NOURNEWS- In response to Hamas’s shocking and victorious operation in the deepest parts of the occupied territories, the Zionist regime has waged a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip, the region which Hamas has been elected to rule over. Even the Western media such as the Washington Post have admitted that Israel’s war against the Palestinians has been unlike any other war in the 21st century. From Oct. 7 until now, Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion have destroyed large swaths of the besieged territory, killed at least 20,424 people, and displaced a vast majority of the 2.3 million population of Gaza.
The war has wounded more than 54,036 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 7,800 Palestinian children have been killed, and women and children make up around 70 percent of the dead, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which also says that 1.9 million people have been displaced, equivalent to 85 percent of the population. There have been also 239 attacks on healthcare workers, vehicles, and facilities in Gaza that have killed 570 people since the war started, the WHO said on Dec. 13.
According to the Zionist regime’s officials, the reason behind IDF’s genocidal and barbaric invasion of Gaza is to destroy Hamas, regain control over the Gaza Strip, and demilitarize the enclave. At the beginning of the war, many Western governments tried to force Israeli’s narrative to their respective countries’ populations, and sadly, many believed the Zionist regime’s lies, but now, after Tel Aviv crossed all the red lines of War and humane values in its war against the Palestinians, no one believes it lies about protecting itself against Hamas.
One of the main reasons for this, outside the war in Gaza, is the true nature of the Zionists. Hamas is located in the Gaza Strip, and has no presence in the West Bank, but, since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, the settlers and IDF’s violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank has reached unprecedented levels.
According to the observers and media reports, since Oct. 7, more than 280 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF in the West Bank, more than 3,500 Palestinians have been injured and close to 5000 Palestinians have been arrested by the IDF based on baseless accusations.
Hamas has no presence in the West Bank, so what is Israel’s excuse for this unprecedented and systematic violent act against the Palestinians in the West Bank?
Outside the Zionist regime’s racist and apartheid nature, which has always tried to oppress the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In line with the famous strategy of “Divide and conquer” This regime has also tried to separate and divide the active Palestinian resistance movements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
But, even before the Al-Aqsa Storm operation, which once again turned the Palestinian cause into one of if not the main focus of the international community, in Aug. 2022, and the rise of the Lions’ Den resistance group in the West Bank, the Zionists have failed to break the steadfast resistance of the West Bank’s Palestinians.
The Lions’ Den, first emerged in August 2022, a year of increased violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and takes its moniker from Ibrahim AL-Nablusi, a prominent militant from Nablus, nicknamed The Lion of Nablus, who was killed in an Israeli raid. It comprises members of other Palestinian organizations and has united all of its members under a single goal, which is the destruction of Israel and to fight against the occupation. Due to Palestinians’ dissatisfaction with the PA, the Lions’ Den has gained massive popularity in the West Bank.
In the wake of the Al-Aqsa Storm operation, Lions’ Den, hailed Hamas’ operation as an operation for liberating Palestine, and on Oct. 9, in a statement, the group encouraged the Palestinian youth by saying “It is time for you to stand up with all courage to face fate,” adding that they should “let the sound of your bullets sow death in the hearts of the Zionists.” The group called the Palestinians to “turn the sky of the West Bank into a thick black cloud, burn tires in all the streets, attack the occupation checkpoints, and set fire to their agricultural areas.”
Separately, on Oct. 25, in a statement, the Lions' Den underscored that life in the West Bank cannot return to normal after all that has happened in Gaza, stressing that there isn't even a “semblance of normalcy” as long as the people in the Strip cannot have that too. The group urged West Bank residents to halt their normal lives and mobilize en masse to “face the horrors of the massacres committed by the occupation against” the people of Palestine.
But this group’s activities have not been limited to publishing various statements and have taken direct actions against Israel’s military and Zionist settlers in support of Hamas.
With these explanations, one can conclude that Lions Den’s successful activities in the past two years against the Zionist regime’s aggressions in the West Bank, and the Palestinian resistance front’s united support of Hamas against the Zionist regime since the start of the War, all have underlined the massive failure of Israel’s actions in the hope of dividing the resistance. Furthermore, the Zionist regime’s escalated violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank has shown the true nature of this regime, which is nothing but a barbaric, child-killing, racist, and apartheid regime, and its excuse for its genocidal war in Gaza is nothing but a farce. Israel has always sought the destruction of all Palestinians and the Gaza war and the violence in the West Bank are undeniable proof of this claim.
BY: Homayoun Barkhor
NOURNEWS