Afrasianet - Ahmed Atawneh - Resistance in the West Bank has escalated significantly in the past months, and it seems that armed resistance groups are increasing in number, number and ability to act, especially after they entered the Hebron governorate, which has a population weight and a distinguished history of resistance action. At the same time, Israeli attacks on Palestinian cities, camps and villages have escalated, causing extensive destruction of infrastructure, particularly in Tulkarm and Jenin.

These developments have opened a debate among many Palestinian writers and elites about the impact of this development on the West Bank and the war in the Gaza Strip, the feasibility of armed operations in the West Bank in curbing the

Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and the possibility of the occupation army exploiting these operations to carry out the destruction, killing and sabotage it has done in Gaza.

This opinion, although some of its proponents are supporters and defenders of the resistance and its role in the Gaza Strip, but it means, in what it means, to leave Gaza alone in the face of the Zionist oppression machine, and to leave part of the Palestinian people, who were sentenced by the occupation to forced fragmentation, suffer and withstand alone, while the other components in the different geographies play limited roles that do not fundamentally affect the conduct of the battle, and are satisfied with praising the steadfastness and heroism of Gaza and its citizens, and expressing the extent of Their love, appreciation and admiration for this patient and faithful group, recalling what the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish said: "Die to know how much we love you."

This idea or position involves dangers and strategic damage related to the cause and the Palestinian people. What does it mean if the West Bank does not participate in the open confrontation with the occupation on the grounds of safety and missing the opportunity?

· First: Consolidating fragmentation and division among the components of the Palestinian people, and surrendering to the policies of the occupation and the facts it has imposed since 1948 until today, as it imposed on Palestinians to live in different population centers: (48 Palestinians, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the diaspora), and worked for many decades to create different living conditions between these communities in an attempt to separate them from each other politically, economically, culturally and socially.

The success of the occupation in singling out each Palestinian community alone means surrendering to this policy and eliminating the idea of the unity of the Palestinian people and the unity of their cause.

· Second: Emphasizing once again, in a very difficult historical stage, the chronic Palestinian leadership failure associated with the inability to confront the occupation collectively, and organizing the various Palestinian population communities to engage collectively in an effective confrontation with the occupation, which happened in more than one station, such as: 1982, 1987, 2000 and the multiple Gaza wars, the latest of which is the "Al-Aqsa Flood".

· Third, it created a deep rift that does not easily disappear between Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the rest of the Palestinian geography, especially in the West Bank. How can the call not to confront the occupation in the West Bank be justified under the pretext of self-preservation, and not to provide justifications for the extremist occupation government to sabotage in the West Bank, as if a message is intended to be sent to the Palestinian in Gaza, stating that you are alone, have no brother and no support, and that you alone can endure massacres, killing and destruction?

This should be done to the exact opposite, because of its implications for the future of the Palestinian cause, the unity of the Palestinians and the unity of their cause. How can this fit with the slogan: "One people, one land, one cause"? What price can the West Bank pay can be compensated within the framework of the unity of the Palestinian people and the unity of their destiny and project. A deep division that may result from this position

will cause great harm to the Palestinians and their cause, and serve the occupation project, which may take decades to overcome.

Fourth: The policies of the occupation towards the West Bank of displacement and annexation, and the undermining of any chance of establishing a Palestinian state, continue and are applied quietly every day. The calm of the West Bank and the absence of armed resistance in the West Bank for many years was not a barrier between the occupation and its policies, but rather created an ideal political and security environment for the occupation to implement its policies. The most prominent evidence of this is the number of settlers, settlements, military checkpoints and land confiscation in the West Bank. Confronting the occupation may lead to obstruction and failure of this policy, while calm certainly will not He does it. Unless some intend to annex the West Bank, displace its people, and impose on the Palestinians an alternative homeland solution quietly and without resistance and confrontation.

