In his opening In a speech on Monday, President Donald Trump said he wanted to be known as a “peacemaker and unifier” in his second term before praising his efforts to broker a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Gaza.
But later that day, amid a rush of executive orders, Trump appeared to betray his vision of peace. He picked up The Biden-era sanctions are aimed at curbing Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. It also repealed a policy that had blocked sanctions against the International Criminal Court, risking a new round of financial penalties for those trying to hold the United States and its allies accountable for war crimes. put
Within hours of lifting the restrictions, Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Janasfit in the West Bank, injuring at least 21 Palestinians and setting fire to homes, cars, a nursery and a workshop. Village authorities. Despite the ceasefire, the Israeli army raided homes and mosques and detained dozens of Palestinians in the occupied territory. children And Journalists.
and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday started A new military operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin and the adjacent refugee camp, home to several Palestinian militant groups. Israeli aggression with the help of drones and helicopters, killed At least 10 Palestinians – including a 16-year-old boy – and 35 others were injured, health officials said. The campaign became known as “Operation Iron Wall”, an obvious reference to the Zionist writings of Ze’ev Jabotinsky which argued for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians to secure the Israeli state.
“It was all political theater.”
Experts are quick to note that the increase in Israeli military attacks in the West Bank should not be seen in isolation. From the ceasefire In Gaza, they say this is the continuation of a wider campaign. Some see it as an attempt by Netanyahu to appease his cabinet and extremists in Israel who were angry at the end of the fighting in Gaza, which failed to end Hamas.
“It was all political theater,” said Mohnad Ayyash, a policy analyst at al-Shabaka and professor of Palestine studies at Mount Royal University, referring to the ceasefire, which took effect days before Trump re-entered the White House. .
“It was never the case that Trump actually wanted to pressure Israel to stop its settlements in Palestine — whether it was a reduction in settlement activity in the West Bank, or a realization of the two-state solution on the 1967 borders, or Israel’s “An end to the military offensive against the Gaza Strip,” Ayash said. “All he wanted was an appearance of law and order to increase his political capital and then allow the Israelis to occupy large swaths of the West Bank and essentially eliminate the ability of Palestinians to live in Gaza. Continue your plan to and resist Israeli settler colonialism.
Trump lifted the sanctions, which former President Joe Biden issued last February, did little to stop settler violence in the West Bank. From 2023 to 2024, the region recorded a More than a record of more than 1,400 Settler attacks on Palestinians. Aided by Netanyahu’s far-right cabinet and under cover of Israel’s war on Gaza, settlers seized large swathes of Palestinian land in the West Bank, including a July’s land was occupied. The biggest Since the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993.
Khaled Elgundi, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, said that while the sanctions had no effect on the ground, the policy of freezing the US-held assets of individual Israeli settlers and settler groups has had an impact on the region. had a strong symbolic effect. “This was an important precedent to build on,” Elgandi said. He advocated for the State Department to add these settler groups to the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization list, which would further hamper accession efforts.
But the latitude that Biden has given Israel will be loosened under Trump, Elgendi added.
Even compared to Biden’s continued support for Israel, Trump’s far-right cabinet — which includes evangelical Christians — appeared even more ideologically aligned with Netanyahu’s pro-settler contingent. give Trump’s incoming ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, is famous. said“there is no such thing as the West Bank,” and disputed the existence of a “settlement” or “occupation”. Instead, he referred to the region by Israel’s preferred name, “Judea and Samaria.” During her confirmation hearing Tuesday, Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick for U.N. ambassador, agreed with Israel’s far-right ministers that Israel has a “biblical right to the entire West Bank.” That too Refused Answering the question of whether Palestinians have the right to establish their own state.
“It’s worrisome that they would use religious scripture as the basis for shaping American foreign policy,” Elgandi said. But what is also worrying is what the statement implies: the total annihilation of the Palestinians. The term ‘Judea and Samaria’ is based on erasing the existence of Palestinians, it was created to do just that.
with its executive Order to reopen the possibility of sanctions against the ICC, Trump appears ready to continue the American defense of Israel. ICC officials, who have criminal arrest warrants for alleged war crimes against Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yov Gallant, are already preparing for what the new round of sanctions will look like. Even if Trump does not issue sanctions against the investigators, lawmakers in the House of Representatives, including 45 Democrats, approved a bill that would impose such sanctions on the ICC’s leadership. United Nations experts have opposed the bill, calling it a “flagrant violation of human rights”. Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C, said he is preparing to bring the legislation, which was introduced in direct response to the arrest warrants for Israel’s leaders, to a Senate vote. This week or next.
Trump himself has appeared to signal interest in expanding settlements in Israel. When asked if the U.S. plans to help rebuild Gaza, he apparently drew on his own property background. “Gaza is interesting,” he told reporters as he signed the executive orders on Monday. “It’s an extraordinary location on the ocean. Great weather, everything is great. There are some beautiful things to do with it. Just before the armistice was announced last week, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner Doubled his investment. at an Israeli firm that funds settlement expansion;
For both Elgandi and Ayash, Trump’s first-day policies come as little surprise considering his first term, in which he encouraged Israel to expand settlements, weaken Iran’s power, and Israel and the Arab world. tried to normalize the relations between
Now, Trump has said he plans to use the momentum of the ceasefire agreement to help normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Such a move would further strengthen US economic and security interests in the region and improve Israel’s standing in the international community, which has been shattered by its genocidal war in Gaza.
The biggest political obstacle to such a deal is Saudi Arabia’s commitment to maintain relations with Israel until it recognizes it. A Palestinian state Within the borders drawn after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. But Saudi Arabia has much to gain from a partnership with Israel — possibly new security deals from the U.S. that would allow the nation to increase its presence in the region as it seeks to expand its presence in the region, Ayash said. is facing
A deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel could set in motion a chain of other countries that have opposed normalizing relations with Israel, such as Indonesia or African Union countries. It could also weaken the position of international human rights bodies, such as the International Court of Justice, which is prosecuting Israel for genocide.
“This will signal the end of the Palestinian cause in the diplomatic international arena,” Ayash said. “It will signal that states around the world have accepted that it is okay for Israel to end the possibility of a two-state solution, that there will never be a Palestinian state, and that this is just the new reality. That’s what we’re living with.”
