The West Bank is experiencing a genuine war waged by the Israeli occupation army, which is the broadest since Operation "Defensive Shield" in 2002 under the title "Summer Camps". It has focused its attacks on cities like Tubas, Tulkarm, and Jenin, as well as camps such as Nur Shams, Jenin, and Fara'a, aiming to eliminate any Palestinian capacity to resist the occupation and settlement that is gradually eroding the West Bank inch by inch to end all Palestinian presence there.

The situation in the West Bank symbolizes a comprehensive and deliberate Israeli strategy aimed at transforming the demographic and geographic reality through occupation and brute force. This strategy, developed and implemented precisely over several years, aims to displace Palestinian populations while strengthening Israeli control through the creation of what can be termed "settlement mini-states," establishing a new reality in the West Bank that is irreversible.

Since October 7, 2023, the West Bank has witnessed a notable escalation in arrest, raid, and killing campaigns carried out by the Israeli occupation army. These campaigns, which had been ongoing but at a lower rate previously, have resulted in the martyrdom of over 600 Palestinians, the injury of approximately 5,800, and the arrest of more than 10,000 people over 11 months. This reflects a significant increase in the scale of Israeli repression and violations.

Forced displacement: Mechanism for demographic engineering

The forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank is a well-documented and extensively analyzed phenomenon. In 2023, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a report that provided a detailed account of the alarming increase in house demolitions and forced evacuations of Palestinian families. According to the report, thousands of Palestinians, including a significant number of children, were forcibly removed from their homes in 2022, marking a significant escalation in displacement compared to previous years.

The aggressive nature of Israeli actions is evident in the measures implemented by the Israeli government in occupied territories. According to a 2021 report by Human Rights Watch, these measures can be described as "systematic repression" and are aimed at undermining Palestinian presence in key areas of the West Bank, particularly around the eastern part of occupied al-Quds.

The report also highlights how these policies contribute to an apartheid system, where Palestinians and Israeli settlers are subject to different legal systems. This system has had severe social, economic, and cultural impacts on Palestinians, including the disruption of community life and access to essential services. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has openly expressed this aggressive approach, stating, "We are truly changing the infrastructure, legal and ownership, and changing the DNA of the occupation system. We are doing it slowly, professionally, and as an ongoing process... and the results prove that we have indeed achieved remarkable things."

Settlement expansion and forced displacement: Clear violation of international law

Settlement expansion and forced displacement activities in the West Bank directly contradict established international legal standards. The Fourth Geneva Convention, which concerns the protection of civilians during wartime, explicitly prohibits the forced transfer of civilians within occupied territories. Despite this, settlement expansion and the ongoing displacement of Palestinians continue, as the Israeli government seeks to increase the number of settlers in the West Bank from 800,000 to 2 million in the coming years, creating a new reality that eliminates any hope for Palestinians to establish their state on their national soil.

These actions have drawn significant international criticism, but no effective measures have been taken to stop the deliberate and systematic demographic change of the West Bank, which is part of the Israeli occupation government's agenda. The introduction of the Israeli government’s guidelines states: "The Jewish people have an exclusive and indisputable right throughout the Land of Israel. The government will work to promote and develop settlement throughout the Land of Israel—Galilee, Negev, Golan, and Judea and Samaria." 

Thus, the coalition agreements signed when forming the Israeli government on December 29, 2022, essentially serve as a detailed action plan for further usurping the West Bank. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich practically expressed this approach by saying: "We have established a separate civilian system. There is a ministry within the Ministry of Defense. This ministry has a special minister (the special minister is Smotrich himself). There is a settlement administration similar to a government ministry. The head of the Settlement Administration is equivalent to a director-general of a government ministry... There is a deputy head of the Civil Administration who is a civilian, an employee of the Ministry of Defense, not subject to the head of the Civil Administration, nor to the Central Command of the army, but to the Settlement Administration. All powers of the head of the Civil Administration have been delegated to him."

In turn, Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to include the West Bank as a target of the war. Ben-Gvir also requested that Netanyahu present this demand to the security cabinet at its next meeting and define immediate and practical measures for its implementation.

In this context, it is useful to recall the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice on July 9, 2004, regarding the legality of the separation wall, where it ruled that the construction of the wall and associated settlement activities violate international law. The International Court of Justice's opinion underscores the illegitimacy of these actions under the Fourth Geneva Convention and customary international law.

