A new “large-scale” Israeli offensive is now underway in the West Bank as Trump drops sanctions on settlers

An Israeli military operation in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank killed at least seven people on Tuesday, according to Palestinian health officials, as the Israeli military announced a new “large-scale” attack in the area on the third day of 2019. A Ceasefire in the smaller Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, which has long been under military occupation by Israel and is not under Hamas control, unlike Gaza, reported the deaths resulting from the new IDF operation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office that the Israeli army and police forces “launched a large-scale and major military operation to eliminate terrorism in Jenin.”

Netanyahu described the operation as an “iron wall” and described it as “another step towards achieving the goal we set, which is to strengthen security” in the West Bank and to act “systematically and decisively against the Iranian axis wherever it sends its weapons.”

Throughout the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Jenin was the focus of Israeli raids into the occupied territories. The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, launched its own raid on the area late last year.

Violence escalated in the West Bank During the war in Gaza, Israel says it is working to eliminate Iranian-backed extremism. The Palestinian Ministry of Health says more than 800 people have been killed in Israeli raids in the West Bank there since the war began after Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. Many Israelis were also killed Recently in attacks launched by Palestinians.

The Israeli military launched its new operation hours after President Trump rescinded Biden-era executive orders that authorized US sanctions on people who undermine peace in the occupied West Bank, mainly targeting Israeli settlers.

The Biden administration used the executive order to impose a set of sanctions on extremist settlers accused of using violence against Palestinians living in the West Bank.

Israeli settlements and smaller outposts across the West Bank are considered illegal under international law. United Nations Supreme Court, International Court of Justice, to rule Last summer, Israel must halt settlement activity and end what it called an “illegal” occupation — a ruling that was not legally binding, and was condemned by the Israeli government.

Settlers celebrated the incoming Trump administration, believing it would take a more positive approach to illegal settlements in the Palestinian territories.

During his first term, Trump took unprecedented steps to support Israel’s territorial claims, including… Recognizing Jerusalem as its capital Moving the American embassy there and recognizing Israel Annexation of the Golan Heights.

After mr. Trump’s re-election In November, Israel’s far-right finance minister suggested that his country would look to annex the occupied West Bank in 2025.

Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of Israel’s far-right Religious Zionist Party, said at the time that he believed Israel could work with the second Trump administration to promote the annexation of the West Bank.

“I am convinced that we will be able to work closely with President-elect Trump and all members of the incoming administration, to advance the shared values ​​and interests of our two countries, and to strengthen the strength and security of the State of Israel.” “Expanding the circle of peace and stability in the Middle East out of strength and faith and based on the recognition of the indisputable historical belonging of the entire Land of Israel to the people of Israel,” he said in a post on social media.

The settlements are seen as an obstacle to a potential two-state solution, the long-standing US-backed policy that envisions the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, because the more Israeli Jews live in the occupied territories, the less likely Israel is to do so. Giving up control of the land so that it becomes part of the Palestinian state.