B'Tselem says Israel's all-out war on Palestinians since 7 October includes West Bank

The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem has said that the apartheid state has been waging an “all-out war” on the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, since the start of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on 19 January.

With US support, Israel has committed genocide in Gaza between 7 October, 2023, and 19 January this year, killing or wounding 160,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, with another 14,000 missing.

Since the start of this genocide, the Israeli army and Jewish settlers have expanded and escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, killing 909 Palestinians, wounding 7,000 and arresting 14,300 others, according to official Palestinian data. All of Israel’s Jewish settlements and settlers are illegal under international law.

“Israel is continuing its all-out war on the Palestinian people. Since the ceasefire began in Gaza, the West Bank has been on fire,” said B’Tselem on social media. “Settlers attacked communities almost every night last week, sometimes with soldiers standing by.”

The NGO pointed out that since the [Gaza] ceasefire began on 19 January, there have been more military raids on cities and villages in the West Bank, so far killing dozens of people. “This is not what a ceasefire looks like.”

The organisation attached to its post a video showing attacks committed by settlers and the Israeli army over the past months against Palestinians in the West Bank.

On 21 January, the Israeli army began a military offensive in the West Bank, starting with the city of Jenin, its refugee camp and the towns around them. After six days, the occupation army expanded its aggression to the city of Tulkarm, then on 2 February, it began an operation in the town of Tamoun and the Far’a camp in the Tubas governorate. It withdrew from Tamoun after seven days but continues its aggression in the camp.

For decades, Israel has occupied lands in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from them and establish an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the pre-1967 war borders.

READ: Over 20,000 Palestinians displaced by Israeli assault on Jenin refugee camp in West Bank: Official