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Palestinian militias in the West Bank

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A variety of local Palestinian militias have been formed in the West Bank to fight against Israel, which has occupied the region since 1967. These militias have taken on primarily defensive roles, engaging the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during its raids into the West Bank's Palestinian enclaves, while occasionally conducting small-scale offensive operations against Israeli military outposts, checkpoints, and settlers.[1]

Structure and characteristics

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While some of the West Bank militias are independently functioning (such as Lions' Den), the majority operate semi-autonomously under existing Palestinian militant organizations– namely Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and Hamas.[2] Typically, the militias call themselves "brigades" or "battalions",[2][3] such as in the case of the Jenin Brigades and the Tulkarm Brigade, which have also been called the Jenin Battalion and the Tulkarm Battalion, respectively.

The semi-autonomous groups are "cross-factional", simultaneously shared between the three factions.[2][4] For example, the Jenin Brigades initially began as the Jenin branch of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of PIJ, but soon evolved to encompass militants from various factions; the immediate objective of defending against IDF raids took priority over any ideology.[4] Nonetheless, PIJ remains the most popular faction in the West Bank,[2][5] and boasts a greater number of brigades/battalions compared to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades or Hamas.[2] The other prominent Palestinian militant organizations– the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Resistance Committees, and the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement– do not formally have any branches in the West Bank, but have still carried out some attacks in the region.[3]

The "hyper-localized" nature of the West Bank militias is a significant departure from traditional, centralized model of Palestinian resistance against Israel, consisting of political parties and their armed wings, which undertook militant operations to support their respective party's political objectives.[6]

The militias receive broad popular support from the local Palestinians.[1][2] They exert de facto control over the Jenin refugee camp, the Tulkarm refugee camp, and the Nablus refugee camp, but are present throughout the West Bank.[2][5][7]

Background, causes, and spread

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Following the Second Intifada (2000–2005) and the resulting decline of traditional Palestinian militant factions under the Shin Bet's pressure, more decentralized models of militancy involving small armed cells and breakaway factions began emerging.[6] Compared to the Second Intifada, less militant violence in the West Bank occurred over the following years, culled by both Israel and the autonomous Palestinian Authority (PA) under Mahmoud Abbas.[2][5]

Proper local militias in the region began springing up in 2021–2022. Several factors drove this:

As a result, many young Palestinian men in the West Bank began taking up arms, aiming to defend their communities.[5][14] Between 2021 and 2022, several new militias in the region were formed, including the Jenin Brigades, the Tulkarm Brigade, the Nablus Brigade, the Tubas Brigade, and Lions' Den.[5][8][15][16]

Conflict with Israel

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Further information: Israeli incursions in the West Bank during the Israel–Hamas war and Israeli incursions in Tulkarm

Fighting between the militias and the IDF is frequent, at a pace that has only escalated since the beginning of the ongoing Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023.[2] Even before the start of the war, "political violence" in the West Bank was up by 50% between October 2022 and September 2023,[2] with notable battles such as the July 2023 Jenin incursion.

Near-daily IDF incursions have been described as turning the West Bank into a "war zone", and consist of both air and ground maneuvers against militant targets which frequently leave civilians trapped in the middle.[5] Militants in the West Bank, however say the Israel–Hamas war has only given them more momentum and encouragement,[17] and Israel has not been able to significantly degrade the militias' capabilities.[17][18] The situation has been described as "a classic case of insurgency" where "an entrenched local resistance leverages its intimate knowledge of the geography of the camp, strong community support, and adaptive tactics to counter a more conventionally powerful military opponent."[18]

On 28 August 2024, Israel launched "Operation Summer Camps", a large-scale military operation in the West Bank against the militias. It is Israel's largest military operation in the region in more than 20 years since its Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.[19] Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz has stated the operation is a "full-fledged war" focused on stamping out "terrorist infrastructures", accusing Iran of trying to establish an "eastern terrorist front" against Israel in the West Bank by funding and arming the militias.[19]

Some militants from the West Bank have also launched attacks inside Israel.[5]

Conflict with the Palestinian Authority

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Main article: Palestinian Authority–West Bank militias conflict

West Bank militias have also engaged in conflict with the Palestinian Authority, which governs the Palestinian enclaves autonomously under the Israeli occupation.

