Why did it start in Nablus, especially at a vital time for the occupying state? What role does the Iranian war, including its battalions and armaments, play in supporting and escalating it?

Abdel Bari Atwan

The resistance has never stopped in most West Bank cities and villages, as well as its camps, in defence of the land’s Arab identity and dignity, and in solidarity with the fighters in the Gaza Strip, who are heroically facing a war of extermination, displacement, and starvation and are offering martyrs daily. What happened yesterday, Friday, in the village of “Tell” in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, where an Israeli officer and a soldier were killed and three others were injured in clashes following the martyrdom of four fighters, may be the start of a third armed intifada that began in the city of Nablus, the mountain of fire, and extended to the heroics of Jenin, Tulkarm, and the Nur Shams camp, with a long list of resistance and struggle.
The Israeli settlers who assaulted the community of “Tel” expected this incursion to be a “walk in the park”, with no one confronting them for their customary crimes of cutting down olive trees, vandalising, and destroying homes. How mistaken they were! Despite 76 years of marauding and occupation, they are unfamiliar with the Palestinian people. In their arrogance and hubris, they forget the incursion on October 7, “Al-Aqsa Flood”, one of the greatest Arab victories, which involved breaching borders, cameras, and electrified wires; reaching most of the settlements in occupied southern Palestine; killing nearly 1,332 Israelis; capturing more than 300; and, most dangerously, occupying these cities and settlements for more than 4 hours before returning to the sector with their spoils without a single martyr falling.
This event was duplicated on a smaller scale yesterday in the Nablus village of ‘Tell’, when an unarmed young guy attacked one of the attacking settlers, stole his weapon and used it to shoot and kill him, along with another armed settler, in a legendary act of courage that only happens in movies.
This scene was repeated on a smaller scale yesterday in the village of “Tell” near Nablus, when an unarmed young man attacked one of the attacking settlers, seized his weapon, and used it to shoot and kill him, as well as another armed settler, in a feat of legendary bravery seen only in movies and literary propaganda stories.
The timing is critical, as this brave stand in defence of self and dignity occurred just a few days after 3,000 Israeli settlers attacked the Al-Aqsa Mosque, commanded by the Israeli Minister of Security, Itamar Ben Gvir. They opened Israeli shelters in Greater Tel Aviv and declared a state of maximum emergency within the Israeli army in response to hints from US President Donald Trump about military preparations for a major attack on Iran.
Of course, the Palestinian “national” government, which has the city of Nablus and its villages, and previously the cities of Jenin and Tulkarm, under its protection, governance, and military forces trained by Americans and Israelis, with a total of over 60,000 people, did not sit quietly by. Instead, it swiftly published an extraordinary, harshly worded statement that criticises Israeli violence.
The West Bank is like a large, heavy elephant; it moves slowly but destroys everything in its path, and no one, including the Israelis and their army, can control it. The second armed intifada, which began in 2000 and lasted several years, provides the most compelling evidence of what we claim.
Weapons are now available, and there are many strong-willed males. Some of these weapons are smuggled from Jordan, while others are produced domestically. The Israeli and American failures in the Iranian conflict, as well as the failure of both countries’ actions to change the Iranian regime and destroy its facilities and nuclear ambitions, may inspire the emergence of an armed insurrection.
It is worth remembering that there have been 1,181 Palestinian martyrs in the West Bank since the start of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation in October 2023. Furthermore, operations and skirmishes in Palestinian cities, villages, and occupied Jerusalem have killed 48 Israelis. Despite the siege, the inhabitants of the West Bank have not abandoned the citizens of the Gaza Strip, who face Israeli extermination.
Hezbollah is reclaiming its forces, missiles, and drones, while Yemen’s “Ansar Allah” is sealing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and sharpening their missile heads in preparation for a strike on Tel Aviv and Eilat. The Iraqi resistance brigades, including the Saraya Awliya al-Dam, Kata’ib Hezbollah Iraq, and the Nujaba Movement, are ready to storm the Jordanian and possibly Syrian borders, reaching deep into the sacred Arab Palestinian areas.
The third intifada, which is about to begin in an unprecedented context of regional resistance, could surprise the occupying authority and its backers. Widespread popular support, modern and precise weapons, and drones patrolling the occupied Palestinian skies protect it. We are not dreaming; we are relying on tenacity that is entering its fifth month, bolstered by successes.