Shared Fate of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

TEHRAN (Defapress) - The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are the two main parts of the occupied Palestinian territories that have been under the occupation of the Zionist regime since 1967. Based on available information and statistics, these two regions are home to a total of more than 6 million Palestinians who are completely geographically, historically, and politically connected and dependent on each other. This dependence is to the extent that it can be said that the fate and future of these two regions are tied together.

However, the Israeli regime’s policies of isolation regarding the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which began in the very first year of the occupation of Palestinian lands and are still being implemented today, have led to the emergence of internal conflicts among the Palestinian people and have created sensitive and critical conditions in these two regions. This issue has caused, in addition to the Israeli regime, other countries and regional and extra-regional powers to face the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with numerous rifts and challenges through their aggressive interventions.

In the meantime, the Israeli regime has deepened these rifts by implementing and adopting a policy of isolation, including the blockade of the Gaza Strip and the construction of settlements in the West Bank. This issue has caused the Hamas movement, realizing the dangerous and critical situation, to consolidate its power in the Gaza Strip. But this separation has caused the Gaza Strip to be surrounded by the Zionist army as a large prison and to see its connection with the West Bank completely cut off.

On the other hand, while all attention has been focused on this strip due to the two-year war in Gaza, the Zionist regime has quietly and quietly put on its agenda the plan to annex the West Bank to the occupied Palestinian territories and exercise sovereignty over it. An action that is already causing new crises between the Palestinian community and the Zionist regime, on the one hand, and indicating a change in the policies of the Israeli regime towards the Palestinian territories.

Now, if we want to examine and explore the current situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, we must mention this important point. While we are now witnessing a ceasefire agreement between the Zionist regime and the Hamas movement after two years of war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have launched extensive security activities in the West Bank, which include a significant increase in arrests, house demolitions, and violence against civilians.

But a very important point in the meantime is that the Zionist regime's security pressures on both areas of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have increased sharply. This has caused the separation imposed on them by the "Israeli" regime to prevent real political unity among the Palestinians, an issue that has allowed the Zionist regime to gain the most benefit and use from it.

From another point of view, as experts and pundits as well as the media have stated, the West Bank has faced increased violence by the Zionist regime after the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and the Israeli army is simultaneously pursuing increased violence against the people of the West Bank and its annexation to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Accordingly, it has been reported that in recent days the Knesset has taken serious and dangerous steps to exercise sovereignty over parts of the West Bank and annex it, which, of course, has been met with warnings and condemnations from the United States as well as international condemnation.

Meanwhile, another worrying issue is that Palestinian and regional media reported that the Zionist regime’s settlement construction in an area equal to 60 percent of the West Bank continues regardless of the protests of the Palestinian people and countries around the world; An issue that has caused Palestinians to live in isolation and isolation in the West Bank.

Finally, the shared fate of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is a symbol of the Palestinian struggle for survival and unity against the Zionist enemy. Although the Gaza ceasefire is a positive step in this direction, without resolving the issue of annexation of the West Bank and strengthening internal unity, these two regions are heading towards eternal separation. Therefore, the international community, especially the United States and Europe, should support the national dialogue among the Palestinians and pressure the Zionist regime to stop settlement construction.