According to reports, the West Bank is currently experiencing one of its most perilous phases since its occupation in 1967. This turmoil comes amidst intensified Israeli policies aimed at altering the geographical and demographic landscape. Netanyahu’s cabinet is pushing for a transformative agenda that effectively eradicates any hope for an independent Palestinian state.
These policies manifest through ongoing military operations in Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps, the tightening of blockades on Palestinian towns and villages via thousands of barriers and checkpoints, and the relentless expansion of settlements. Additionally, legal and administrative reforms are being implemented to bring Palestinian lands under Israeli control.Consequently, Israel’s plans to annex the West Bank appear to be a concerted effort to integrate it permanently into Israel. Palestinian towns and villages are encircled, settlements are expanding rapidly, and Palestinian authority is reduced to mere symbolic roles. Any genuine political agreement loses its substantive content, undermining the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Netanyahu’s cabinet and the Religious Zionist Party, a far-right group advocating for annexation, are working to solidify this gradual annexation through various practical steps. These include appointing a second minister in the Ministry of Defense to oversee settlement affairs, necessitating a separate administrative framework to bolster Israeli institutional presence.Moreover, reforms are underway to facilitate the confiscation of West Bank lands, enabling Israelis to purchase Palestinian land and transferring construction permit authority for settlements directly to the Israeli Civil Administration. In this context, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has declared that the West Bank is an inseparable part of Israeli territory, emphasizing the government’s intent to neutralize the concept of a Palestinian state and solidify the new reality, where settlers in the West Bank become equal citizens within Israel, while Palestinians remain under restricted and unequal control.
As researcher Ziad Bahis pointed out, in the Israeli perspective, the West Bank is considered a normal part of Israel. In an interview, he highlighted that Israel, while continuing its assaults on Gaza and committing atrocities against its residents, is sharply focusing its efforts on occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank. This is an attempt to impose the reality of extensive settlement construction, accelerate the Judaization process, and solidify settlers’ influence in the region.Bahis added that this is evident in the successive campaigns of ‘Shield of Jerusalem’ since December 2015 which resulted in the destruction of over 70 properties in northern occupied Jerusalem within just two days—an unprecedented occurrence since the occupation began in 1967. He noted that Israel’s agenda for the West Bank extends beyond mere annexation or land seizure; it encompasses displacement and settlement construction with the ultimate goal of shifting the Jewish population center from the coast into the West Bank. Cities like Hebron and Nablus are being transformed into models for altering demographic compositions akin to what has occurred in Tel Aviv Haifa and other coastal cities.
