Over the years, the West Bank has witnessed a significant escalation of military resistance activities against the occupation, with environments and incubators for resistance growing, particularly in the cities and camps of northern West Bank. Various military formations and groups have emerged affiliated with Palestinian factions and those that cross factional lines.
These groups have posed a real challenge to the occupation in recent years, prompting it to launch military operations to confront the growth of military groups, such as the operation “Breaker of Waves” which began at the end of March 2022, aiming to dismantle the resistance infrastructure in the northern West Bank.
With the initiation of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation launched by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, despite a significant setback experienced by Israeli security forces, they kept a vigilant eye on the West Bank and strengthened measures by conducting thousands of arrests in the early days of the Al-Aqsa Flood battle.
Israeli Operations
Amidst fears of an explosive situation in the West Bank, Israeli forces have carried out a series of special operations and raids in West Bank’s towns and camps, which harbor resistance groups.
These raids resulted in over 371 martyrs and around 3,720 injuries, and last Sunday, the Prisoner’s Club and the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs reported that “the arrest toll rose after October 7 to about 5,875 individuals.”
More than 100 days after the aggression on Gaza Strip started and accompanying widespread attacks by the Israeli army in the West Bank, the Israeli Chief of Staff and senior officers have repeatedly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and war ministers about the West Bank being on the verge of an explosion.
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 12, the military level specifically warned of an explosion in the West Bank, meaning another front that the occupation needs to deal with intensely.
Senior officials in the Israeli military establishment told the political level in closed rooms that “the West Bank is on the brink of a third and comprehensive intifada, due to the deterioration in economic conditions and the prohibition on Palestinian workers entering Israel to work.”
Warning Implications
The primary significance of the repeated warnings by both the military and security levels regarding an imminent “explosion” in the West Bank relates to the limitations of the military and security operations conducted by the occupation in eliminating Palestinian resistance as a national culture and as organized formations.
The background to the Israeli security apparatus’s assessment stems from its realization that a military solution is fruitless in light of continued settler attacks, ongoing aggression on Gaza Strip, deteriorating economic conditions in the West Bank, and the declining control of the Palestinian Authority in the northern West Bank camps that witness the presence of resistance groups.
Furthermore, the warning comes after a noticeable escalation in the number of operations carried out by resistors in the West Bank. In addition, there has been a significant increase in the use of homemade explosive devices by resistance factions responding to Israeli raids in northern West Bank towns and camps, posing a real threat to the invading forces.
The Ra’anana operation resulted in the death of a settler and serious injuries to 4 others, with 9 others sustaining moderate injuries (Social media platforms).
Prominent operations according to the Palestinian Information Center:
- On October 19, resistors carried out a shooting and explosive device attack on an Israeli army force near Burqa, north of Nablus, injuring several soldiers.
- A resistance cell from Tulkarm conducted a shooting on November 2, followed by an explosive device attack that targeted occupation soldiers near the settlement of Beit Lid, near Tulkarm, resulting in the death and injuries of 6 soldiers and settlers. The Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the operation in a video recording.
- On November 6, 16-year-old martyr Mohammed Omar Al-Froukh from Sa’ir, north of Hebron, carried out a stabbing operation near a police station at Bab Sahira in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, resulting in the death of a soldier and serious injuries to another.
- A resistance group including Abd Al-Qader Abd Allah Al-Qawasmi, Hassan Mamoun Qafisha, and Nasr Abd Al-Afu Al-Qawasmi carried out a shooting at the Tunnel Checkpoint separating Bethlehem and southern occupied Jerusalem, leading to the death of a soldier and injuries to 6 others, with severe cases among the casualties, leading to the martyrdom of the attackers. The Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the operation.
- On January 13, three young Palestinians stormed the Adora settlement west of Hebron, resulting in the martyrdom of the three youths and injuries to several settlers.
- On January 15, a settler was killed and 4 others severely injured, with 9 sustaining moderate injuries in stabbing and vehicular attacks in the city of Ra’anana in Tel Aviv.
Palestinian Workers
Warnings by Israeli security and military levels to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the situation in the West Bank indicate differing views within the Israeli government about allowing Palestinian workers to enter for work.
Channel 13 Israel published a report talking about a “dramatic warning from Shin Bet to Netanyahu,” suggesting “fear of an immediate escalation in the West Bank.”
This disagreement is part of a broader set of differences and variations among the poles of the government and the war council in the Israeli occupation state.
Security agencies are using the escalation of resistance in the West Bank to pressure Netanyahu’s allies from the religious right-wing, who are pushing for more pressure on Palestinians in the West Bank and the expansion of settlements.
Assassination of Al-Arouri
The assassination of Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri, Deputy Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, was a turning point in the war on Gaza and related confrontations in the West Bank since he was in charge of the West Bank “area” for Hamas.
The Israeli occupation accuses Sheikh Al-Arouri of being responsible for restoring the infrastructure of resistance in the West Bank and the armament of groups and formations there. He is also accused of direct responsibility for a number of operations targeting settlers and soldiers in the West Bank and forming cells spread across West Bank cities.
Due to the symbolic and influential status of Sheikh Al-Arouri among resistance movements in the West Bank, it is expected to witness more operations in response to his assassination, as was witnessed with the “Adora” and “Ra’anana” operations, contrary to what the Israeli political and security leaderships promote that his assassination will weaken resistance in the West Bank.
In this context, the ongoing military and security institution warnings about the imminent explosion of the West Bank indicate the limited impact of assassination operations on the rising direction of resistance; they are considered by a large segment of Palestinians a reason for continuing and escalating resistance.
Future of the West Bank
All drivers for the escalation of resistance activities in the West Bank remain, with their influence growing, but the war on Gaza and the escalating settler attacks will make the West Bank an open battlefield between Palestinians and the occupation.
Previous experiences, such as the 2014 war, saw the West Bank experiencing a large popular surge in the summer of the following year, and the 2014 Gaza war was one of the main inspirations for Palestinian youth who initiated operations in the ensuing months.
The Palestinians in the West Bank are receiving two images from the war in Gaza: the massacres, killings, siege, and humiliation that Gazans endure, and the images of battles and targets published by the resistance factions that serve as inspiration to the youth in the West Bank.
With a growing conviction among Palestinians that the Israeli security and military apparatus failed miserably on and after October 7, the boldness of Palestinian youth to carry out more operations increases.
