by Rev. J. Mark Davidson, Voices For Justice in Palestine, Feb 21, 2025

This week, we call your attention to the current crisis in the West Bank. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed 911 Palestinians in the West Bank. The most recent Israeli military attack, dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” which commenced on January 21, 2025 has killed 55 Palestinians. The offensive started 23 days ago in Jenin. Since then, across the entire West Bank, the Israeli military has ethnically cleansed a total of 40,000 Palestinians from their homes. Over 470 structures have been destroyed, 14 airstrikes, raids on hospitals, and 153 home raids. This is the largest Israeli offensive on Palestinian cities in the West Bank since the Second Intifada, over 22 years ago. In this week’s newsletter, we feature photos and a direct personal account in the words of Dr. Burhan Ghanayem, the chair of our Board of Directors, who grew up in Tulkarm and has family in one of the most severely impacted areas:

“Tulkarm, my hometown, is being destroyed. The Israeli army and settlers are tearing apart the city I hold so dear, turning its streets and homes into rubble. I went to high school in Tulkarm, and since my family lived in a nearby village, it was the heart of our daily lives – the place we went for shopping, movies, restaurants, and moments of joy. Now, Tulkarm is being erased. 

The mayor of Tulkarm, a city of 100,000 people, told me that the Israeli Occupation Forces have ethnically cleansed over 20,000 people after their homes were demolished. Families who once had a future there are now homeless, their lives shattered. But the destruction doesn’t stop at homes – the streets, water supply, electricity, businesses, and all vital infrastructure are being systematically dismantled, leaving nothing behind but devastation. 

Innocent, now homeless Palestinians are living with relatives or in mosques, schools, and community centers. The city is completely encircled and closed to vehicular traffic. People have to enter the city on foot, passing through highly fortified metal checkpoints, which may be closed at any time without notice.

Tulkarm is not alone. The same brutal destruction and war crimes are happening in Jenin, Tubas, and across the occupied West Bank – especially since the Trump administration took office and greenlit this offensive. These places are much more than names on a map. They are cherished homes, stories, and lifelines for thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children who are being forced into exile in their own country, with nowhere to go.” 

Bethlehem-based Badil Center for Refugee Rights has said that the purpose of these raids is to “normalize a new status quo in the West Bank through invasions and raids that include extensive destruction and willful killing.” Extremist Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, administrator of the West Bank, has threatened that “2025 will be the year of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank.” 

What the world witnessed in Gaza is coming next to the West Bank: “Tulkarm and Jenin will look like Jabalia and Shujai’iyya. Nablus and Ramallah will resemble Rafah and Khan Younis. They will also be turned into uninhabitable ruins, and their residents will be forced to migrate and seek a new life in other countries.” The question for us is this: if Israel’s “Greater Israel” ideologues and their allies in Washington carry out their plans to annex, ethnically cleanse, and settle the entire West Bank, what are we going to do to stop it?