<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" dir="ltr" lang="en">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/west-bank-palestinian-resistance-building-refugee-camps-israeli">middleeasteye.net</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Armed Palestinian resistance building in West Bank refugee camps over Israeli raids</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By Leila Warah in Tulkarem, occupied West Bank</div>
<div class="gmail-meta-data">
<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">24 June 2023 <br></div>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><img src="cid:ii_ljabma584" alt="image.png" width="416" height="278"><br><p>A
handful of young men, three with guns casually strung across their
bodies, stood outside a supermarket. They stared warily at anyone who
was unfamiliar entering the refugee camp, on the watch for undercover <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israeli </a>forces who could invade at any moment.</p>
<p>The scene could easily be mistaken for one in Jenin or Nablus, two <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine" target="_blank">Palestinian </a>cities
in the north of the occupied West Bank that have received international
attention for their armed resistance against Israel's occupation. </p>
<p>While the young men are from the north, they are from neither Jenin
nor Nablus. They are from the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem,
further to the west, and are members of a newly emerged armed resistance
group in the area. </p>
<p>In a back alley of the camp, the 24-year-old leader of the Tulkarem
Brigades, Mohammad, told Middle East Eye he believes Israel's occupation
has left the West Bank's youth with no choice but to turn to armed
resistance. </p>
<p>"[The Israeli occupation] are the enemies of God, and so I fight to
get back our land in the name of God," he said. "Our problem is not that
they are Jewish, it is that they are occupying our land.</p>
<p>"If you come to us with violence, our only option is to respond with
violence. The occupation doesn't leave us any space for negotiations,
only guns."</p>
<h3>'A harsh reality and a dark future'</h3>
<p>The Tulkarem Brigades emerged in February and are headed by the
Al-Quds brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement. </p>
<p>They are made up of 15 fighters from Nur Shams camp between the ages
of 16 to 25 who are committed to "defending themselves" against Israel's
military occupation through armed resistance. </p>
<p>"We are at the start of the resistance. Everything that has happened
is only the beginning. New generations are coming, and freedom will be
in their hands and be made by them," said Mohammed. </p>
<p>Locals say the Nur Shams refugee camp experiences near-daily Israeli
military incursions, including five large-scale operations this year. </p>
<div>
<p><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/The%20Nur%20Shams%20refugee%20camp%2C%203km%20from%20Tulkarem..jpg" alt="The Nur Shams refugee camp, 3km from Tulkarem (MEE/Leila Warah)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="416" height="277"></p>
The Nur Shams refugee camp, 3km from Tulkarem (MEE/Leila Warah)</div><p>"This generation was born into a harsh reality and a dark future.
Every day the occupation raids the camp and arrests their fathers. They
kill their friends and destroy everything," Ibrahim Al-Nimr, 51, an
activist who works for the Palestinian Prisoners Society, told MEE. </p>
<p>The group set up checkpoints at all the entrances to the camp and
keeps them closed between midnight and noon to counter the frequent
incursions and weed out undercover Israeli officials. </p>
<p>Niya Jundi, a resident of Nur Shams, said the community "encourages
the efforts of the young, resilient generation that aims to live in a
free country".</p>
<p>"Of course there are drawbacks to the resistance. It makes our access
to services more difficult, but it is our right to bear arms until we
are free from occupation."</p>
<h3>A network of armed resistance</h3>
<p>Locals say the Tulkarem Brigades' existence was spurred on by the "martyrdom" of Nur Shams resident Saif Abu Libda.</p>
<p>Born and raised in the camp, Abu Libda joined the Jenin Brigade and
hoped to one day bring armed resistance to his home in Nur Shams, which
would complete the northern "triangle of resistance" between Jenin,
Nablus and Tulkarem. </p>
<p>Israeli forces <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2022/12/231-palestinians-were-killed-this-year-these-are-their-stories/#:~:text=Saeb%20Abahra%2C%20Khalil,as%20an%20%E2%80%9Cassassination%E2%80%9D." target="_blank">ambushed and killed</a>
him along with Saeb Abahra, 30, and Khalil Tawalbeh, 24, while they
