Before 8 a.m. on Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had finished its incursion into the West Bank city of Jenin, aimed at curbing attacks on Israelis by armed Palestinians. Barely five hours later, about 25 miles away, shots fired from a car with Palestinian plates hit an Israeli police vehicle, causing damage but no casualties.
The 48-hour military operation was one of the largest in many years against armed militant groups in the occupied West Bank, including deadly airstrikes not seen in the area for about two decades. But few Israelis or Palestinians harbored any illusions, saying that before long, the groups that lost weapons and people to the incursion would rebuild and the troops would be back.
Three decades after the Oslo peace process raised hopes that Palestinian and Israeli states could exist side by side, prospects for peaceful coexistence seem ever more remote.
Underlying sources of Palestinian anger remain, including the West Bank occupation dating to the 1967 Middle Eastern war, continued encroachment by Jewish settlements and a lack of economic opportunity. Palestinian statehood is as distant as ever. Ultranationalist members of Israel’s government reject any talks or political progress with the Palestinian leadership, which is weak, divided and unwilling or unable to police rising hotbeds of militancy.
Courtesy NYT
