens of suspects. She added: “The operation is focused on a specific area that includes the area from which the terrorists launched, and it is expected to continue for several days.”
According to Army Radio, the army took control of buildings in the area and raised Israeli flags on them, with the aim of strengthening control over the area, and began extensive searches of homes and infrastructure, searching for weapons and suspects, and also carried out arrests and interrogations.
The army designated 3 designated crossing points for residents residing in the operation area, after undergoing security inspection and interrogation procedures.
As families began to be evacuated, the Palestinian Authority activated an emergency plan, and families announced the opening of their homes and headquarters to receive the stranded residents.
The operation in Hebron is part of a larger operation in the West Bank, which the army said was proactive and offensive, aiming to thwart militants and remove threats.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said that the army arrested more than 70 Palestinians in the West Bank at dawn on Saturday, including liberators in exchange deals.
The operation in the West Bank came on instructions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said that they would transfer the model of the camps in the northern West Bank to Hebron.
The Israeli army has been occupying camps in the northern West Bank since the beginning of last year, and forced about 40,000 residents there to leave forever after demolishing most of the homes.
It is not known whether Israel is planning to do this at this stage, as the army said that its operation will last only a few days.
But Netanyahu pledged an unprecedented war in the West Bank, then said that a “big surprise” awaited the Palestinian Authority, without clarifying what it was. Netanyahu avoided answering directly whether he intended to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, but indicated that he preferred the method of “surprise and surprise.” He added in an interview with I24 News: “We have changed the Middle East. “I said we would make a difference, and that's what we did.”
Regarding the current operation, Netanyahu said that the directive he gave was to enter the neighborhood from which the two perpetrators emerged, evacuate the residents, search houses house by house, and collect weapons. He added: “Not only that, but destroying all terrorist infrastructure.” He continued: “Later, it is expected that a large-scale operation will be carried out to address the remnants of armed organizations in the West Bank, the likes of which has not been carried out since the Six-Day War.”
The Authority did not immediately comment on Netanyahu’s threats, but Palestinian Vice President Hussein Al-Sheikh called for action by the international community to stop the aggression in the West Bank.
The Sheikh said that the policy of collective punishment pursued by the Israeli occupation government against our Palestinian people requires clear international condemnation and serious action by the international community to stop these violations and hold those responsible for them accountable.
In a post on the “X” platform, the sheikh stressed the need to ensure that those responsible for these violations do not escape punishment, in accordance with international law, stressing that it is not permissible for an entire people to remain hostage to policies of collective punishment, or for the suffering of civilians to go without accountability or accountability.
The Palestinian government also warned of the danger of the ongoing Israeli escalation in the West Bank, rejecting collective punishment measures, which included displacing the residents of entire neighborhoods, demolishing homes and facilities, and closing and besieging Palestinian cities, within the framework of a systematic Israeli policy.
The government described this “criminal escalation as an act of aggression targeting the Palestinian people, their land, and their capabilities.” She added: “This escalation that has affected all governorates will not bring security and peace to anyone, and its continuation will only lead to more tension and escalation.”
The Hamas movement considered what is happening in the West Bank an extension of the criminal aggression committed by the occupation against our people, and it will not succeed in breaking the will of our stationed people and their adherence to their land and rights.
The movement said in a press statement that the occupation's criminal policies, oppression, and abuse constitute a dangerous escalation that requires a comprehensive national stance and serious international action to stop this aggression and deter the occupation and its leaders, who are competing at the expense of the blood of our people.
Israel is examining any confirmed links regarding Hamas's relationship abroad with the operation, although Netanyahu directly accused them and said that he would reach all of the movement's leaders at any time and place.
Maariv newspaper said that the security establishment attaches great importance to verifying the possibility that elements of Hamas in Türkiye had directed the operation. If evidence is found to confirm this assessment, as some security officials believe, it may force Israel to retaliate. She added: “In such a scenario, Israel may view Hamas in Turkey as the party that opened a violent front against it, and the Israeli response may be public, or within the framework of a process for which Israel can deny responsibility.”
The Tampa meetings, which were held between the Lebanese and Israeli military delegations under American sponsorship, from Tuesday to Thursday did not produce any results, according to what Lebanese sources familiar with the content of the negotiations told Asharq Al-Awsat, rejecting at the same time their description of them as “negative.” A joint statement has not yet been issued at the conclusion of the negotiations, “because no agreement was reached on any of the issues discussed.” The sources said that the two parties agreed to complete the discussions, relying on the American role, but the whole matter remains postponed until after the Israeli elections at the end of this month or until the American midterm elections.
The Lebanese presidency had announced, prior to the Tampa meetings, that a Lebanese military delegation would present Beirut’s demands to end Israeli attacks in Lebanon, after Lebanon and Israel held several rounds of direct talks in the past months to discuss ways to implement the “framework agreement” reached between the two countries.