· Fifth: The starting points and objectives of this war are national par excellence, and they are directly related to issues related to the West Bank and its future. Jerusalem and settlement in the West Bank More than 90% of the Palestinian prisoners in the occupation prisons before the war are men and young men and men of the West Bank. Therefore, this battle is the battle of the West Bank par excellence, and there are no specific goals for it related to the Gaza Strip and its inhabitants. If the resistance in Gaza wanted to seek partial "individual" salvation, it would have accepted some of the special solutions offered to it. This The truth places a special responsibility on the West Bank in this battle.

· Some advocates of neutralizing the West Bank now say that they are aware of the dangers facing the West Bank and the Palestinian cause in general, and the need for the West Bank to have a role in confronting the occupation, but they do not see armed resistance now as the most appropriate tool for this role.

They also believe that the delay in the West Bank in engaging in this confrontation has reduced the importance and effectiveness of its role, as the massacre and destruction in Gaza have occurred, and the development of resistance action in the West Bank will not change the existing reality or contribute to influencing its results. This view lacks accuracy and illogic, and the great interest in the behavior of the West Bank by various parties, especially the United States and the occupation security services, is evidence of the importance and influence of the West Bank on the war scene and its political environment.

Since the beginning of the war, the United States has worked to ensure the calm of the West Bank, which many U.S. officials have repeatedly spoken. American interest in this matter has gone so far as to impose sanctions on some settlers who work to inflame the atmosphere by attacking Palestinians.

Many Israeli military and political leaders and experts also warned of the explosion of the West Bank and its serious repercussions on the security of the occupation and the course of its war on Gaza. Therefore, the American sponsor and experts in Israel are aware of the importance and effectiveness of the role of the West Bank, and its repercussions on the war of extermination in Gaza and the Palestinian cause, some of which we can address:

First: Pressure on the Israeli home front, due to the strategic position of the West Bank (geographical, security, military and economic). This is the most important factor that could contribute to changing the position of the extremist government in Tel Aviv and may lead to an end to the war, given that the regional and international political and military environment is ineffective in pressuring Netanyahu and his government.

· Second: Occupying the army, exhausting it and affecting its morale. The occupation army will be forced to deploy a large part of its forces in the West Bank, which is 16 times the size of the Gaza Strip and where nearly one million Zionist settlers are deployed. If added to the challenge of the northern front, this pressure will have a clear impact on the war in Gaza and push for a curb in the aggression and stop the genocide.

· Third: It is not too late for the West Bank to participate, because despite the passage of 11 months of war and the destruction and devastation it has caused, the occupation army has not been able to control the Gaza Strip, and it still needs major military operations to enter many of its neighborhoods and camps. He constantly talks about rebuilding the resistance in the areas from which it emerges. Therefore, he is still far from resolving the battle or ending it according to what he wants, which means that supporting Gaza, resisting it and supporting it by all means Possible is a national, moral and humanitarian necessity.

· Fourth: The West Bank, by resisting it, defends itself, its future and its national project, and provides what it must in this project. Its role should not be read only in support of Gaza, but as a necessary, urgent and legitimate action to thwart the extremist government's plans towards the West

Bank, the Palestinian people and their national and political future. In particular, the Israeli government's adoption of the "conflict resolution" plan, which threatens the Palestinian existence and political future, has become clear, and confronting this plan is a national duty that falls on the shoulders of all Palestinians wherever they are, so that it does not apply to them The proverb "I ate the day the white bull ate."

· All of the above does not mean a lack of understanding of the fears associated with an open confrontation with a brutal occupation supported by the forces of colonialism and Western arrogance, especially in light of a weak Palestinian political environment, resulting from the absence of a Palestinian leadership that represents the Palestinian people and their aspirations and is able to lead them in this historic station, as well as the reflection of the internal division on the Palestinians' ability to achieve, the absence of Arab and Islamic backers, blind Western bias, support and full American partnership in the war. Unfortunately, these factors have been present for a long time, and waiting for a fundamental change in them to stop the war of extermination and curb aggression does not seem logical or practical. Every Palestinian individual, group or grouping must do everything possible to defend himself, his cause and his future, and to contribute to curbing aggression and ending genocide.