Occupied Jerusalem The Israeli occupation army continues its military operations in the West Bank, in parallel with settlers’ attacks on Palestinian civilians on the one hand, and the escalation of resistance operations there and the threat of transferring them to the Israeli interior on the other hand, in addition to the continuation of the war on the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army, which failed to achieve its objectives in the war on Gaza, rushed to classify the West Bank as a second combat zone after the Gaza front, through the military operation called “Summer Camps”, which entered its second week and is concentrated in the northern West Bank and the refugee camps in particular.
Political and military readings agreed on the motives and reasons for the escalation in the West Bank, and estimated that the field developments have become a source of concern for the Israeli security establishment, which fears that resistance operations will move from the West Bank to the Israeli side. Therefore, it has carried out its military operations in the West Bank cities and camps, which are experiencing economic and political crises, and are witnessing the undermining of the status of the Palestinian Authority due to the practices of the Israeli government.
Israeli concern
The military analyst for the official Israeli radio station “Kan 11”, Eyal Alima, believes that since the beginning of the war on Gaza, the West Bank has been considered a “battleground” and not a “war front” in the traditional sense, and what happened recently is an intensification and escalation in the military operations of the Israeli army.
In his interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Alima attributed the army’s escalation of its operations to Israeli concerns about the West Bank turning into a battlefield similar to the Gaza Strip, following the bombing in Tel Aviv several weeks ago, which was considered a turning point in military dealings with the West Bank and its camps.
He pointed out that the Israeli escalation in the West Bank is also due to a series of armed resistance operations and the emergence of car bombs, as well as statements by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements and their announcement of the return of bombing operations inside Israel, after an absence of more than 20 years, since the Second Intifada.
The military analyst estimated that the “gradual battlefield” in the West Bank worries the Israeli military establishment even more than the fighting on the northern front with Hezbollah, due to the measures that the right-wing government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu might take, considering that the settlers are partners in the government coalition, politically, intellectually and ideologically.
In this regard, Alima says, “The situation in the West Bank is extremely dangerous, not only because of the military escalation, but also because of the unprecedented measures that the right-wing government may take, similar to the battlefield in Gaza.”
Alima cites statements by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who called for forcing Palestinian residents to leave some areas, the army’s siege of hospitals in the West Bank, and the daily use of drones for offensive and intelligence purposes.
The military analyst does not rule out that the West Bank will witness unprecedented military scenarios, saying that “we do not know where things are heading, especially since the army has taken off its gloves and is moving towards using more military force, methods that are not much different from what it is doing in Gaza.”
step by step process
In light of this escalation, political analyst Akiva Eldar believes that the far-right government is using military operations in the West Bank to achieve the settlement project and annex it to Israeli sovereignty, which is the declared goal of many parties participating in the government coalition.
The political analyst told Tel Aviv Tribune Net that the military escalation in the West Bank cannot be isolated from the political project of this government, which rejects any settlement with the Palestinians. Accordingly, “we may witness more measures and escalation by force, and the use of weapons under pressure from right-wing party ministers, who are pushing for steps we have not seen before in order to resolve the conflict.”
Aldar does not rule out the possibility that the pressures exerted by the right-wing parties will force the military establishment to carry out operations and measures that were not previously known in the West Bank, such as the forced displacement of Palestinians, and a policy of deportation, tightening the siege and severing the geographical connections between Palestinian residential communities, turning them into “ghettos” (closed communities) surrounded by settlements, camps and military checkpoints.
The analyst believes that the West Bank is witnessing a “gradual military operation,” similar to what happened with the start of the ground military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which he considers a “dangerous slide” in the conflict with the Palestinian people.
exceptional stage
In reading the implications of considering the West Bank a battlefield similar to Gaza, security and military expert Osama Khaled said that the Israeli announcement means that a change will occur in civilian life in the Palestinian areas that will witness military operations, and which have been classified by the Israeli army as military areas.
In this regard, Khaled expects, in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “military behaviour somewhat similar to what is happening in Gaza, and intensive and continuous attacks on areas where resistance members are concentrated inside neighbourhoods using drones and ground raids, with a policy of forced displacement of residents temporarily, and increasing barriers on internal and external roads, which will contribute to complicating living conditions and people’s movement.”
The military analyst believes that this matter would undermine the Palestinian Authority’s ability to carry out its tasks and duties towards the Palestinian population, and would cause it to lose control over certain areas where the army would be present completely and permanently.
The military expert explained that the “West Bank Division” operates under the command of the regional central command in the Israeli army, and will need to mobilize larger forces to implement its plans, and thus will call upon elite forces that were operating on the Gaza front and the northern front, such as the 98th Division, for example.
Thus, the Israeli army is currently fighting practically on three fronts simultaneously, and is in direct contact and engagement with them, according to the analyst. He adds that “this will cause a state of depletion of the human and administrative assets of its forces, and will continue to operate the reserve forces and renew their periods of service, at an exceptional stage in the life of the Israeli entity.”
In summary, the military expert says that the above cannot be separated from the political goals that the entity seeks to achieve in the West Bank, and time is running out for more land grabbing, Judaization, and control at the expense of the Palestinian Authority, to reach what many Israeli politicians have announced on several occasions: “complete control over Judea and Samaria” (the West Bank).
Security concept
Khaled believes that the escalation of operations in the West Bank comes within the framework of what the Israeli military level calls “achieving the concept of security,” in light of the escalation of resistance operations inside the cities and regions of the West Bank, and the growth of the capabilities of the military resistance at the level of cadres, tools and procedures, which have shown advanced levels in targeting settlers, army checkpoints and sites.
Khaled estimated that the Israeli military level sees the West Bank as its “weak flank”, and that there is an effort by the resistance to raise the level of combat engagement there, in light of the blocked horizon on the Gaza Strip front and the state of isolating the resistance and its incubator there in an unprecedented war of extermination.
The military expert pointed out that the Israeli security feeling and assessment is that the West Bank will be a “major battlefield” in the coming period, and therefore it has begun taking preemptive steps to strike the resistance strongholds in its camps, especially in Jenin, Tulkarm, Tubas and Nablus.
Within these steps, Khaled says, “The Israeli army has transformed some Palestinian areas into military zones and operational areas, as part of military plans and procedures to achieve the concept of security, limit the dangers looming inside the West Bank, prevent their transfer to the territories occupied in 1948, and prevent the resistance from exploiting the field resistance action in the West Bank politically and diplomatically.”