The West Bank and the conflict of tracks. Why are you absent from the "Flood of Al-Aqsa" scene?

Settlers carry out an attack against civilians in the village of Al-Lubban south of Nablus in the West Bank (Al-Jazeera)

The West Bank is the second arena that is supposed to witness a comprehensive popular awakening that joins the "Al-Aqsa flood", especially since most of the reasons for carrying out the battle of "Al-Aqsa Flood" are related to the general situation of the West Bank, as at the level of prisoners, out of about 6000,<> prisoners held by the Israeli occupation, there are only one hundred and fifty prisoners from the Gaza Strip, while the rest are from the West Bank. Al-Aqsa Mosque and the city of Jerusalem are geographically located within the West Bank, and these two issues are the main drivers of the battle for the "Al-Aqsa flood".

The occupation fears, on a large scale, that the West Bank will engage in the current confrontation, because if it erupts, it will be the most painful for the occupation in terms of the overlap between Palestinian towns and settlements, in addition to the relative possibility of entering the territories occupied in 1948.

According to 719 statistics, 2022,483 settlers live in the West Bank, distributed over 1 settlement and military sites. The settlers and the occupation army control a geographical area that exceeds two-thirds of the area of the West Bank, which is called Area C according to the Oslo Accords. The geographical area of settlements is <> percent of the West Bank, but the settlement area is controlled by two-thirds of the West Bank.

At the end of the first month of the battle of "Al-Aqsa Flood", the West Bank provided about 100 martyrs and hundreds of wounded, as shootings occur every day towards settlements and military checkpoints, in addition to popular confrontations, especially in the seam areas and Jerusalem, and demonstrations in city centers, while the state of boiling escalates day by day according to the development of events, but it does not objectively rise to the level of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" battle.

There is no doubt that the general mood in the West Bank is supportive of the resistance and in a state of great volatility, in addition to the presence of hotbeds in the West Bank in the last two years, especially in Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm and Jericho, which caused about 200 martyrs before the recent events. But the hard truth is that none of this has risen to the level of responding to a major event on the level of the "Al-Aqsa flood"; if solidarity marches are obligatory for other peoples and communities, the term solidarity is particularly frowned upon in the case of the West Bank.

There is a clear absence of statements and media positions of the leaders of the first line in the Executive Committee of the PLO or in the authority and the government by direct order of the leadership of the authority not to interfere in the events

The West Bank is living these days on the line between fusion and schizophrenia in the relationship with the battle of the "Al-Aqsa flood", as societal and political currents and movements are attracting: some towards confrontation, and others towards maintaining the status quo, on the other hand, the occupation army decided its way in dealing with the West Bank with an iron fist, as it closed all crossings with the West Bank, and prevented about 200,48 Palestinian workers from working in <> territories, which means that the West Bank is plunged into a stifling economic crisis, while The Israeli occupation soldiers deal with the checkpoints at the entrances to the cities with extreme cruelty.

As for the PA, unlike its pre-Flood of Al-Aqsa battle, it has loosened its grip in dealing with demonstrations in support, where Hamas flags have been hoisted freely since the recent events in the marches, although this was previously forbidden. However, it still maintains the same status quo as before, in terms of its role in this confrontation, based on decisions by senior levels in the Palestinian Authority not to interfere in the events.

The PA's decision to maintain the status quo, as there are strict instructions to PA elements and cadres not to interfere in events, raises great questions about what it is to maintain the status quo in the West Bank in terms of security and politics in light of such transformations, while the PA exaggerates the deployment of its forces in the main cities these days in order to highlight the manifestations of power in front of society, an indication that it is still strongly present in the scene, while the PA does not have any plan. Crisis management is not related to dealing with the situation in Gaza, but even dealing with the worsening security situation in the West Bank, especially since one of the scenarios of the current and future phase is armed attacks by uncontrolled settler groups, which are now practicing organized terrorism on the main roads in the seam towns in the West Bank.

