Lapid threatens to reach out to resistance in West Bank

By Roberto Morejón

Israel intensified repression in the West Bank this year, in the face of what it interprets as an increase in Palestinian protests against the occupiers and resistance actions.

The Zionist regime's army killed six Palestinians in one of its most recent raids in the northern West Bank city of Nablus as part of an operation that claimed numerous injuries.

To get an idea of the virulence on display, it should be noted that the operation is considered the deadliest of the year in the West Bank, where the usurpers boasted of a certain calm, at least until last year.

The calm for Tel Aviv changed as Palestinian protests increased, both against Israel's traditional occupation and the raids, preferably at night, to arrest young people, whether they are members of the resistance or just passers-by.

After the deadly attacks last March, the conquerors are nervous and active, so they have increased arrests, interrogations and raids.

The Palestinian death toll in the West Bank in 2022 exceeds 120, unprecedented since 2017, and is already judged to be the most significant statistic since the second Intifada, between 2000 and 2005.

Interestingly, the Israeli regime increases its propaganda to describe all resistance actions as terrorist.

This is the context of plans to present a new local armed group, identified by press sources as the Lions' Den, as such.

Precisely, the Israelis claimed that their latest lethal raid in Nablus was directed against what they called a hideout of the said group, where they were storing explosive devices.  

In a show of force, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid threatened, "They need to know that we will get to them wherever they are."

The Prime Minister is silent about the excesses of his fellow settlers in the West Bank, where they are attacking villages adjacent to the settlements, which are totally illegal, according to the UN.

Experts pointed out that the excesses of Tel Aviv's troops in the West Bank will increase the anger of young Palestinians, whose demonstrations are gaining new relevance.   

For some analysts, the anxious atmosphere created by the usurpers in the West Bank could act as an encouragement for the awakening of a new Intifada.