STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Fire in Gaza is holding in a fourth day.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
But Israel has announced a new military operation, this time in the occupied West Bank. Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, says the military is using key lessons learned from the war in Gaza.
INSKEEP: We're joined by NPR's Kat Lonsdorf, who was just there. Hey, there Kat.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: Hey.
INSKEEP: OK. So we're told this military operation focuses on the Jenin refugee camp, which is a phrase we use from time to time in this coverage. But what do we mean when we say refugee camp?
LONSDORF: Yeah. So this is a place where Palestinians have lived for many generations. It's not tense like you might think of when you hear refugee camp. It's basically a city where lots of Palestinian families and kids live with houses and schools. You know, Jenin has also long been a militant stronghold. Attacks that have killed Israelis have been launched from there. Right now, it's hard to get information on what's happening on the ground there because it's essentially become a closed military zone in the past few days. We do know that an airstrike, an Israeli airstrike, there killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded many more according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel says this is a counterterrorism operation aimed at strengthening security in the West Bank. Palestinian forces have also clashed with these fighters. And there also have been Israeli military operations there in the past. I went into the Jenin refugee camp after the last major one in the fall, and that operation lasted weeks and was very, very destructive.
INSKEEP: I feel we need to dwell always on the map here when we say West Bank. So there's Gaza, which is a separate area where the - which was the center of the war between Israel and Hamas, where there's now a ceasefire. The West Bank is a separate area, much bigger in size. Millions of Palestinians live there. A lot of Israeli settlers have also moved in with the sanction of the Israeli government. And we have this bit of news - that President Trump, after his inauguration, has said he will end sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank. What does that mean?
LONSDORF: Yeah. So President Biden put those sanctions in place to try to de-escalate violent Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. Those attacks have increased dramatically since the war in Gaza began. There have been some attacks on Israeli settlers, too. Even just this weekend, there were Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian villages. They burnt cars and other property. You know, settlers group said that this was timed to coincide with the release of Palestinian detainees and prisoners in accordance with the Gaza ceasefire deal. President Trump, now canceling those sanctions on Israeli settlers, certainly coming after what happened this weekend, really doesn't discourage that kind of violence.
INSKEEP: How was all this affecting life in the West Bank?
LONSDORF: It's made life throughout the West Bank difficult, even in the areas not directly affected. The West Bank consists of a series of checkpoints and designated roads for Palestinians. And most of those have been closed by the Israeli military, making travel throughout the area really hard. And on top of that, many Palestinians in the West Bank worry that Israelis' military focus is shifting over to them now that there's a ceasefire in Gaza. I talked to 53-year-old Walid Amira in Ramallah about this the day the ceasefire in Gaza went into effect.
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WALID AMIRA: (Non-English language spoken)
LONSDORF: He told me, "of course the war is coming here. The Israeli government wants to prove something to their people, and the West Bank will become the place where they can prove it," he said.
INSKEEP: And, of course, there's a new presidential administration, as we mentioned. How do they view the West Bank?
LONSDORF: Yeah, I mean, several of President Trump's appointees, you know, are very pro-Israel. Mike Huckabee who will be the next U.S. ambassador in Jerusalem, has visited Israel several times and argued that the West Bank belongs to Israel. Elise Stefanik, who is set to be the next U.N. ambassador, said in her confirmation hearing yesterday that Israel has a right to the West Bank as well. So if Israel does make moves to annex the West Bank, it seems likely the U.S. administration will give them the green light to do so.
INSKEEP: NPR's Kat Lonsdorf, thanks so much.
LONSDORF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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