Thread by @BtSIsrael

On Christmas Eve, the IDF's "Gazafication" of the West Bank was on full display, as 8 Palestinians, including two innocent women, were killed by drone strikes in Tulkarm, and bulldozers destroyed infrastructure in the Nur Shams refugee camp.

This is not an isolated incident 🧵

The IDF returned to routine airstrikes in the West Bank, a practice which was reserved mainly for Gaza for decades until this govt came to power in early 2023. And more firepower means more “collateral damage.” Last night, 9 Palestinians were injured, including a 10-year-old boy.

Bulldozers have reportedly destroyed part of the camp's water network, multiple houses and shops, and some of the walls of the al-Salam mosque, where Hamas militants had barricaded. One source told Haaretz that the forces’ activity focused mainly on "peeling" the roads apart.

This is not the first time we’ve seen roads in densely populated areas in the West Bank be “peeled” off in the same way much of Gaza has been. We saw it even before Oct 7th, with Operation “Home and Garden” in Jenin - back in July of 2023.

This “peeling” of roads, intentional destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the increased use of firepower, are testimony to the IDF's mindset of “converting the terrain” from streets people live on to a full out “conventional” battlefield.

Another desired effect of these tactics is delaying “the next round”, in essence guaranteeing there will be one, and exacting a price from the entire civilian population. This is what our government's policy of “managing the conflict” looks like on the ground.

“There were chicken coops that weren’t destroyed by the aerial strikes, and the D9 (bulldozer) simply came and peeled them apart. There was concern about tunnels there, so the coops were just crushed”.
Sergeant First Class | Northern Gaza Strip | 2014
breakingthesilence.org.il/testimonies/da…

Whether in Gaza or in the West Bank - these tactics are an illegitimate and immoral form of mass collective punishment. Watching it expand is just another worrying sign that even the few brakes that were once in place, are now gone, as we continue on this downward spiral.