Furthermore, UN Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted in December 2016, affirmed the illegality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and called for an immediate halt to settlement expansion. The resolution described these activities as a "flagrant violation" of international law and a major obstacle to achieving a "two-state solution". However, successive Israeli occupation governments, including the current one, have ignored international legitimacy and its resolutions, continuing their policies that undermine the prospects of a viable and geographically connected Palestinian state.

Emergence of 'settlement mini-states'

The concept of "settlement mini-states" in the West Bank is increasingly evident through ongoing policies and practices. Recent Israeli government actions, political speeches, and policy proposals have included plans to Judaize the entire West Bank by usurping large parts of it, particularly areas with existing settlements. Yehuda Eliyahu, a close aide to Minister Smotrich and a partner in founding the settlement organization Regavim (which works to seize land and displace Palestinians in the West Bank), has been appointed as the head of the Settlement Administration.

These plans reflect a broad agenda to enhance control over the region and integrate it into a wider framework of settlement expansion. Reports have identified 114 new settlement outposts added to the thousands that have been built on land that is supposedly under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction according to the Oslo Agreement and subsequent agreements, which have become ineffective and legally meaningless. Approximately 20,000 new settlement housing units have been approved, and more than 25,000 dunams of Palestinian land have been usurped by Israeli court decisions between the Maale Adumim and Kedar settlements in the West Bank. 

The construction of settlements will divide the West Bank into two separate parts, and various human rights organizations have documented settlement expansion, often occurring on privately owned Palestinian land, highlighting numerous cases where Palestinian landowners have been dispossessed through Israeli legal and military means, facilitating the expansion of Israeli settlements. This process, often referred to as "creeping annexation", effectively undermines the regional connectivity necessary for a viable Palestinian state and exacerbates the fragmentation of Palestinian land, reinforcing the social, political, and economic challenges faced by Palestinians due to Israeli expansionist settlement policies.

Reports have noted a significant increase in the activity of settler gangs in the West Bank, known as "Hilltop Youth". What were once small groups of young people have now become an organized and influential settlement movement. These gangs continue to seize new lands, build settlements and farms, and designate areas for security and grazing.

In this context, Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is actively inciting the displacement of Palestinians and accelerating settlement activities while calling for the killing of Palestinian detainees. Under the slogan "Israel Arms Itself," Ben-Gvir announced the creation of reserve units comprising thousands of settlers in regional councils and cities, who have been armed under the pretext of "protection and defense," noting that "the number of units reached 600," and issued permits for tens of thousands of settlers to carry weapons, opening hundreds of new reserve training courses across the country to teach Israelis how to handle and use firearms.

Additionally, it is noteworthy to mention the transformation of Kahanism, which represents dangerous racist positions that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, established by rabbi Meir Kahane, especially the call to harass and pursue Arabs in "Israel" to eventually implement a transfer of Arabs. This ideology has shifted from being a small, marginalized group to a politically recognized party. This party, known as Otzma Yehudit, led by Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, currently holds between 10 and 12 seats in the Knesset. This party employs violent and terrorist methods to achieve its goals and has succeeded in consolidating its power through control over significant government and state institutions.

Future of the West Bank

Ongoing developments in the West Bank reveal a strategic and systematic approach aimed at altering the demographic and geographic realities in the region. Furthermore, what is happening indicates a reconfiguration of Zionism in a more extremist, violent, and vengeful manner than what Palestine experienced before and after 1948 through various phases and events.

This new Zionism demonstrates that it will spare no violent and terrorist means to achieve its goals, primarily the forced displacement of Palestinians and the expansion of settlements, meaning the establishment of "settlement mini-states" as part of a larger "state" with a single identity - the "Jewish state" - and preventing the establishment of a fully sovereign Palestinian state. This was reflected in a previous decision by the Israeli Knesset rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state. These actions, which violate international legal standards, present serious challenges to global security, peace, and stability in the region.

With the absence of clear international condemnation of these policies adopted by the Israeli government and the prevention of its further advancement in implementing its extremist agenda, the situation in the West Bank portends significant and dangerous transformations. 

There is daily aggression against Palestinians that threatens their lives and existence on their land, which is being eroded by settlement expansion, Israeli occupation, settler violence, and apartheid laws and systems. There is also a clear Israeli declaration reflecting the stance and opinion of the majority of Israelis, succinctly expressed by Minister Bezalel Smotrich in an interview for Channel 14 in June 2024: "I have only one mission in life... since I was a child. That’s why I founded Regavim. That’s why I went to the Knesset and the government... My life's mission is to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state."