Nablus Municipality: Steps and Measures to Address Consequences of Israel’s Aggression

Prepared by: Nablus Municipality

It is no secret that various agencies of the Israeli occupying forces (IOF) operate in an integrated manner for one goal, namely, to constrain Palestinian livelihoods and make Palestinians’ life impossible. Since 7 October 2023, Israel has targeted the very existence Palestinians, including their political, economic and social components and resources. 

In particular, while the siege is imposed, the IOF and settlers have intensified measures against the Nablus city, making the lives of Palestinians unbearable. According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, during the first half of 2024, the IOF and settlers launched 7,681 attacks across the West Bank. Of these, 1,093 assaults targeted the Nablus governorate. Attacks involved imposing facts on the ground, including land confiscation, settlement expansion, forced population displacement, extra-judicial killings, land levelling, uprooting of trees, seizure of property, and closure. Fragmenting Palestinian geography, checkpoints turn Palestinian cities into a large prison and make movement between the cities a kind of torture. Apart from checkpoints, Palestinians cannot guarantee their safety from the attacks carried out by settlers on the West Bank streets under the IOF protection. Settler violence is no less dangerous than the crimes, intimidation and torture perpetrated by the IOF. 

The senseless war has cast a shadow on various aspects of life. In every raid, the IOF destroy streets, leave debris behind, damage infrastructure, disrupt municipal functions, and target municipal teams. The municipality is also strained by a crippling financial crisis, preventing it from proceeding with rehabilitation and infrastructure projects across the city. Hence, the municipality had to take the initiative and implement a set of measures to alleviate the impact of the war. 

First and foremost, municipal cultural centres and playground were used to shelter and provide proper dorms for Gaza workers, who had been expelled from their workplaces inside the Green Line. In cooperation with several civil society organizations, the municipality met necessary needs of over 350 workers. More than nine months into the war, 50 workers are still in the city. 

Nablus Municipality actions towards reducing the effects of aggression:

In the context of its ongoing effort to enhance the health situation and in response to the Palestinian government decision, the municipality provided all needed facilities to receive the Jordanian Field Hospital. A portion of the Jamal Abdul Nasser Park was selected as a proper location to install the hospital. The municipal Hamdi Manko Cultural Centre was used as an administrative head office. The municipality made available all logistical needs for the Jordanian medical staff. Municipal machinery soon prepared the site to ensure that medical services would be immediately provided to citizens. This was in line with the municipality’s effort to ease the financial burden on citizens as the hospital offers services free of charge. 

Out of its national commitment, the municipality sent teams and machinery to clear the debris on roads and in places affected by recent IOF raids on the areas surrounding the Al-Ghawi junction and streets in Nablus, as well IOF brutal aggression against the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm. 

The municipality developed and implemented a plan for market regulation in cooperation with key institutions in the city, including the Governor’s Office, police, Chamber of Commerce, and regulatory committees. All encroachments by merchants and vendor stalls were removed. The plan allowed a large number of workers to engage in vending business, supporting those who lost their source of income due to tightened Israeli measures. 

In the context of strategic planning to address potential future emergencies, the municipal council put in place several recommendations, including the installation of water wells, pumps, and diesel-fed generators as a contingency against a more difficult situation if power sources are under any future attacks. 

Mobilizing international support

The municipality also conveyed a picture the ongoing events in Gaza to the international community and called for bringing an end to the aggression. It sent many letters to international organizations and cities, with which Nablus has twinning and cooperation relations, calling for immediate and urgent intervention to stop IOF pogroms against, and provide protection to, Palestinians in Gaza. The statement denounced the genocide against civilians and the unprecedented destruction of infrastructure and health facilities. 

In response to these letters, several twin cities organized protests and events in solidarity with Gaza. On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, many residents of Stavanger (Norway) responded to a call for hoisting the Palestinian flag on their homes and lighted candles in commemoration of victims of the aggression against Gaza. In Barcelona (Spain), a number of solidarity activities rallied outside the historic Basílica de la Sagrada Família. In Plaça del Rei, they displayed white bags similar to those that shrouded the bodies of martyred Gazan children. In a solidarity march through Lille (France), participants raised banners, deploring the aggression against Gaza.