A week has passed since the ceasefire was declared in Gaza. We celebrated when we learned the news in the West Bank. We hoped that the genocide had ended peacefully. However, we also realized that we cannot maintain a ceasefire.
Our decades of constant violence do not seem to be abating. The brutality of our occupier has only increased since October 7, 2023. Living in the West Bank is now almost impossible.
Violence, drug possession, and paralysis
A friend’s young daughter cheered upon the announcement of the ceasefire agreement, and she later requested that she go pick some olives with her grandparents. She responded, “Why? I told him it would be challenging. The war is not over, right?
How do you explain to a young child that Palestinian West Bank families still have access to their land to grow olives after the war ends in Gaza? Due to the barriers the Israeli military has built, people are still unable to access their groves, or they fear Israeli soldiers and settlers attacking them, or both.
Palestinian farmers are subject to daily violent assaults on their property. Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians and property since October 7, 2023, some of which have been fatal.
More than 10,000 Palestinians have been displaced and almost 1, 000 have been killed by the Israeli army and settler mobs, including 212 children. Since October 7, 2023, soldiers and settlers have systematically destroyed 237 olive trees.
Even urban life has become intolerable.
I live in Rawabi, a city north of Ramallah, and I too experience daily suffocation from the occupation.
I could spend hours stranded at a checkpoint if I have to leave my city to run errands, shop, get official paperwork, or do anything else. Between Rawabi and Ramallah, which has four iron gates, a military tower, and a barrier, can take an eternity to travel between Rawabi and Ramallah in 10 minutes.
There are 243 Israeli barriers, barriers, and iron gates throughout the West Bank, all of which were constructed after October 7, 2023. A Palestinian may spend hours stuck inside one barrier due to how they are configured by the Israeli army. Every aspect of life is impacted by this, from school attendance to urgent medical care to transportation of goods.
Additionally, we have been denied access to Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, which in turn restricts our right to worship. Few Palestinians receive the necessary special permits to enter the city, according to wikipedia. Years ago, we last had access to Jerusalem, which was more than 20 years ago. This implies that a whole generation of young people only know about the city from their parents and grandparents’ pictures and stories.
The occupation does not leave the Palestinians alone, even at night. The Israeli army may conduct a , an a , raid, or home invasion against any Palestinians; soldiers may break the front door, terrorize the family inside, and imprison some of its members without charge. Israeli soldiers would also be terrorized if they shot tear gas canisters without warning, only to cause more suffering nearby.
The Palestinians in the West Bank are denied all rights to a normal life, including the right to worship, to pass peacefully with friends and family, to move freely, to receive regular medical care and education.
Annexation carries the spectre of fear.
Israel has largely occupied the West Bank, with almost half of it under Israeli control over the years since the occupation of 1967. By designating its land as “state land” or “military zone,” it has been used to build settlements and seize land from its Palestinian owners. At least 12,300 acres (4, 9787 hectares) of Palestinian land were taken in two years, accelerating the theft of the land.
In many cases, confiscated land is used to build new settlements or to expand existing ones.
The West Bank’s settlements are not built at random. Instead of preventing any sort of geographical continuity between Palestinian territories, land is chosen in a way that surrounds Palestinian villages and towns, creating a settlement belt around them, thereby thwarting the dream of a future state.
Israel has also used the West Bank’s natural resources to maintain these illegal settlements. Nearly all water resources have been seized by it. In the West Bank, as a result of this, a sizable water reservoir was established to support settlement expansion.
This has had disastrous effects on the Palestinians. They are now largely dependent on the Israeli company “Mekorot,” which distributes only a small portion of the Palestinian population’s water supply to densely populated areas, while settlers are paid several times the Palestinian share per capita.
Palestinians are compelled to purchase extra water from Mekorot at exorbitant prices each summer as drought settles in. Palestinian rainwater tanks and wells are frequently attacked and destroyed in the meantime.
The Israeli government’s annexation efforts have gotten more aggressive since October 7, 2023. Area C, which was established as a result of the Oslo Accords and under which Israel is under total civilian and security control, is a concern, in our opinion, is about to be taken over. This would mean razing Palestinian towns and communities and moving people to Area A, which makes up only 18% of the West Bank. Following will be Area B. Bedouin communities in the two regions are already engaged in the forced expulsion process.
In the West Bank, this is what we experience. We are unaware of peace conferences and meetings that were held and that were declared in the Middle East. We are threatened, intimidated, dispossessed, and killed every day, every hour, every minute.
Israel has resisted political solutions for decades and has a policy of swaying people, land, and resources. Even after its bombardment has ended, it has continued to fight us. Recognizing and ending the occupation is the only way to bring about true peace.
