The Occupation of Palestine Creeps On

As the world watches ‘ceasefire', further violent encroachments in the West Bank have been coupled with statements from Washington supporting the expansion of occupation.

After more than 460 days of genocide in Gaza, the world has welcomed a ‘ceasefire’ in which the killing has slowed down (though Zionist occupying troops have still be sniping at individuals in Gaza as well as killing many in Lebanon) and captives have been released. Palestinian families have been reunited across the Netzarim Corridor and hundreds of thousands have returned to what were once their homes, now lying in ruins.

Yet whilst the spotlight has rightly been on the good news, it is vital we do not ignore what else is happening. That is, that the Zionist occupying force, and their colonial backers, are using this ceasefire to expand their occupation. Moreover the statements from the new Trump administration very much seem to endorse that.

1. Operation Iron Wall in the West Bank has seen ‘Gaza-style’ aggression, with the killing of innocents, destruction of property and infrastructure. This is furthering the occupation in the West Bank.

2. US officials have been open about referring to the West Bank as “Judea & Samaria”. Trump’s proposed ambassador to UN, Elise Stefanik, believes “Israel” has a Biblical right to the West Bank.

3. Similarly, his proposed ambassador to the Zionist occupation, Mick Huckabee, has similar beliefs - and doesn’t really recognise a Palestinian identity.

4. There appears a hidden intention to continue the ethnic cleansing in Gaza at a later stage.

   At the time of the ceasefire, hardliners in Netanyahu’s cabinet like Bezalal Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir were outraged, wanting the bloodshed to continue. However, Smotrich has retracted his resignation threat, perhaps a sign to a radical ideologue that he has had reassurances that the slaughter will resume at a later date.

5. Coupled to that, Trump has explicitly talked about ethnically cleansing Gaza - something the people of Gaza have rejected in their hundreds of thousands.

   

   Trump claims he wants to bring ‘peace’ to the Middle East. But it is not a just peace. It is a peace that America hopes would allow it to pursue interests other than in the Middle East. It is a peace that would come at the cost of the deaths of more Palestinians’; or further expulsion from their homes; or their further subjugation. He has invited the criminal butcher Netanyahu to Washington - honouring him as the first leader he plans to meet officially - saying “I look forward to discussing how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbours, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries”.

   His approach to most things is like a businessman who makes offers others cannot refuse - part threat, part promise.

   The promise here is his suggestion that Gaza could be made beautiful - which sounds like a real-estate agent promising a development plan that would benefit everyone rich - whether investors from the gulf states, the occupying power or the local people who would be serfs in the new leisure economy. His son in law Jared Kushner told a Harvard-affiliate programme that "Gaza's waterfront property, it could be very valuable, if people would focus on building up livelihoods. If you think about all the money that's gone into this tunnel network and into all the munitions, if that would have gone into education or innovation, what could have been done?"

   It’s almost as if it doesn’t matter that the local people have had their homes stollen and been subjugated over a more than 75 year period. They should just be satisfied with the prospect of a Gazan version of Sharm El Shaikh!

   The threats are that those who don’t cooperate will be punished- whether the Palestinians, to face more violence; or others to be sanctioned in other ways. Jordan, for example, relies on $1.25 billion worth of US aid on an annual basis.

   “Take it or leave it” is the message to Palestinians just as it is to everyone else he deals with. There is not even a pretence that they need to be given the fake “two-state” solution that was once dangled in front of them as a fig-leaf to legitimise the occupation of 85% of historic Palestine.

   The promise is supposed to be profit for all if the ‘Abraham Accords’ are widened by normalising relations further with other countries in the region, like the Saudi Kingdom.

   Yet there are many fallacies in the plots and plans that mean they are by no means a done deal.

   Firstly, the people refuse to normalise even though their rulers do.

   Secondly, the Abraham accords reveal the shallow nature of the regimes in the region. It is ever clearer. that the Zionist occupation is not content with historic Palestine but wants ‘Eretz Israel’. This is surely a strategic threat to every other state in the region - yet they still normalise.

   Look at a map of the proposed Eretz Israel - how it encroaches on so many countries that have ‘normalised’ (like Egypt and Jordan), and those that might yet normalise like Saudi.

   

   Now look at Saudi’s 2030 fantasy province of Neom - and where it lies in relation to the Zionist vision.

   

   Would any state that had its own strategic interests in mind - never mind the principles of Islam - ever consider the Zionist occupation as anything other than an intolerable threat?

   These dangers will become ever more apparent - and these will only weaken the already fragile regimes in the region.

   Thirdly, the damage done to the legitimacy of the Zionist occupation following 14-months of slaughter cannot be underestimated. To most of the world it looks like an illegitimate, usurping, colony that maintains its presence by unacceptable violence. Its violence against women, children and the vulnerable makes it appear weaker and more cowardly, not stronger.

   Finally, those of us who believe know that in all these plots and plans, there is a hidden plan that will reveal itself when Allah Decrees.

   ۚ وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ ٱللَّهُ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ خَيْرُ ٱلْمَـٰكِرِينَ

   They planned, but Allah also planned. And Allah is the best of planners.

   (Al Anfal :30)

   Abdul Wahid has been active in Muslim affairs in the UK for over 25 years. He has been published on the websites of Foreign Policy, Open Democracy, the Times Higher Educational Supplement, and Prospect Magazine. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AbdulWahid_X.