A turning point for Palestinians

Hamas’s success in humiliating Israel has given Palestinians in the West Bank greater motivation to attack Israeli targets.

Fresh revelations about the magnitude of the terrible blow dealt to Israel by Hamas are fuelling anger, despair and a desire for revenge, making an all-out effort to smash Hamas increasingly likely.

But that would have its own dangers, morally and practically, and could reverberate far beyond the crowded coastal enclave of two million Palestinians.

While most concern is focusing on the possible participation of Hezbollah in the fighting, a ground offensive in Gaza could also cause a significant escalation among Palestinians in the already simmering occupied West Bank and enflame passions among Palestinian citizens of Israel, analysts have told The Jewish Independent.

A possible foreshadowing of this escalation occurred on Sunday, when seven Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops across the West Bank, including at the entrance to the town of Beita, near Nablus, according to the Bethlehem-based Maan website.

“Extreme violence in the Gaza Strip can escalate the West Bank and inside Israel,” said Menachem Klein, emeritus professor of political science at Bar Ilan University. “Brutality, boots on the ground and mass killing could push Palestinians to turn out.”

For Israelis, the shock and horror promise to continue, the more they learn about the disaster that befell them. Already unable to process the sheer scale of the killings and hostage-taking from Hamas’s invasion, they received confirmation on Sunday night that 260 young people had been shot dead by Hamas gunmen who opened fire during a party and that some of them had been shot again in the head to confirm their killing. At the time of writing, news reports said more than 700 Israelis had been killed, with the toll certain to rise.