'Threat of Invasion Looms Large': Palestinians in West Bank Fear for Their Lives

Palestinian civilians and children continue to pay the price in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Given the geography of Gaza, West Bank, and Israel, West Bank-born residents of Palestine face "an impossible choice."

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

"Even before the current crisis, Gazans have had nowhere to go. Only 20,000 residents of the 2.6 million who live in the Gaza Strip have permits to enter Israel and further to West Bank and East Jerusalem," Bushra Khalid, a Palestinian who works as the policy lead at Oxfam, tells The Quint.

She lives in West Bank's Ramallah with her husband and their eight-year-old son. However, her husband's parents and family reside in Gaza.

"I cannot visit my family in Gaza. My son cannot meet his grandparents," she tells The Quint.

Israel's policy of separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank "prevents the movement of people and goods" within Occupied Palestinian Territory.

(Courtesy: Human Rights Watch) 

Israel's policy of separation, which was tightened after Hamas regained control of Gaza in 2007, revents the movement of people and goods between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank although they form part of a single territorial entity.

That, in turn, has had long-term ramifications for Palestinians. "The normal relationships of extended families have been disrupted, and even nuclear families have been pulled apart, with spouses separated and parents distanced from their children," non-profit Israeli organisation GISHA (Legal Center for Freedom of Movement) had noted in a paper in 2010.

'Turning West Bank Into Another Gaza'

"A family living in Gaza does not have the option of moving to the West Bank as a family. West Bank-born residents of Gaza face an impossible choice: they can live with their spouse in Gaza, separated from their parents and siblings in the West Bank for years on end, or they can return to their place of birth and live near their aged parents, but be separated from their spouse," GISHA noted.

Further, the criteria for travelling between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for visits are strict. Permits are issued only to:

• Visit a gravely ill first-degree relative in danger of death or prolonged hospitalisation

• Participate in a wedding or a funeral of a first-degree relative

"By making it harder for people to spend time in the West Bank, Israel is taking yet another step toward turning the West Bank into another Gaza, where two million Palestinians have lived virtually sealed off from the outside world for over 15 years," said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch in January 2023

The current conflict has been marred with widespread civilian deaths for both Israel and Palestine. However, the Gaza Strip faces a humanitarian crisis amid arial attacks, a looming ground offensive, and a "complete siege" of one of the world's most densely populated areas.

"The decision to collectively punish 2.2 million people in Gaza by turning off the power, not supplying fuels, and not allowing aid and materials to enter means that in a couple of days…. Gaza is going to be a mass cemetery."

Bushra

Apart from the restricted movement, she adds that Israel's stringent rules have translated to lack of education and access to the outside world.

"It means that our homes are demolished, entire communities forcibly transferred and displaced. It means that we cannot access places of worship as freely as we wish to," Bushra says.

What's worse is the indelible mark on the collective as well as individual mental health this long-standing crisis has left on its population. A Food Security, Cash & Protection Coordinator at Oxfam says:

"It exasperates existing fears and anxieties. Children as well as adults have been suffering from panic attacks, PTSD, difficulty in sleeping, trust issues, and expression issues. All it takes is time to heal but time is not allowed in Gaza... we don't have time to heal."

'Fearful of Invasion, Total Lockdown'

Speaking to The Quint, West Bank resident Mariam said, "Across the West Bank, we are fearful of an invasion by Israeli soldiers into our villages, so we have built our walls of defence."

Over the course of this year, prior to the Hamas' assault in Israel, data from local authorities indicated that at least 120 Palestinians from the West Bank lost their lives, either due to actions by Israel's military or armed militants. Israel has conducted nearly daily raids during this period, the Financials Times reported, calling it "one of the most tumultuous periods" for West Bank since the conclusion of the Second Intifada in 2005.

Since Hamas' attack, an additional 31 individuals have lost their lives in West Bank.

"Israel has clamped down on roads and re-enforced checkpoints, cutting off movement for millions of Palestinians. Some of the Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank at the hands of the IDF over the past week were carried out not because West Bank created any problems, but because the military could not make headway in Gaza."

Mariam claims that armed Israeli settlers have opened fire on unarmed Palestinians in the West Bank on several occasions, while the Israeli military, "which administers the region and is responsible for the safety of its Palestinian population, has yet to make arrests or, on some occasions, refused to step in to stop the attacks."

Meanwhile, in an article for The Guardian, Ramallah-based journalist Fatima AbdulKarim wrote about how the attack on Israel was followed by an imposition of a full lockdown in the West Bank.

"The attack was immediately followed by the imposition of a full lockdown, which tightens the grip on the daily lives of the West Bank's residents, restricting our movements and intensifying the limitations on access to essential services and resources."

Fatima AbdulKarim, a journalist from West Bank's Ramallah for The Guardian

'Hamas Does Not Represent Palestine'

"The world is failing to contextualise the conflict because Palestinians have been living under a military occupation for 57 years – and Gazans have been fighting a 16-year-long illegal blockade. This puts pressure on people," Bushra says.

Since Hamas' large-scale missile attack on Israel and the latter's retaliatory military action, Palestinian civilians continue to pay the price in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. In the past seven days, Israeli airstrikes have relentlessly targeted the blockaded Gaza Strip with a ferocity previously unseen by its inhabitants.

"Israel has been holding millions of Palestinians hostage on their own land. It feels like the world has abandoned us, and sees us as animals. But Hamas' policies do not represent Palestine and its people," Mariam says.