The war has decimated the West Bank’s economy
“It’s good to die for our country,” said Abigail Shir, 24, a student of Levy’s father
“There is a quote in Israel that says, ‘It is good to die for our country.’ “I do not feel like this anymore,” she said. “Is it good to die for a country that’s not functioning, that celebrates the hate between us?”
Abigail Shir, 24, was a schoolmate of Levy’s. “On the one hand, I still think Hamas needs to be destroyed. She asked if the war cabinet made good decisions, like if they made good decisions for us.
“I think we are in a war of no choice,” said Rami Sherman. We want to stay in this area. Our only way of surviving in the crazy world of the Middle East is to stay united.
Israeli soldiers and civilians are calling for Israel’s independence from a war–torsion campaign: Witnesses and supporters of Ilay Levy
Many of the people who attended the funeral were friends or family of Levy. Others had no relation but attended the funeral as a show of support for Levy’s family.
When we talked on the phone before, you said you could not wait to see me in uniform. So here I am in uniform,” she said, as her mother wept.
His sister Ori, dressed in military uniform, said during her eulogy that she had enlisted in the army before she heard her brother had been killed.
Hundreds of people were at the funeral of Ilay Levy, a captain who was killed on Monday, in the military cemetery outside Tel Aviv.
Sentiment about the war in Israel is changing as a result of the news of Monday’s incident. A small but growing minority of Israelis are speaking out against the war, and thousands participated in a protest in Tel Aviv over the weekend calling for Netanyahu to leave office.
Calling Monday “one of the most difficult days” since the war began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was carrying out a “thorough inquiry” into the incident.
The conflict has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians in Gaza, health officials there say. The majority of the toll are women and children.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Twenty-one Israeli reserve soldiers died in a single incident Monday in which two buildings exploded and collapsed on soldiers operating inside after Hamas fired at a nearby tank, the Israeli military said Tuesday.
The Israeli army’s chief of staff said that the pain is unbearable for the families of those who have died. “On this day, we feel the great and painful cost of war, but that which we are fighting is necessary and justified.”
The deadly incident Monday afternoon occurred near the Gaza-Israel border, where a group of Israeli reservists was “removing structures and terrorist infrastructure,” military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement Tuesday.
The group of soldiers were inside and around the two buildings that had been laid with explosives, when a rocket- propelled grenade was fired at a nearby tank.
He said that the explosion of the structures was likely caused by explosives laid by the forces that were about to be used in the demolition of terror infrastructure. An explosion resulted in the collapse of two two story structures, while most of the force was inside them.
Hamas and the West Bank’s Economy: How Many Palestinians Do You Live in? A Ramallah Commentary from Khalil Shikaki
Shikaki notes that since the start of the war, Hamas’ popularity in the West Bank has more than tripled — from 12% to 42%, according to his polls. In addition, some Israeli settlers in the West Bank continue to attack Palestinians, and an increasing number of Palestinians feel they have no diplomatic alternative to violence.
Khalil Shikaki, an academic and pollster who runs the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, is not as concerned about the security forces. But he does worry that the West Bank’s battered economy is just one more ingredient in an already combustible brew.
“You are telling people who have their Kalashnikovs with them, ‘I will not spend money on you,'” warns Hulileh, who adds that other groups, including Hamas, could recruit them. “You are opening up your security forces in the West Bank for options.”
Samir Hulileh, a leading economist and businessman, worries about the impact on public workers if they are not paid. He’s worried about the loyalty of the security forces in the areas that the Palestinians oversee.
This has devastated the West Bank’s finances. The World Bank says that the wages of crossborder workers make up about one-third of the combined economy of the West Bank and Gaza.
Video of people pulling bodies from the rubble in Gaza plays on the store’s TV, and a woman took off her wedding ring to help her husband pay the bills.
Stroll through the streets of Ramallah these days, and the war’s economic impact seems to be everywhere. Baha Tamimi, who runs a gold shop in the heart of the city, says 4 out of 5 people who visit now don’t want to buy gold — they want to sell it.
After the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which Israel says killed about 1,200 people, Israel banned some 100,000 Palestinian laborers in the West Bank from crossing the border to work in Israel. The country cited security concerns.
He says that he used to make about $125 a day. But after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel began its assault on Gaza, Qatanani fled to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He hasn’t been able to find a decent-paying job.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Muattaz Qatanani used to commute from Gaza to work each day in Israel, where he built bomb shelters — the kind that Israelis use to seek refuge from Hamas rocket attacks.