The matter does not stop at this point, but notes a clear absence of statements and media positions of the leaders of the first line in the Executive Committee of the PLO or in the authority and the government by direct order of the leadership of the authority not to interfere in the events, as no leader in the first row recorded any statements related to the events in Gaza, with the completion of its first month, while it was shocking that the only voice - which came out through a member of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement Abbas Zaki in support of the resistance - was disavagged, and considered It does not represent the leadership with an official statement.

The negative silence practiced by the authority in the West Bank - led to a state of great popular anger towards it, so that the popular demonstrations turned in their speeches to attack the authority in an unprecedented way before this war, while many within the various arms of the authority feel a state of anger at this strategy that will not bring safety to the authority after the end of the war, especially with estimates that this silence will not be a survival factor for the West Bank after the war, as it is estimated that the most difficult stage for the West Bank It will be after the war, not during it.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas did not condemn Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, despite the great pressure exerted on him, and remained silent, but quickly backtracked with a position that appears to have been done under international pressure in a consensual manner by condemning the killing of civilians on both sides.

The resistance in the Gaza Strip relies on the West Bank as one of the parties that are supposed to have a prominent role in this battle, going back to memory, the weight of the resistance in the Al-Aqsa Intifada was in the West Bank, which was the source of the bloody attacks of the occupation in what is known as martyrdom operations, which killed hundreds of Israelis in the period from 2001-2003, but it is undeniable that the impact of the re-engineering of Palestinian society in the West Bank from 2008 until now on a different way of life is undeniable. While the administrative apparatus of the authority: civil and security, was flooded with more than 150,<> employees, and the role of the national movement declined in the level of immersion in effective resistance, although this began to change in the last year.

Settlement is the most prominent factor of tension in the West Bank, and the Palestinian Authority and its agencies are blamed for their inability to stand up to the settler militias and provide protection for citizens, and preserving it is considered one of the guarantees of the Authority's survival, and not undermining its pillars by Israel at this dangerous stage, but this has a high price in the ability of resistance cells in the West Bank to accumulate construction and shift to qualitative action against the occupation.

The West Bank stands today at a crossroads, as the popular level is very congested and ready to enter into a wide confrontation with the occupation, especially at the level of the young generation, who are trying by simple means to storm the field, while the resistance in the West Bank can be described so far as the resistance that clashes with the occupation, but does not inflict significant losses that provoke violent reactions, while this type of resistance raises many question marks.

The cathartic resistance in the West Bank turns into an approach through which several parties try to drain the energies of the rebellious youth who wish to confront, and vent the great anger of citizens and their desire to join the resistance by encouraging patterns of clashes targeting fortified military points, or clashes that are already known to be costly for Palestinians and do not cause losses on the other side, an issue that has become a source of great criticism in the West Bank, at a time when the shift towards resistance - which is expected Heavy losses among Israeli soldiers and settlers – due to great hardship as a result of geographical overlap.

This does not mean that all forms of resistance in the West Bank are of the type of cathartic resistance, as the West Bank witnessed daring operations in the last year before the battle of "Al-Aqsa flood" that caused deaths and heavy losses in the settler masses, through well-planned ambushes at the entrances to settlements or bypass roads, but those few groups that operate in this way are limited, and are only a small part of the general pattern of confrontation, which is intended to be only venting, in the sense that it is still It is forbidden to change the status quo in Judea and Samaria.

Just as work is being done to prevent a full-scale confrontation in northern Palestine occupied by the Lebanese front, no less effort is being made to prevent the West Bank from indulging in resistance, specifically its main strength, which is martyrdom operations and ambushes.

The forces in the West Bank are aware that the price they will pay for their silence will be very costly in terms of its repercussions on the West Bank, which is the root of the conflict on the ground in the battle with the occupation, but the absolute truth in the meantime is that the real conflict of tracks will be actual after the end of the war on Gaza, and not now, where it will be the battle of truth that everyone evades with the settlers, and then the West Bank will pay the price of its current weakness doubly, even according to the least pessimistic scenarios.