Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
Days into the Gaza ceasefire, Israel has launched an air and ground operation in the West Bank that has killed at least 10 Palestinians.
Israel’s PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Operation Iron Wall is intended to “eradicate terrorism” in Jenin, an area of the West Bank seen as a stronghold of armed resistance groups.
Bezalel Smotrich, the cabinet minister who sees it as his “life’s mission” to prevent a Palestinian state, said the operation forms part of new war goals he agreed with Netanyahu ahead of the Gaza ceasefire.
Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinians in the West Bank this week, setting fire to houses and throwing stones in local villages – including those of prisoners released under the ceasefire.
On Monday, Trump lifted sanctions the Biden administration had imposed on settlers accused of violence in the territory.
Speaking from Davos, Jordan’s foreign minister warned that the West Bank could “explode”.
