West Bank’s Under-Ash Fire Could Flare Any Time Amid “Treasonous” Arab-Israeli Thaw

The Palestinian fury has raged recently as a result of a “treasonous” move by the UAE and Bahrain to normalize diplomatic relations with the Israeli regime. On Friday, Thousands of Palestinians after the prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque arranged a gathering in protest to the Arab-Israeli normalization. 

Reportedly, the gathering, arranged by Palestinian groups, saw Israeli troops kidnapping six Palestinian protestors around the holy mosque as clashes erupted. The furious reactions show that in addition to Gaza the West Bank Palestinians are now severely reacting to the compromises made by Arab rulers to Tel Aviv. 

Israeli worries 

Fear of a tough Palestinian response pushed the Israelis into a state of worry about the current conditions. 

A senior Israeli secretary official, reports said, has highlighted the Israeli security apparatus readiness for possible deterioration of the situation in West Bank and Gaza. The official has reportedly agreed that West Bank is more sensitive than Gaza and the security situation there is poised to explode. 

Israeli Maariv newspaper, quoting the security official, said that the current Israeli policy is to avoid tough measures to steer clear of an emergency state that would reflect the reality in the Palestinian region. Still, the paper reported, we should anticipate happenings on the ground. The Israeli official believes that following instructions from President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestinian Authority to the security forces to prevent clashes between the protestors and the Israeli forces, there is a possibility of expansion of the domain of demonstrations. 

This displays the state of apprehension the Israelis are living as the West Bank conditions are heading to tensions, making Tel Aviv security leaders follow the situation very closely. 

Resultless normalization 

The UAE and Bahrain have claimed that the thaw with the Israeli regime is meant to solve the decades-old Palestinian cause. But this is contrary to a fact experienced over all these long years of the Israeli occupation: Whenever there have been compromises and retreats, further Palestinian rights have been violated by Tel Aviv. The 1993 Oslo agreement was planned to be a temporary 5-year deal and then give place to a permanent one. Such issues as Al-Quds (Jerusalem), Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements, security, and border demarcation were scheduled to meet their solution under a permanent deal. But not only they were not solved but also Israeli hostility grew stronger and they occupied further regions in West Bank where they built new settlements. 

The settlement projects keep ongoing, as many blast Yesser Arafat, the previous president of the Palestinian Authority, for the deal he struck with Tel Aviv. Now despite the Emirati and Bahraini regime's claims that the agreements with Tel Aviv will serve the good of the Palestinian cause, there is no doubt that such an accord not only is not serving the Palestinian interests but also will pave the way for further Israeli trampling of the Palestinian rights. 

Arming West Bank, the viable choice ahead 

While the West Bank is now under Israeli siege like Gaza Strip, it seems that the only way the Palestinians can confront the armed-to-the-teeth Israeli occupiers is by taking up arms to defend their land against an unquenchable Israeli thirst for occupation. 

Arming West Bank takes a political will and belief of Palestinian authorities in resistance. They have to cooperate and coordinate in pursuit of this strategic idea. Many experts agree that it would be painfully nightmarish for Israeli officials that in the future war West Bank-based Palestinian fighters would need rockets with less than 50 kilometers of range to attack Israeli targets in the north of the occupied territories or ones with less than 10 kilometers of range to insecure Ben-Gurion Airport, instead of rockets that have to travel over 150 kilometers from Gaza before hitting their Israeli targets. And this would be devastating for the Israeli regime if there is a ground battle. 

Therefore, with the Israeli violation and occupation unwaveringly constant, the Palestinians have no path but arming to defend themselves against the Israeli atrocity and this matter needs serious pursuit.