The smoke in Jenin has not yet dissipated, and the bodies of three Palestinian youths are already cold; meanwhile, in the parliament in Jerusalem, a narrow margin of 25 votes to 24 is quietly altering the fate of the West Bank.
A statement from the Palestinian Ministry of Health on October 28 confirmed that three Palestinians in their twenties were killed during an Israeli military operation in the village of Qadd, west of Jenin in the northern West Bank.
Just days earlier, the Israeli Knesset had preliminarily passed a bill extending Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank by a narrow margin of 25 votes to 24.
Bloodshed and legislation, these two seemingly unrelated news threads together sketch the increasingly tense situation in the West Bank and a region struggling amidst law, religion, and geopolitics.
01 Gunfire and Legislation: The Dual Escalation of Conflict in the West Bank
On an ordinary autumn day in October, the West Bank witnessed a dual escalation of conflict. On one hand, there was the sovereignty extension bill passed procedurally by the Israeli Knesset; on the other, the persistent sound of gunfire in the Jenin area.
The Israeli military stated in a declaration that their operation in the area of Qadd village was a “counter-terrorism operation” targeting militants hiding in caves.
The Palestinian News Agency, however, offered a different perspective: Israeli reinforcement troops raided Qadd village, surrounded agricultural areas, killed three youths, and took their bodies away.
Hamas stated in a declaration issued the same day that two of the deceased were members of the organization.
This detail suggests that armed resistance in the West Bank may intensify further as the parliamentary sovereignty bill advances.
02 Sovereignty Extension: The Territorial Encroachment Behind the Law
The two bills passed by the Israeli Knesset on the 22nd, although still requiring multiple formal votes to become law, have already provoked strong reactions from various quarters.
The core content of these bills advocates for “implementing Israeli law and exercising sovereignty” in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The criticism from Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, was pointed: “Some politicians are attempting to push votes within the framework of the Israeli Knesset to thoroughly legalize the annexation of the West Bank.”
Looking back, Israel’s control over the West Bank began with the 1967 Six-Day War.
Over the past half-century, Israel has gradually encroached on local land through the expansion of settlements.
Currently, Israel fully controls about 60% of the West Bank, while Palestinians fully control only about 18%, with the remaining approximately 22% under dual jurisdiction.
03 International Response: Shared Condemnation and Divergent Calculations
Israel’s sovereignty extension bill quickly drew strong reactions from the international community. Fifteen countries including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, along with the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, issued a joint statement on the 23rd strongly condemning the move.
These countries clearly stated in their declaration that Israel’s actions constitute a blatant violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions.
US Vice President Vance, concluding a visit to Israel on the 23rd, surprisingly criticized the vote as a “highly foolish political stunt.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office quickly responded, stating that the bill was proposed by opposition MPs merely to “create discord” during Vance’s visit.
The divergence between the US and Israel on this issue, while seemingly principled on the surface, is analyzed by Palestine-Israel expert Khaledun as essentially rooted in the fact that “the US is not opposed to Israel annexing the West Bank, just not at this moment.”
04 The Islamic World’s Perspective: Faith, Land, and Dignity
From the perspective of the Islamic world, the Palestinian issue is not merely a dispute over a piece of land, but a matter concerning faith and dignity.
The Quran, as the supreme source of Islamic faith and doctrine, is the criterion for Muslim social life, religious life, and moral conduct.
In the Quran, justice, resistance to oppression, and upholding dignity are repeatedly emphasized values.
The status of Jerusalem as the third holiest site in Islam is intimately linked to the fate of the West Bank. When the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017, it sparked strong protests across the Islamic world.
At that time, Turkish President Erdogan warned that Trump’s decision “would set the world, especially the region, on fire.”
Now, the sovereignty extension bills for the West Bank are viewed in the Islamic world as potentially posing a more direct threat to the territorial integrity of Palestine than the issue of Jerusalem’s status.
05 Western Stances: Increasingly Apparent Divergence and Double Standards
The positions of Western countries on the Palestinian-Israeli issue are showing increasingly clear divergences. Analysts note that the West’s recalibration from its initial pro-Israel stance stems from similar political needs internally.
Both the US and Europe face significant elections this year and have substantial Jewish and Muslim populations; their governments’ previous pro-Israel stance has already caused dissatisfaction among their respective Muslim communities.
However, there are fundamental differences in their strategic interests. Israel is a key strategic asset for the US in the Middle East, allowing the US to intervene in Middle Eastern affairs and protect its strategic interests in the region.
In contrast, Europe has a much smaller strategic need for Israel but bears more of the brunt of the spillover effects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrell wrote in an article for the magazine ‘Le Grand Continent’ that Europe, caught between two wars, is “being put in danger,” and that Europe should not overly “cede” the Palestinian-Israeli issue to the US but should engage more in mediation.
06 American Muslims: Feelings of Betrayal and Political Awakening
For the American Muslim community, the US government’s policy towards Israel has sparked strong dissatisfaction. American Arabs and Muslims strongly condemn the Biden administration’s support for what they call Israel’s “acts of genocide” in Gaza, feeling betrayed by the administration.
Washington Arab Center Executive Director James J. Zogby criticized: “On one hand, President Biden repeatedly calls for a ceasefire, demands an end to the fighting, and protection of civilians; but on the other hand, he continues to provide unlimited weapons and aid to Israel, fueling the war.”
The statement from Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), was even sharper; he called Biden the worst US President for witnessing acts of genocide during his tenure.
As the American Muslim community’s political consciousness awakens, they have begun to use electoral politics to express their demands. According to a prior report by ‘Voice of America,’ CAIR has about 2.2 million eligible voters, a number sufficient to influence key swing states.
07 Future Directions: Two Possible Trajectories
Facing the current situation, the future of the West Bank may develop along two截然不同的 paths. On one hand, if Israel’s sovereignty extension bill is ultimately passed, it could completely strangle the prospects of the “two-state solution.”
Li Zixin, Assistant Researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, warned: “If this bill is ultimately fully passed, it will indeed exacerbate tensions in the West Bank and further weaken the possibility of achieving an independent Palestinian state based on the ‘two-state solution’ in the future.”
On the other hand, international pressure might force Israel to reconsider its settlement policy. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, holding a press conference on the 28th regarding the Gaza situation, urged Israel to stop seizing Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip and halt settlement expansion in the West Bank.
However, a statement made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an agreement signed on the 11th, explicitly claiming “there will be no Palestinian state,” has undoubtedly cast a deeper shadow over the prospects for peace.
Legislation and gunfire, votes and bloodshed are intertwined in the West Bank to form a complex picture of geopolitics. When the Knesset’s narrow margin of 25 votes to 24 is juxtaposed with the three young bodies in Qadd village, one must ponder: which carries more weight – the procedural justice of law, or the ultimate value of life?
For Palestinians, the teachings of the Quran are their spiritual guide, and the justice and dignity emphasized within are the goals they pursue; while for Israelis, national security and historical mission are equally sacred and inviolable.
In this seemingly intractable contradiction, the role of the international community becomes increasingly important, yet also increasingly fragmented. As American Muslims feel betrayed, and European and American positions drift apart, the path to peace in the Middle East seems more rugged than ever.
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