Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad: Expanding the arc of fire in the West Bank may be an alternative to resuming the war in Gaza, especially in light of the American rejection

Firas Yaghi: What is happening in the camps, especially Jenin camp, is part of a new Israeli policy of complete domination over the West Bank.

Fayez Abbas: What is happening in Jenin could have been linked to the ceasefire in Gaza, which could open the door to a political deal that would stop the escalation.

Dr. Saeed Shaheen: After its disastrous failure in Gaza, Israel is trying to implement its expansionist plans in the West Bank and may resort to committing new massacres

Samer Anabtawi: Systematic plans to gradually expand military operations in the camps to turn into an attack targeting the entire West Bank

Adnan Al-Sabah: What is required is to build a front that begins with our unity and ends with the unity of the Arab and Islamic positions in confronting the American and Zionist projects.

In light of the dangerous escalation witnessed in the West Bank, especially in the Jenin camp, after dozens of homes were blown up in a scene resembling the war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, fears are being raised about the expansion of the arc of fire in the rest of the West Bank, in the context of Israeli policies that seek to pass expansionist plans.

In separate interviews with “I”, writers, political analysts, specialists and university professors believe that Israel is trying to compensate for its failure to achieve its goals during the recent war on the Gaza Strip, as it seeks to export an image of “victory” in the West Bank to satisfy the extreme right and religious Zionism. At the same time, these policies aim to restore Israel’s lost prestige in front of the Palestinians, and prevent them from confronting the annexation and Judaization plans that threaten the future of the Palestinian cause, and even implement the annexation and control plans in parallel with displacement.

They point out that Israel, with the support of the US administration, is working on drawing up phased plans aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause by imposing unfair settlement solutions that rely on military force and political coercion.

They stress that the only way to confront these challenges is through Palestinian unity, ending the internal division, and developing a national struggle program agreed upon by all forces and factions, in addition to strengthening alliances with Arabs, Muslims, and international allies as a necessary step to confront Israeli and American attempts to impose unjust solutions, without taking into account the historical and national rights of the Palestinians.

Deeper political and strategic goals

Writer and political analyst Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad believes that in light of the recent Israeli escalation in the Jenin camp, which witnessed the demolition of residential blocks and widespread destruction, the possibility of the “arc of fire” expanding in the West Bank is very high.

Instead, this is due to the multiplicity and diversity of the current Israeli government’s goals, which are not limited to what it calls “fighting the terrorist infrastructure” or cutting off Iranian funding and influence, but rather extend beyond that to deeper political and strategic goals.

Awad points out that the Israeli government is seeking to achieve goals that go beyond those announced. After Israel succeeded in imposing a ban on UNRWA, it now aims to strike the Palestinian camps, empty them of their residents, and reshape their geography. This includes demolishing homes, paving roads, and expelling residents partially or completely. These steps are not random, but rather part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening the Palestinian presence in these areas.

Awad believes that Israeli Defense Minister, Yisrael Katz, is seeking to present himself as a strong and decisive Minister of Defense, which may push him to invent new goals to keep the conflict burning. These goals may not be real, but rather a means to please the Israeli right and distract the public from internal issues, such as the possible Gaza agreement.

Awad believes that expanding the arc of fire in the West Bank may be an alternative to resuming the war in the Gaza Strip, especially in light of the possible American rejection of a new escalation there. Also, any normalization process with the Arab countries requires stopping the war in Gaza, which prompts Israel to shift the focus of the conflict to the West Bank.

Awad points out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to keep the conflict burning to avoid the disintegration of his government and the postponement of trials and elections. The Israeli right also wants to establish the partial or complete annexation of the West Bank, and the current war serves this agenda.

He stresses that the goals of the Israeli war are multiple and varied, some of which are internal and some of which are external. Internally, the government seeks to please the public and the extreme right, and to offer them a political “bribe” by replacing the ceasefire in Gaza with a war in the West Bank, while externally, Israel aims to weaken the Palestinian Authority, besiege it, and bring down the two-state solution.

Awad points out that Netanyahu wants to achieve an easy victory in the West Bank, in addition to the declared goals such as “uprooting terrorism” and drying up Iranian funding, but the current war serves deeper and more complex goals.

In the face of this escalation, Awad believes that the Palestinian Authority must change its relationship with Israel, even if that requires radical steps.

Awad stresses the necessity of achieving true national unity between Fatah and Hamas, to block Israel's path, which is playing on internal Palestinian contradictions.

Awad stresses the importance of the Palestinian Authority's tireless work to besiege and expose the occupation, in addition to forming Arab and international fronts to pressure Israel to stop its aggression.

