Israel has killed 55 Palestinians after one month of its ongoing “Iron Wall” offensive in the West Bank. Killings, mass displacement, and uncertainty are the new normal.

By Qassam Muaddi  February 18, 2025  1

The murder that has been hidden for 18 months continues – evil, evil, evil – Mark

The ongoing Israeli offensive on the West Bank, dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” has claimed the lives of four more Palestinians over the past week, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed since January 21 to 55.

The offensive, which started in Jenin and expanded to the rest of the northern West Bank, including Tulkarem, Tubas, and their surrounding areas, is the largest Israeli offensive on Palestinian cities in the West Bank since the Second Intifada — over 22 years ago. Israel launched it immediately after the ceasefire deal in Gaza entered into force amidst calls from Israeli far-right politicians and media outlets to “transfer the war to the West Bank.”

The Israeli escalation in the West Bank also came after declarations by hardline Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who is in charge of the Israeli administration of the West Bank, that 2025 will be the year of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank. Smotrich remained in Netanyahu’s government despite opposing the ceasefire deal in Gaza. According to Israeli reports, the offensive in the West Bank was an appeasement made to Smotrich in exchange for refraining from resigning in protest over the ceasefire deal, which would have caused a collapse in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s governing coalition.