International law: Palestine (not Israel) has the right to defend itself

This week's Al Mawasi massacre, which saw weapons of mass destruction deployed upon refugees sheltering in tents, is a testament to the fact that the world is increasingly getting used to Palestinian bloodshed. And it does nothing to stop it.

Since October 7, we have heard of Israel's seemingly limitless "right to defend" itself. There are two ways to go with this premise. If we accept it to be true, then we must accept that Palestinians have that right as well – especially in response to the countless massacres that have taken place over the last year.

And if we don't accept it to be true, then only Palestinians have the undying right to self-defence in their ongoing struggle for liberation. However, in Western media & politics, this "right" always seems to be conditional when it comes to victims of imperialism.

For years, the phrase "Axis of Evil" has been deployed as a propaganda tool to paint entire nations and peoples as irredeemable threats. But within Palestine, where the fires of resistance have burned steadily for generations, the reality could not be more different.

The refugee camps in Nablus, Jenin, and Tulkarem are not outposts of terrorism or evil. They are the cradles of our resistance—a living testament to the enduring Palestinian spirit, one that refuses to be extinguished by decades of occupation, deprivation, and siege.

While the world's gaze has often focused on Gaza as a symbol of resistance, Israel has been unable to subdue it despite relentless military campaigns.

Now, the Zionist project has shifted focus to the occupied West Bank, targeting refugee camps in Jenin, destroying 80 percent of the city's streets, where the population has been deeply entrenched in the struggle for liberation since their formation.

These camps, carved from the collective trauma of displacement, have evolved into strongholds of unity and defiance.

Camps as birthplaces of resistance

The refugee camps in the West Bank, particularly in Nablus, Jenin, and Tulkarem, are not merely places where the displaced survive. They are incubators of the collective Palestinian consciousness, which continues to reject colonialism and the violence that sustains it.

Historically, these camps have served as centres for political organising and education, despite Israel's attempts to dehumanise their inhabitants by portraying them as hotbeds of extremism.

Nablus, Jenin, and Tulkarem have a long history of fierce resistance dating back to the First Intifada in 1987. These were the very places where protests against Israeli occupation were organised, where youth learned to resist even as they faced the harshest of crackdowns.

The siege and destruction of Jenin's refugee camp in 2002, during the Second Intifada, remains one of the most brutal chapters in the West Bank's resistance history. Yet, even amid such violence, the camp was never defeated. The people endured, rebuilt, and continued to resist.

The right to self-defence

Today, in the face of obvious war crimes, United States President Joe Biden's administration has stated its unwavering support for Israel, qualifying its violence as "defence."

This is where we must be cautious. Zionists and Western media classify the armed resistance of Palestinians as acts of "terrorism" or "extremism." Yet the actions against the Zionist regime are anything but.

Resistance and to self-determination are our inalienable and enshrined rights. The narrative starts with the fact that before Israel, there were people there. According to this fact, there is no such thing as "Israeli defence," for the truth of this fact automatically makes them aggressors and gives Palestinians the right to resist by any means.

According to Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations, "a territory is occupied when it is placed under the authority of a hostile army."

Yet, when it comes to Palestine this suddenly becomes too complex to understand. Since 1948, Palestine has been occupied by the expanding colonial state. Palestine has no army and Palestinians, no right to movement. Thus they are considered "Protected Persons" under the United Nations which defines occupation.

The inhumane acts committed in the context of institutionalised oppression and domination of the Palestinians (arbitrary arrest, extermination, population transfer, etc.) give us the moral and legal right to armed resistance.

In 1982, Resolution 37/43 of the UN General Assembly endorsed, unequivocally, the "inalienable right" of the Palestinian people to "self-determination, national independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty without outside interference."

Furthermore, the same resolution reaffirms the legitimacy of the Palestinian people and our struggle for those rights by "all available means, including armed struggle."

Although the extent of armed struggle is not mentioned, international standards assume that it covers the extent until liberation is reached. It is the basic human right of the Palestinians to resist being murdered.

A new era

The resistance we are witnessing today is different from previous waves in key ways. While earlier periods of resistance were often fragmented, with different factions pursuing their own strategies, today there is greater unity among Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Different political factions, which once might have operated separately, are now working together in unprecedented ways.

In Nablus, for example, local resistance units have emerged, consisting of people from various factions, including Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. They have created an organised, cooperative network to push back against Israeli incursions.

This collaboration is a direct response to Israel's intensifying aggression, but it is also fueled by a growing sense of common purpose across Palestinian society.

Israel's tactics in the occupied West Bank are strikingly similar to those it has used in Gaza. The siege mentality, the demolition of homes, the targeted assassinations of resistance leaders—these are tools of occupation that have been wielded for decades.

And yet, just as these measures have failed in Gaza, they are destined to fail in the West Bank.

The resilience of the people in the West Bank, particularly in the refugee camps, is rooted in their profound connection to the land and their history of resistance.

Despite efforts to erase Palestinian identity, it is precisely in places like Jenin and Nablus that this identity is most fiercely preserved.

As Mahmoud Darwish would say “We have on this earth what makes life worth living.”

More than that, the international community, despite its failures, has grown increasingly aware of the injustice being perpetrated. Palestinian resistance is no longer seen in a vacuum.

It is part of a global movement for justice and human rights, and the plight of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is gaining attention in ways that Israel cannot control.

The strength of the Palestinian resistance lies in its ability to mobilise not just on the ground, but across borders and through the solidarity of people everywhere who believe in the right to self-determination.

In the end, Israel will fail in the West Bank for the same reasons it has failed in Gaza. Occupation, no matter how brutal, cannot erase the will of a people determined to be free.

The refugee camps in Nablus, Jenin, and Tulkarem are not the fringes of Palestinian society—they are the heart of it. And from these cradles of resistance, the struggle will continue until Palestine is free.