Intensifying Israeli raids in the West Bank threaten to worsen the region’s violent conflict
Nasir Almasri https://mei.edu/blog/weekly-briefing-biden-administration-discusses-take-it-or-leave-it-cease-fire-proposal#contrib
Graduate Fellow, Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs
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Although Israel claims its West Bank operations — the largest in more than two decades — are intended to “thwart Islamic-Iranian terrorist infrastructures,” it has not produced evidence of such a threat.
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More than 600 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, due to continual and worsening Israeli raids, leading to elevated responses there from Palestinian militant groups such as Lion’s Den and the Jenin Brigades.
On Aug. 28, the Israeli military announced it would significantly expand its operations in the northern West Bank by launching air and ground attacks in Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas, and Nablus. The shift toward war in the West Bank comes amid continuing withdrawals of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, the rolling back of threats to launch a war in Lebanon, and the, for now, diminishing danger of regional war. Although Israel claims its West Bank operations are intended to “thwart Islamic-Iranian terrorist infrastructures,” it has not produced evidence of such a threat. Moreover, Israel’s offensive there, the largest in more than two decades, aligns with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s desire to expand and prolong the war amid stalled cease-fire negotiations as a means to stay in power.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz referred to the operations in the northern West Bank as a “full-fledged war.” The area, known historically as the “Triangle of Fire” for its armed confrontation of British and Zionist forces in the 1930s, is now home to several militant groups, such as Lion’s Den and the Jenin Brigades, composed of members of Fatah, Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. These groups appeared and expanded in response to constant Israeli raids into parts of the West Bank that are ostensibly under Palestinian control. As a result of these raids, over 600 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023; and the use of air attacks on the enclave represent the first such attacks since the Second Intifada two decades ago.
The escalations in the West Bank have expanded slowly since October: attacks from Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians and extensive Israeli raids of refugee camps have led to elevated militant responses. The director of Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, reportedly warned Netanyahu that Israeli actions in the West Bank would lead to an “explosion” that “would be a disaster and catastrophe for Israel.” Even sympathetic analysts have noted that the deteriorating situation in the West Bank has encouraged recruitment by these groups. The Israeli military has moved forward with its operations anyway, using bulldozers to plow up roads, blocking entrances and exits to towns and villages, surrounding hospitals, and cutting off water, electricity, and phone services to various areas, especially to Jenin.
The consequences will be far-reaching. Palestinians in the West Bank have long been under immense economic and military pressure from Israel, with anger and disillusionment boiling over for years. There is also concern that the West Bank could begin to look like Gaza. Of course, there are several important differences: the West Bank is broken into many enclaves, surrounded by Israeli settlements and military outposts, making internal movement more difficult; militants in the West Bank do not have the same capacity as those in the Gaza Strip; and many West Bankers work across the “Green Line” for Israeli companies and are therefore reliant on them for income. As a result, many Palestinians fear that Israel ultimately intends to expel them from the West Bank, a concern shared by the Jordanian regime as well.
The actions of the Netanyahu government risk opening a new war front in the West Bank, further engulfing the region in violent conflict. Without concerted international and especially US pressure on Netanyahu to obtain a cease-fire and end Israel’s new assault on the West Bank, the situation is likely to spiral out of control.