He stresses that the Arab role, especially the Saudi role, must be clear and decisive in rejecting normalization with Israel without stopping the war and settlement, and without achieving a Palestinian state on the minimum borders.

Awad believes that international pressure, especially from the United States, is the key to the solution to stop this massacre in Gaza and the West Bank, calling on Saudi Arabia, as a major regional power, to pressure Washington to achieve this goal, as normalization with Israel must be conditional on stopping the aggression and achieving a just peace for the Palestinian people.

Eliminate Palestinian camps

Writer and political analyst Firas Yaghi confirms that the systematic demolition and destruction of homes and infrastructure witnessed in the West Bank camps, especially the Jenin camp, falls within the framework of a new Israeli policy aimed at reorganizing the security situation in the West Bank, especially in the period after October 7, 2023.

Yaghi explains that this policy focuses on eliminating Palestinian camps, not only in Jenin, but throughout the West Bank, in an attempt to impose a new demographic and geographic reality that serves the interests of the occupation.

Yaghi points out that more than 100 homes in Jenin camp were completely destroyed as part of these operations, which go beyond being mere military measures to being part of a strategic plan to gradually displace the camp residents. This comes in parallel with Israeli decisions such as stopping the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and legislation issued by the Israeli Knesset that seeks to undermine the legal status of Palestinian refugees, which shows a clear desire to dismantle the camps and displace their residents.

He believes that Israel is trying to reshape the geographical structure of the camps, pointing to what happened through the construction of wide roads inside and around the Jenin camp, with the aim of facilitating the storming of the camp at any time and reducing the population density inside it, which may lead to the displacement of the population voluntarily or forcibly.

According to Yagi, this trend is linked to the bidding between the military and security leadership in Israel, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to strengthen his political position by offering concessions and prominent roles to movements such as religious Zionism led by Bezalel Smotrich, who seeks to impose full Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank by 2025.

Yaghi points out that the Israeli army is trying to assert its ability to impose security and control over the West Bank independently of any partnership with the Palestinian security forces, which reflects a trend towards undermining the role of the Palestinian Authority and systematically weakening it.

Yaghi points out that Israeli military operations have expanded to include new areas such as Far’a refugee camp, Tammun, and Tulkarm, in a move aimed at imposing comprehensive control over the West Bank and establishing an irreversible occupation reality.

Yaghi asserts that Israel views the West Bank from two main perspectives: the first is security, given its geographical proximity to the heart of Israel and its intermingling with major Israeli cities, and the second is religious, given that the West Bank contains religious and historical sites that Israel considers part of the “biblical symbols.” For this reason, Israel sees the West Bank as more strategically important than the Gaza Strip.

Yaghi points out that the policy of “expanding the arc of fire” in the West Bank, which Israel is currently adopting, is not just a security plan but rather part of a long-term strategy that aims to create a wide network of barriers and iron gates - exceeding 900 barriers - to restrict the movement of Palestinians and push them towards forced migration.

He believes that this restriction is part of Israel's policy of "voluntary displacement" to empty the land of its indigenous inhabitants.

Yaghi asserts that these practices come in the context of preparing for broader political plans, which include imposing a new reality on the ground even in the event of the establishment of a future Palestinian state, as Israel seeks to ensure complete security control over this state, while undermining its actual sovereignty and depriving it of the ability to manage its internal affairs freely.

Yaghi stresses the need for the international and Arab community, especially the US administration, to take action to pressure Israel to stop these policies.

Yaghi expresses his pessimism about the effectiveness of this move in light of the positions of the US administration led by Donald Trump, which he considered a "green light" for Israel to continue its settlement and Judaization policies.

Yaghi stresses that the continuation of these policies will lead to the imposition of new facts on the ground, even if Trump’s plans are rejected by the Palestinian leadership and people, because Israel is continuing to implement its settlement agenda regardless of any international opposition.

Replicating the aggression on Gaza

Israeli affairs expert Fayez Abbas believes that the Israeli occupation forces’ destruction and demolition of homes and infrastructure and imposing a siege on hospitals in the northern West Bank, especially in the Jenin camp, is very similar to the policy they are implementing in the Gaza Strip, but the only difference is the amount of explosives that Israel drops on the heads of citizens in the West Bank compared to Gaza.

According to Abbas, for more than six months, Israel has been threatening to launch military operations in the northern West Bank, especially after the hysteria that struck the residents of the Israeli border areas adjacent to the West Bank.

Abbas points out that these threats came as a result of continuous warnings from residents of these areas, who live in constant anxiety about the possibility of a recurrence of a scenario similar to the "October 7 events" on the borders with cities such as Jenin, Qalqilya and Tulkarm.