The presidency said, “The Lebanese military delegation will participate in the tripartite meeting to put Lebanese demands to stop the Israeli escalation on the table, in the hope of achieving results consistent with the framework agreement.”
No pictures of the Tampa meetings have been published yet, and the sources pointed out that the Lebanese delegation renewed its old demand to stop Israeli raids, bombings, bulldozing and demolition operations in the south, and to adhere to the ceasefire agreement, in addition to withdrawing from the occupied Lebanese territories and returning the prisoners, in addition to allowing farmers to reach their lands in the border areas and enabling them to pick olives, in light of the continuing Israeli threats to which they are exposed.
Failed to agree on the verification mechanism
In addition to the non-implementation of the terms of the agreement, there are still outstanding issues that impede the implementation of the terms of the agreement, and they took up part of the Tampa discussions without yielding results, most notably the “verification mechanism” that Beirut is committed to establishing to implement security arrangements, make progress in the experimental areas and create conditions for the deployment of the Lebanese army.
Therefore, determining who will monitor the implementation of security arrangements remains one of the most prominent differences between the two parties, as Israel wants to establish a joint room or adopt a direct means of communication with the Lebanese army. In order to have a role in supervising the evacuation of Hezbollah areas and military installations of weapons, which Lebanon categorically rejects, suggesting that the task of verification be assigned to a UN or international body.
While sources familiar with the negotiations are cautiously looking at the possibility of a breach in the negotiations in the next stage, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz had raised his threats at a time when those meeting in Tampa were conducting their discussions.
He said on Tuesday that the Israeli army imposed its control over a security zone inside Lebanese territory with an area estimated at about 700 square kilometers, stressing that its forces will not withdraw from this area until Hezbollah is completely disarmed throughout Lebanon. Katz announced the Israeli army's readiness to move towards Nabatieh and Litani to permanently annex them to that security zone, threatening that any attack targeting towns in northern Israel would be met with a direct response in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Pending setting a date for a new round of military meetings, it has become certain that political negotiations will not resume before the end of the electoral elections in Israel and the United States of America.
Over the past two weeks, Iraqi activists have mobilized for a popular demonstration, tomorrow, Sunday, coinciding with the seventh anniversary of the “October Movement,” which began on October 25, 2019, and lasted for more than a year and managed to overthrow the government of former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, before the authorities and armed groups launched repressive campaigns that ended with the end of the protest.
Political and governmental trends do not hide their fear of friction and clashes between security forces and demonstrators, similar to what happened in 2019, when about 600 people were killed and more than 20,000 injured, but other trends rule this out, in light of expectations that smaller numbers of protesters will come out.
Constitutional right
But Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi anticipated the protest by one day, and said in an interview with state television, on Saturday, that “demonstration is a right guaranteed by the constitution and the law. I will listen to all the demands of the demonstrators, and anything we can offer we will do. These are our people and our duty is to serve them and not object to the demonstrations.”
Sources close to the government spoke of officials meeting with a number of representatives of the demonstrators and holders of advanced degrees seeking appointment to find out the most important demands that the demonstrators will raise.
Activists and political parties have been intensifying their calls for citizens to support and participate in the demonstrations for days, through statements and publications on social media sites.
The Iraqi Communist Party called on its supporters to participate in the demonstrations, along with the “National House” and “National Line Movement” parties, and the three parties are not represented in Parliament or the government.
Observers believe that the difficult living conditions that the country has witnessed in recent months, especially after the reduction in the dinar exchange rates, will be one of the most prominent factors pushing citizens to demonstrate.
“Against corruption and sectarianism”
The National House Party, which emerged from the October Movement, called on what it described as the “Iraqi nation” to demonstrate to “remember the protest and renew true demands.”
In its statement, the party renewed its “adherence to the authentic principles of October, which call for rejecting quotas, corruption, sectarianism, and uncontrolled weapons, and calling for the adoption of a state of citizenship, the rule of law, and the adoption of democracy and its values.”
He stressed that “the crimes committed against the youth of October are political crimes and will not be subject to the statute of limitations, even if it takes a long time. He calls on the government to include exposing the killers in its declared program and not reward those accused of suppressing October with positions.”
Despite the numerous investigative committees formed by successive governments to investigate the killing and wounding of thousands in the 2019 demonstrations, they did not announce their results and did not bring any of those involved to justice.
Due to the fear of violence and clashes that might occur between the security forces and the demonstrators, the independent politician and former candidate for prime minister, Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi, called for the formation of a “joint coordination committee” between the security services and the protesters to secure the squares, and to limit the protest to known spaces to block any attempts to create acts of violence or sabotage, while stressing that the peaceful demonstrator is not an enemy of the state.
