Israeli forces demolished around nine memorials commemorating Palestinians killed by Israel across six towns and villages near Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, as part of a widening campaign targeting Palestinian national symbols and public spaces.
The demolitions took place in Madama, Burin, Iraq Burin, Beit Furik, Rujeib and Azmut, where Israeli forces destroyed stone monuments, memorial plaques and structures bearing the names and photographs of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.
The latest raids follow days of similar operations across the occupied territory, during which dozens of memorials have been destroyed in Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps.
Palestinian academics and analysts told The New Arab that the campaign represented an attempt to reshape public spaces in the West Bank by removing symbols of Palestinian identity, resistance and collective memory.
The operations come as Israeli forces and settlers continue attacks on Palestinian communities, including the destruction of agricultural land, attacks on olive harvesters, livestock theft and restrictions on movement through military checkpoints and gates.
Beyond these attacks, Palestinians say Israel is increasingly targeting the physical symbols through which communities commemorate those killed during decades of occupation.
Across the West Bank, memorials bearing the names and photographs of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces have long been a feature of streets, public squares, refugee camps and university campuses.
Many have stood for decades, serving as reminders of individuals whose deaths remain part of local and national history.
Their destruction has coincided with the growing visibility of Israeli flags and Hebrew-language signs along roads connecting Palestinian towns and cities, particularly near Israeli settlements.
Settlers have also written threatening messages on concrete barriers at military checkpoints, including the Arabic phrase "No future in Palestine".
Israeli forces target memorials in Palestinian cities
On 5 October, Israeli forces raided Birzeit University near Ramallah and destroyed a memorial commemorating Palestinians killed by Israel, leaving no trace of the structure.
Similar operations have taken place in central Nablus, its historic neighbourhoods and Jenin, where Israeli troops deployed military vehicles and bulldozers to demolish stone monuments bearing the names and photographs of Palestinians.
Memorials have also been targeted in Ramallah and Tulkarm, including areas classified as Area A under the Oslo Accords, where the Palestinian Authority was granted responsibility for internal security and civil administration.
Israeli forces have distributed leaflets warning Palestinians against erecting or maintaining monuments commemorating people Israel accuses of carrying out attacks.
Israeli authorities have justified the removal of memorials on the grounds that they allegedly glorify "terrorism".
However, Palestinian academics argue that the campaign goes beyond individual monuments and forms part of a broader effort to suppress expressions of Palestinian national identity.
'A war on memory'
Abduljawad Omar, a writer and assistant professor at Birzeit University, told The New Arab that the demolitions served two purposes.
The first, he said, was to reinforce the visible presence of Israeli military forces in Palestinian communities and deter political and social mobilisation.
The second was a direct attack on Palestinian collective memory.
Omar drew parallels with Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes and neighbourhoods in Gaza, arguing that the loss of buildings and personal possessions also erased physical records of Palestinian lives and history.
He said the campaign in the West Bank had taken two forms: the proliferation of Israeli flags and symbols asserting control over the territory, and the removal of Palestinian flags, monuments and other expressions of remembrance.
According to Omar, Israel was using legal and political language centred on incitement to justify targeting memorials and other social practices associated with Palestinian identity.
He argued that the occupation itself, rather than the commemoration of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, remained the principal source of resistance.
'A war on Palestinian consciousness'
Adel Shadid, an analyst specialising in Israeli affairs, told The New Arab that Israel viewed the commemoration of Palestinians killed during the occupation as a means through which resistance remained embedded in collective memory.
He argued that memorials gave those commemorated a lasting social, religious and moral significance, allowing their stories to influence subsequent generations.
Shadid said Israeli authorities were attempting to undermine the cultural and political significance of Palestinian resistance by removing the symbols associated with it.
The campaign, he argued, reflected a wider effort to reshape Palestinian political consciousness through military pressure, educational changes and restrictions on public commemoration.
He also questioned the continued relevance of the territorial divisions established under the Oslo Accords, pointing to Israeli military operations in areas nominally under Palestinian Authority control.
According to Shadid, Israeli forces now operate across virtually the entire West Bank, with Palestinian Authority security headquarters among the few places generally treated differently.
He argued that the demolitions demonstrated the extent to which Israel was prepared to deploy military resources against even small monuments made of stone or marble.
"Israel is forced to bring out its tanks, not to confront another tank, but to confront a memorial made of a piece of marble or stone bearing their name and photograph," Shadid told The New Arab.