Israeli media outlets focused their attention on the escalating situation in the occupied West Bank, amid warnings from political and military analysts of the situation exploding there and the resulting difficulties that would burden the Israeli army.
According to the Israeli Channel 11, September witnessed the largest number of Israeli deaths since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip, noting that the death toll is no less than 9 deaths and does not include the booby-trapping operations.
She pointed out that this toll coincided with the Israeli army carrying out a series of operations in the areas of Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas in the northern West Bank, adding that “terrorism (resistance operations) has expanded to other areas.”
In turn, Alon Ben David, a military affairs analyst on Israel’s Channel 13, warned of a scenario in which the West Bank would ignite, stressing that the army would then not be able to fight on other fronts.
Ben David explained that the West Bank requires the deployment of large numbers of ground forces, if the West Bank is not completely bombed from the air, in addition to the fact that it is not a hostile area where Israelis roam.
He concluded that “the West Bank will drain the capabilities of the Israeli ground forces, preventing major operations in the Gaza Strip and in the north.”
While Dana Weiss, a political analyst for Israel’s Channel 12, said that the situation in the West Bank is on the verge of explosion, but it is not inevitable and can be avoided, the same channel’s military affairs correspondent, Nir Dvori, said that “in the absence of decisions, it is the field that dictates reality to us.”
Dvori pointed to the clear development in the use of explosive devices, warning of “a new old phenomenon that is now returning and greatly worries the internal security apparatus (Shabak), which is the phenomenon of suicide bombers (martyrdom operations).”
For her part, former Likud minister Limor Livnat said that the Israeli right must realize that the army’s capabilities are limited in engaging on all fronts at the same time.
In another topic, the Israeli Channel 11 addressed the escalation of hostility in the Jordanian street against Israel, citing the operation carried out by Jordanian truck driver Maher Al-Jazi at the Allenby Crossing (King Hussein Bridge).
She also cited the remarkable victory achieved by the Islamic Action Front – the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood – by obtaining more than 30 seats in the recent parliamentary elections, noting that “those who are hostile to Israel become more popular.”
