... as the US gives the license to murder

This year has seen the highest death toll for Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the UN’s humanitarian office began keeping record in 2005. Tel Aviv’s strategy for combating newly formed armed groups in the territory is only encouraging their growth in size and expanding the scope of violent escalation.

On December 2, video emerged of an Israeli border police officer gunning down an unarmed Palestinian man near the West Bank city of Nablus. 22-year-old Ammar Mefleh was the tenth Palestinian killed in the span of a week by Israeli fire, however, his specific case ignited a particular outrage that resulted in retaliatory rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and shooting attacks on military checkpoints in the West Bank.

The official Israeli line on the killing was that the young Palestinian man was in possession of a knife and had attempted to stab an Israeli settler, then shot dead after trying to seize an Israeli officer’s gun. However, eye-witness accounts contradict this version of events. According to the eyewitness reports, an Israeli settler began harassing Palestinians, leading to a confrontation with the 22-year-old Palestinian who was then pursued by an Israeli border officer who attempted to arrest him. The video then shows the end of this story, where locals attempt to intervene to stop the abuse of the young Palestinian that is held in a headlock, with a visibly bloodied face. After slapping the Israeli officer and grappling over the officer’s rifle, the rifle drops to the floor and the border officer pulls out a hand gun, shooting the young man four times at point-blank range. Medical workers were then reportedly blocked from the scene and rendered incapable of administering aid.

The United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, was then attacked for expressing that he had been “horrified” by the killing and called for an investigation. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid praised the officer responsible for the shooting, with Defence Minister Benny Gantz extending his praise to the “officer who neutralized a terrorist yesterday”, stating that he condemned the UN coordinator and added his dismay with “the statement of the UN envoy to the Middle East against the [officer], who acted with determination and professionalism”.

With over 160 Palestinians (most infamously veteran Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh) having been killed this year by Israeli fire, no Israeli combatant has been held accountable. Meanwhile, 27 Israelis have been killed in total this year. Due to the inclusion of the contentious Religious Zionism Party, a Likud Party-led coalition government will soon be in control. This is a party that advocates giving carte-blanche to Israeli forces to commit any war crimes they desire, meaning it is very likely that the lack of accountability for Israeli combatants will get even worse. It can be directly attributed to the US Biden administration’s refusal to hold Israel to account for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. This has created an environment in which Israeli state officials can ridicule a UN envoy for calling on Tel Aviv to investigate the murder of a Palestinian.

With tensions continuing to rise throughout the West Bank, Israel’s strategy has been to increase its scope of violence to using drone-strikes and booby-trapped explosive devices in urban settings. The start of the escalation came with the altering of Israel’s open-fire policy in late 2021, allowing for soldiers to shoot to kill without any immediate threat being posed to an Israeli. This now means that soldiers are able to be willfully trigger-happy, without fear of consequences. Washington even attempted to push Israel to re-examine its open fire policy, a request that not only fell on deaf ears, but was openly ridiculed by Tel Aviv.

In February of this year, an undercover special forces unit carried out Israel’s first West Bank assassination in around 15 years. The attack was carried out in broad daylight, in the city of Nablus, killing three Palestinians in a civilian car with up to 100 bullets. The three men were part of the al-Aqsa Martyrs brigade armed group, unofficially linked to the Palestinian Fatah Party. Later, starting from March 31, the Israeli military would go on to launch Operation Break the Wave, which regularized Israel’s assassination practice once again in the West Bank.

As Israel carries out more and more assassinations, drone strikes, and raids in which it uses anti-tank munitions and besieges entire cities, this only encourages more young Palestinians to take up arms. Last year, the Jenin Brigade’s armed group announced its formation out of the Jenin refugee camp. This year, not only have several other groups began operations, but the Lion’s Den armed group has also grown out of the old city of Nablus, largely in reaction to an Israeli assassination of 19-year-old Ibrahim Nablusi.

The Lion’s Den, like the other armed groups that are now operating in the areas of Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Nablus, and al-Bireh, are composed of young men primarily between the ages of 18-25. Areen al-Asoud, as the Lion’s Den is referred to in Arabic, has now expanded its movement to include a relationship of sorts with the armed movements in the Gaza Strip, which fired rockets at Israel on Saturday, in response to the killing of 22-year-old Ammar Mefleh in Nablus.

Simply combating Palestinians living under occupation with even greater violence, is not only failing to quell the desire for young men to carry out attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers, but is directly encouraging these actions, as they are left with little other option but to resist. What is perhaps more concerning, is that soon to be Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will not likely face any significant pushback on policies that may escalate tensions in the West Bank, because Israel’s greatest ally, the United States, subscribes to the idea that “unconditional support” for Tel Aviv is sacrosanct. If the US Biden administration continues to refuse to pressure Israel, then 2023 may be an even bloodier and lawless year than 2022.