2001 Israeli Military Incursion into Palestinian Cities

The 2001 Israeli Military Incursion into Palestinian Cities is presented as a rapid escalation in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict after the September 11 attacks. Within days, Israeli tanks entered Jenin, Ramallah, and Jericho; several dozen Palestinians were killed, and Israel tightened its pressure on Palestinian communities. In Chomsky’s account, the episode shows how a major international crisis can create an opening for renewed violence and reinforce an already familiar cycle of escalation.

Background and Political Opening

Chomsky argues that the September 11 attacks dealt a severe blow to Palestinians, who recognized their changed circumstances immediately. He reports that Israel openly welcomed what it saw as new prospects for suppressing Palestinians with impunity. The incursion followed within days, making the political consequence visible in specific cities and in a harsher daily reality for their residents.

The broader context is a shift in attention and power after the attacks. Chomsky warns elsewhere that atrocities can benefit repressive forces of different kinds, which may exploit the moment to advance militarization and reverse social or democratic gains. He connects this general warning to the immediate worsening of conditions for Palestinians, rather than treating the incursion as an isolated military episode.

Course and Immediate Consequences

Israeli tanks entered Jenin, Ramallah, and Jericho. Chomsky singles out the entry into these cities as a rapid development in the days after September 11, noting that it was the first time tanks had entered those places. Several dozen Palestinians were killed, and Israeli pressure on the population tightened further. The passage gives no account of the operation’s military objectives or duration; its emphasis is on the timing, locations, deaths, and intensified pressure.

The incursion also appears within a wider argument about how violence is answered. Chomsky describes a recurring dynamic in which an attack or retaliation hardens the conditions that make further violence more likely. He identifies similar patterns in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, and elsewhere, placing the events in Palestinian cities within a comparative account of conflict escalation.

Strategic Context and Wider Argument

Chomsky’s discussion of the post-September 11 period warns that a massive assault on Muslim populations could fulfill the aims of Osama bin Laden and his associates by provoking anger and recruiting new supporters. That warning concerns the broader military response, not a claim that the Israeli incursion was part of a coordinated operation. It nevertheless clarifies the article’s central concern: actions taken in the name of security or advantage can intensify conflict and strengthen the conditions for further violence.

In his later assessment of the consequences of the attacks, Chomsky argues that the United States used the new phase of the War on Terror to consolidate military dominance and expand its strategic position. He also says that the attacks introduced significant changes into international politics while leaving many underlying problems in place. Against that larger account, the incursion is one concrete example of how the crisis affected Palestinians: a sudden strategic opening was followed by military entry, deaths, and tighter control, extending rather than resolving the cycle of violence.