US imperialism holds a military exercise with Israel less than a week after the attack on Jenin
On the 10th of July, less than a week after the large-scale military operation against Palestinians in Jenin, which the US endorsed as justified for the “defense” of Israel, US imperialism led a joint military exercise with the Israeli military to “show its commitment to the defense of Israel”. The military exercises included long-range strikes. “This event also demonstrates our full commitment to the security of the Middle East and ability to deter hostile acts against regional partners”, the US authorities said in their statement. Similarly, the Israeli statement said that the exercise aimed at achieving “aerial superiority in the region and Cyber defense in the face of a variety of threats and challenges”. Both statements therefore show how Israel serves the interests of US imperialism in the region.
Israel spent over 2,500 dollars per capita and 12% of its government spending on its military in 2020. Compared to the US spending per capita, Israel spent slightly more. Israel has one of the most technically advanced armies in the world. The militarization is largely funded by and carried out according to the plans of the US: in 2020, the US gave 3.8 billion dollars in aid to Israel, most of this being military aid. Over the course of two decades, the amount of military aid was around 58 billion dollars in total, being more than the military aid given to all other countries by the US combined. The amount of military funding keeps on increasing. The increases have been corresponding to the US military operations in the extended Middle East in the 2000s, such as the war of aggression against Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Israeli military keeps on carrying out the genocidal policies with the involvement and endorsement of US imperialism. We have reported on this earlier. In the week following the attack on Jenin, multiple incidents of raids and harassment have taken place. At the same time, the Palestinians carry out armed struggle against the attacks.
Just one day after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces, a militant of the Palestinian national resistance movement opened fire to Israeli military personnel near the settlement of Kedumim, in the occupied West Bank, killing an Israeli soldier in this armed action. After this, the Israeli soldiers killed him. Hamas claimed the attack and declared that it took place as retaliation for the attack on Jenin, in which 12 Palestinians were killed. This action raised the question of the effectiveness of the raids of Israeli to crush the resistance of Palestinian people.
On the 7th of July, two Palestinian national resistance fighters were killed in an Israeli military raid in Nablus, occupied West Bank. The Israeli forces demanded the men to surrender, and were met with improvised explosive devices. Three people were injured in the military raid, which came only days after the large-scale military operation against Palestinians in Jenin and is one of the latest among the many raids of terror made against the Palestinian people this year. Protests and clashes followed the raid. As is typical for this type of raids, paramedics were prevented from attending to the wounded by the Israeli forces, which is defined as a war crime by international laws.
Later the same day, a 24-year-old man was shot dead in Ramallah during a protest against an illegal Israeli settlement. Illegal settlers were throwing stones at the Palestinians, and then Israeli soldiers opened fire at the Palestinians.
On the 10th of July a 33-year-old man was shot after being stopped in his car by Israeli soldiers in Deir Natham, west of Ramallah. The Israeli military claimed that the man had thrown an explosive device at them. The soldiers prevented Red Crescent ambulances from reaching the man and let him bleed to death on the ground.
On the 11th of July an elderly Palestinian couple was evicted violently by illegal settlers from their home in Jerusalem. The settlers were escorted by Israeli occupation forces who detained activists who were supporting the couple and resisting the eviction. The family had been living in this house for 70 years.
These days there are also reports of many raids in several cities of the occupied West Bank: there was a new raid against the city of Jericho. In this attack, after the resistance of the Palestinian youth, there is one young man injured, and other three detained. One of the raids was in Nablus, and the population there strongly resisted against the Israeli attack which goal was detain a former political prisoner. The Israeli force caused five injured, damage to an ambulance with live ammo. In the occupied West Bank, in total there are 17 people detained during the last two days. Among them, two former political prisoners and the head of the village council of Shuqba, near from Ramallah.
On the 12th of July, President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas – a notorious national traitor –, visited the city of Jenin trying to gain the support of the people there after their fight against the Israeli raid, but the answer of the people was in between indifference and anger. During the speech of the President of the PA, the Palestinian people shouted “brigades, brigades”, in reference to the Jenin Brigades, the armed militia who defended the city of Jenin during the raid of the Israeli forces.
