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In 1968, Istanbul's Galata Bridge was already famous for its throngs of fishermen. They would present their catch on the bright red trays you can see in the foreground. We bought two (don't ask me to remember what kind of fish!) and had them grilled nearby.
In 1968, Istanbul's Galata Bridge was already famous for its throngs of fishermen. They would present their catch on the bright red trays you can see in the foreground. We bought two (don't ask me to remember what kind of fish!) and had them grilled nearby.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which reached record levels in the first year of Netanyahu’s far-right government, have accelerated since Oct. 7 and are undermining a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The funeral of a young Palestinian killed by security forces in north of Hebron in November
HAWARA — For Abdullah Odeh and his family, who live in the northern West Bank town of Hawara, attacks by settlers have become a daily routine. The businessman, whose home has been targeted since 2012, says there has been a surge since Oct. 7, with settlers breaking the windows of his house and cars.
“They break anything that can be broken. They beat my children. Sometimes 20 settlers gather and sometimes that number reaches 100 armed men. They attack us under the protection of the Israeli army and burn our houses, cars and property,” he told Daraj.
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"Hawara is the close to the Yitzhar settlement. Until 2021, the settlers' attacks were limited to beating, smashing, and writing on the walls. But since 2022, they have started burning our cars in every attack," he said. In February 2022, settlers burned down his house, three trucks loaded with goods and a warehouse. Odehn estimates such attacks cost him some 1 million shekels ($276,000), but that his losses since Oct. 7 have reached 10 million shekels.
"All my projects were destroyed. I went from a businessman owning a tourist resort, a transportation company and a general trading company, to a person who owns nothing,” Odeh said, noting that these projects supported 15 people and their families.
“And we are not compensated by any party,” said Odeh, adding that he was forced to rent a house in a safer area to protect his wife and young children, who were traumatized, and panic every time they hear news about the settlers.
A surge in settlements
Some residents of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, about 10 km (6 miles) south of Hawara, have repeatedly threatened the area, which is nominally governed by the Palestinian Authority.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began, Israel has closed off about 255 economic facilities and businesses out of about 300 in Hawara, causing huge economic losses, said Bashar al-Saifi, director of the Palestinian economy ministry in Nablus.
Al-Saif called this is “an economic blockade” and “collective punishment policy” imposed by Israeli authorities on Hawara and other Palestinian territories in the occupied West Bank, along with “the ongoing genocidal war” in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s government has created “unprecedented conditions for the expansion of settlements.”
According to the Israeli movement Peace Now movement, settlement activities in the West Bank reached “record levels” in the first year of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. The NGO said Netanyahu’s government, which was formed in December 2022, has created “unprecedented conditions for the expansion of settlements.” Such activities have surged since the Gaza war began, it said.
“In 2023, settlers established at least 26 new illegal settlement outposts, with at least 10 established during the current war; and at least 18 being agricultural settlement outposts,” it said.
Moayed Shaaban, head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, said that in 2023, Israel confiscated a total of 50,524 dunums (an area of 1,000 square meters), up from about 24,000 in 2022. He said there are more than 700,00 settlers across the West Bank.
“The settlers' terrorism led to the displacement of 25 Palestinian Bedouin communities,” in 2023, he said, adding that these communities included 266 families, or 1,517 people.
The U.S., France and UK have imposed sanctions on more than 30 Israeli settlers due to attacks on Palestinians and their homes. Such sanctions included visa restrictions, freezing assets and bank accounts.
Two conflicting visions
For Dr. Rezeq Salmoodi, law professor and dean at the Arab American University, Israel's practices are thwarting efforts to achieve an internationally recognized two-state solution. He said a Palestinian state within the framework of the two-state solution can be seen from two angles:
• Respecting international rules and decisions, meaning an independent state with borders and features within a framework very similar to the foundations on which states in general are built
• The Israeli view: meaning a divided state that does not enjoy full sovereignty, while keeping some axes within Israeli control, including borders, lands, and a group of sensitive issues, such as control over groundwater.
The recent expansion of settlements and surge in attacks are impeding a two-state solution, or at least the existence of an independent Palestinian state, he said, “settlement in the West Bank makes reaching an independent, sovereign state impossible."
Displaced Palestinians hold jerry cans to fill them with drinking water in Rafah on Feb. 19
The U.S.-brokered Oslo Accords, signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in 1993, were seen as a cornerstone that would lead to the implementation of a two-state solution. The deal called for establishing a Palestinian state on the lands that Israel occupied in the 1967 war, with east Jerusalem as its capital.
Nour Odeh, a political analyst, said the two-state solution should remain on the table even if it is not possible to achieve in the near future, and warned against being drawn to Israel's attempt to reinforce the idea that a two-state solution is impossible.
International positions that have emerged as a result of the Israel-Hamas war should be taken advantage of.
“This means imposing an Israeli solution that leads to ethnic cleansing and displacement, and achieving the Israeli vision, controlling the West Bank, or what it calls Judea and Samaria,” Odeh said.
International positions that have emerged as a result of Israel's unprecedented war on Gaza should be taken advantage of, she said, including taking Israel to the International Court of Justice over alleged war crimes as well as the public hearings over its occupation of the Palestinian territories.