Palestinian militants ‘ready to die’ as prospect of all-out war increases after West Bank clashes

The alleyways that run inside the Balata refugee camp are narrow, claustrophobic and full of uncollected rubbish.

Posters celebrating dead militants are stuck to the walls. Children are everywhere – more than half the population of the camp is under 25.

We were escorted to meet fighters from Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, one of the largest and oldest militant groups in the West Bank.

They are a proscribed terror group by Israel, the EU and US, but not the UK.

Out front, I turned a corner and they were there – dressed all in black, M16 assault rifles in hand and balaclavas covering their faces.

They are young men, heavily armed and say they are ready to die defending their land.

We made our introductions and then moved down another alleyway – an Israeli military lookout post was on the hill above us; snipers watch every move in the camp below.

“We’re seeing an escalation by the [Israeli] occupation forces across camps in the West Bank, especially in Jenin and Balata,” one of the militants tells me.

“Most of the operations are carried out by the Israeli special forces. Yesterday, two of our men were killed in clashes when they entered inside the camp.”

The fighters are relaxed. This is their stronghold.

CCTV cameras seem to be everywhere, they joke it’s like Paris or London; the militia has its own reconnaissance unit that watches for undercover Israeli special forces entering the camp.

Violent clashes have been more frequent in recent months – 2022 was the deadliest year since 2005 and already 2023, only a few weeks old, is more deadly still.

After nine Palestinians, mostly militants, were killed in an Israeli counter-terror raid on Thursday, the prospect of another all-out war is closer.

One of those killed was a 61-year old woman, Magda Obaid, caught in the crossfire.

The IDF says it’s investigating her death, but the list of unexplained civilian fatalities is growing.

“I think because of the policies of the right-wing Israeli government there will be an escalation in the West Bank,” the militant from Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades predicts.

Read more:
Israel shoots down rockets fired from Gaza after deadly raid
Tensions rise as Israel hardens policies towards Palestinians

Talk of a new uprising, a third intifada, which has been so often threatened in recent years, is emerging again.

“I think that there is an intifada coming,” Ibrahim Ramadan, governor of Nablus tells me.

“Why? There is not any hope among my people. The Palestinian people need hope, small hope for their freedom.”

The deputy mayor of Nablus, Dr Husam Shakhshiris, is more sanguine but equally blunt in his assessment of the current situation.

“It [Nablus] is occupied by the state of Israel. The Israeli army is entering the city everyday,” he says.

“We have two military camps on top [of the surrounding hills], we have seven settlements surrounding Nablus city connected by bus routes, and it’s easy for the Israelis to close the city and prevent the movement in and out of the city.”

As we walk around the city together, Dr Husam is clearly popular. Residents stop to greet him.

Unlike the militants we met, he has the wisdom of age and is thoughtful and considered in his words, but no less damning of Israel.

“How bad is it?” I ask him.

“This is bad. I see all the time in the past that there was hope to have a peace solution, to have a two-state solution implemented, especially after Oslo,” says Dr Husam.

“Now we don’t see this hope, we don’t see a peaceful solution and we are stuck in these contours created by the policies of the state of Israel. They don’t see or recognise our national right of self-determination.

“It is the worst situation in my life.”

Violence in Israel and the West Bank goes in cycles.

Right now, any prospect of peace talks, or even a two-state solution, feels a long way off.

Neither side is in the mood to talk or to compromise, and so for many Palestinians fighting seems like the only route to more freedoms.