were driving in Jenin on 2 April 2022. All three were members of the
Al-Quds Brigades, but reportedly weren't engaged in armed confrontations
at the time.</p>
<p>"All the resistance groups in the West Bank are in contact with each other. We all have the same goal," said Mohammed. </p>
<p>Jamal Huweil, a political science and international relations
professor at the American Arab University in Jenin, said that, like Abu
Libda, people from all over the West Bank - including Tubas, Nablus,
Balata and Hebron - went to Jenin to learn about the armed struggle.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>'All the resistance groups in the West Bank are in contact with each other. We all have the same goal'</p>
<p><em>- Mohammad, Tulkarem Brigades</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>With the increase of armed resistance in the West Bank, Israel publicly initiated the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-702782" target="_blank">Break the Wave campaign</a>
in March 2022, enabling near-daily military raids across the West Bank
and an escalation in Israel's shoot-to-kill policy, resulting in mass
arrests and <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-west-bank-deadliest-year-second-intifada" target="_blank">the deadliest year for Palestinians in </a>the occupied territories since the Second Intifada two decades ago. </p>
<p>Huweil believes Israel named the operation after Jenin, where the "wave" began.</p>
<p>"Israel considers the Jenin refugee camp as an incubator of
resistance. The wave continues and has reached Nablus, the Nur Shams
refugee camp in Tulkarem and Aqbat Jabir refugee camp in Jericho. Jenin
is the source of Palestinian resistance and, in turn, a problem for
Israel," he told MEE. </p>
<p>Even with the growth of the armed resistance, Huweil pointed out that
the power dynamics between Israel's world-class military and the young
fighters are highly disproportionate. </p>
<p>"There is no comparison when they have Apache helicopters,
observation planes and special units against a group of fighters with
the bare necessities," he said.</p>
<p>As Palestinian armed resistance expands, Israeli leaders have called for "<a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/02/ben-gvir-calls-for-operation-defensive-shield-2-following-jerusalem-operation/" target="_blank">Operation Defensive Shield 2</a>", referencing a large-scale military invasion of the West Bank in 2002 during the Second Intifada. </p>
<p>"There are internal discussions on whether Israel should expand their
operations, but I suspect, if they go forward with it, the resistance
will only become stronger and fiercer," said Huweil. </p>
<h3>Palestinian and Israeli security coordination</h3>
<p>Palestinian and Israeli officials have met twice this year, in <a href="https://www.state.gov/aqaba-joint-communique/" target="_blank">Aqabat,</a> Jordan and <a href="https://il.usembassy.gov/joint-communique-from-the-march-19-meeting-in-sharm-el-sheikh/" target="_blank">Sharm el Sheikh,</a>
Egypt, to discuss the Palestinian economy, de-escalating the violence
and the role of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in dissolving armed
resistance in the West Bank. </p>
<div>
<p><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/palestine-israel-jenin-letter-grief-gunfire-songs-freedom" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/palestine-jenin%20massacre-occupation-2023-afp.jpg?itok=Ooka4TTx" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="400" height="250"></a></p><p><font size="1">A letter from Jenin: Motherhood, grief and freedom songs</font></p>
</div>
<p>However, many Palestinians are disillusioned by peace talks and
diplomacy between officials and look down on the PA's security
coordination with Israel to suppress the armed resistance, which has
caused tensions to rise in places like Nur Shams. </p>
<p>"[PA President] Mahmoud Abbas doesn't believe in armed resistance. He
meets with Israeli political people to discuss the security situations
and the economy because these are factors that help people
revolutionise," Huweil said. "They are scared of the Jenin camp wave
spreading and reaching all over the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon."</p>
<p>Mohammed told MEE "that the political speeches do nothing. We've
tried them and they result in arrest. The only way to get back our
freedom is by force."</p>
<p>"While the PA put pressure on the armed resistance here, trying to
offer them money to leave the armed resistance and join the police, it
will not make a difference," he said.</p>
<p>"The Israeli army doesn't go by international rules, they aren't ruled by anything."</p>
</div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>