The PA, which suffers from a "legitimacy crisis",[2] is widely perceived as just another arm of the Israeli occupation by most Palestinians.[5][13] It has a shared interested with Israel in suppressing militancy,[20] and cooperation between the PA security forces and the IDF is reflected by the fact that the former have simply remained in their barracks during IDF raids[7][21] and have actively interfered with militants' defenses against those raids.[22][23][24][25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "The New Generation of Palestinian Armed Groups: A Paper Tiger?". International Crisis Group. 17 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The Resurgence of Armed Groups in the West Bank and Their Connections to Gaza". ACLED. 2023-12-14. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
  3. ^ a b "Profiles of 28 Iran-Backed Terrorist Groups and Branches in the West Bank". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  4. ^ a b "West Bank Dispatch: Israeli army turns attention to Balata amid continuing killing spree". Mondoweiss. 2022-11-14. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Parker, Claire (28 August 2024). "What to know about Palestinian militant groups in the West Bank". The Washington Post.
  6. ^ a b Hatuqa, Dalia (2024-11-26). "The New Palestinian Resistance". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  7. ^ a b Erlanger, Steven; Ponomarev, Sergey (2024-07-01). "Palestinian Fighters in West Bank Seek to Emulate Hamas in Gaza". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  8. ^ a b Tahhan, Zena Al. "The occupied West Bank cities at centre of resistance to Israel". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
  9. ^ *Kershner, Isabel; Kingsley, Patrick (1 November 2022). "Israel Election: Exit Polls Show Netanyahu With Edge in Israel's Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  10. ^ *"Israel Swears in New Parliament, Most Right-Wing in History". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press (AP). 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023. Israel has sworn in its most religious and right-wing parliament
  11. ^ Carrie Keller-Lynn (21 December 2022). ""I've done it": Netanyahu announces his 6th government, Israel's most hardline ever". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  12. ^ Picheta, Rob; Gold, Hadas; Tal, Amir (29 December 2022). "Benjamin Netanyahu sworn in as leader of Israel's likely most right-wing government ever". CNN. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  13. ^ a b Hendrix, Steve; Tugnoli, Lorenzo (7 August 2023). "'Tomorrow's martyrs': Inside a Palestinian militant cell in the West Bank". The Washington Post.
  14. ^ Hatuqa, Dalia (2024-11-26). "The New Palestinian Resistance". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  15. ^ "West Bank Dispatch: The Tulkarem Brigade resists". Mondoweiss. 2023-08-28. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
  16. ^ "Lions' Den – Mapping Palestinian Politics – European Council on Foreign Relations". October 10, 2022.
  17. ^ a b "Palestinian Militants in the West Bank Flex New Capabilities". The New York Times. 9 September 2024.
  18. ^ a b Adler, Jonathan (2024-08-14). "In Jenin and Tulkarem, Israel's war on Palestinian armed resistance is failing". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  19. ^ a b Hamamdjian, Daniele; Da Silva, Chantal; Arkin, Daniel (2024-08-28). "Israeli operation in occupied West Bank leaves at least 10 dead in largest raid in decades". NBC News. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  20. ^ "The PA's Revolving Door: A Key Policy in Security Coordination". Al-Shabaka. 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  21. ^ Michaelson, Ruth; Taha, Sufian (2024-05-02). "'They hide when Israelis come': Palestinians despair of leadership after killing of colonel's son". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  22. ^ الغيط, عبد الرحمن أبو. "آخرها ما حدث بجنين.. لماذا يصر أمن السلطة على ملاحقة المقاومة بالضفة؟". الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  23. ^ Pacchiani, Gianluca (15 August 2024). "Hamas blasts PA after its forces allegedly detonated explosive device before it could blow up IDF troops in Jenin". The Times of Israel.
  24. ^ "العلاقة بين السلطة الفلسطينية والفصائل على صفيح "يغلي".. اشتباك مسلح في جنين". مونت كارلو الدولية / MCD (in Arabic). 2024-09-10. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  25. ^ "أجهزة السلطة تعتدي على سكان كفر دان المنددين بتفكيك عبوات المقاومة" (in Arabic). 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
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