Abbas explains that the main goal of these operations is deterrence and preventing any armed operations that might be launched from the West Bank towards the territories occupied in 1948.

Abbas points out that the publication of photos of Palestinian youth in Jenin on social media, with slogans of jihad and resistance, was one of the reasons that prompted Israel to continue its military operations after the ceasefire in Gaza.

In addition to deterrence, Abbas points to political reasons behind these operations, the most important of which is to please the extremist Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who dreams of annexing the West Bank completely.

Abbas asserts that the recent decisions to close Palestinian cities and impose military checkpoints on the roads used by Palestinians, in addition to the systematic search of Palestinian cars, aim to turn the lives of Palestinians into "hell on the roads."

Abbas points out that Israel has erected road signs with clear messages, such as "There is no future for Palestinians here," in an attempt to reinforce the idea that the West Bank is Israeli land.

Abbas explains that the Palestinian National Authority tried to prevent these operations by collecting weapons and protecting the youth by arresting them and transferring them to safer places.

But these attempts, according to Abbas, did not succeed in stopping the bloodshed or preventing the destruction carried out by Israel.

He points out that the Palestinian security services, despite their efforts, have not been able to achieve any notable success in confronting this intensive military campaign.

Abbas believes that what is happening in Jenin could have been linked to the ceasefire in Gaza, which could open the door to a political deal that would stop the escalation in the West Bank, doubting the possibility of achieving this in the coming period, especially with Israel continuing to implement its expansionist and political agenda in the West Bank.

Israel seeks to achieve a "victory" image in the West Bank

Saeed Shaheen, a professor of political media at Hebron University, warns that Israel is trying to implement its expansionist plans in the West Bank under the pretext of combating what it calls “Iran’s claws,” in an attempt to compensate for its failure to achieve its goals during the recent genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Shaheen asserts that Israel seeks to achieve an image of "victory" in the West Bank to satisfy the extreme right and religious Zionism, restore its lost prestige and deterrent power against the Israelis, and prevent the Palestinians from confronting the annexation and expansion plans it seeks.

Shaheen points out that Israel, after its disastrous failure in Gaza, may resort to committing new massacres against the Palestinians in the West Bank, especially in light of the complete international silence and the failure of our Arab brothers.

Shaheen points out that the international community, especially the US administration, is directly involved in drawing up Israeli plans for the next stage, which aim to liquidate the Palestinian cause by imposing unfair settlement solutions that rely on the use of military force and political coercion.

Shaheen explains that Israel is systematically seeking to eradicate the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank before its capabilities are strengthened, in order to prevent a repetition of the Gaza model, which has become an existential threat to the Israeli occupation state.

Shaheen asserts that the Israeli occupation's expansion of the scope of aggressive attacks in the West Bank aims to pave the way for the implementation of the plans of the Israeli right-wing leaders, which aim to swallow up Area C and parts of Area B in the West Bank, weaken the Palestinian National Authority, and perhaps bring it down completely as a step towards undermining any hope of establishing an independent Palestinian state.

Shaheen stresses that the only way to confront these plans is through Palestinian unity, ending the internal division, and developing a national struggle program agreed upon by all Palestinian forces, factions, and political movements.

Shaheen stresses the necessity of putting the Palestinian house in order internally, and turning to Arab and Muslim brothers, in addition to international allies, to form a strong alliance capable of confronting Israeli and American attempts to impose unjust solutions on the Palestinian people.

He believes that any solutions imposed unilaterally, without taking into account the historical and national rights of the Palestinians, will be doomed to failure, calling for strengthening popular and diplomatic resistance in the face of the displacement and annexation policies pursued by Israel with the support of its international allies.

Intensive efforts to change the facts on the ground in the northern West Bank

Writer and political analyst Samer Anabtawi confirms that the Israeli occupation is making intensive efforts to change the facts on the ground in the northern West Bank, with a special focus on the Palestinian camps that Israel considers hotbeds of resistance, due to their high population density and overcrowding, which hinders the occupation’s military operations and makes confrontation there more difficult.

Anbatawi explains that these camps do not only represent a military challenge to the occupation, but are also considered a living witness to the 1948 Nakba, which the occupation seeks to erase through systematic attempts to eliminate the signs of asylum and forced displacement.

Anbatawi points out that this policy coincides with the occupation’s attempts to isolate the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and dry up the sources of international aid provided to Palestinian refugees, with the aim of liquidating the refugee issue and abolishing the right of return, within the framework of a broader project aimed at ending the Palestinian people’s issue from its roots.

Anabtawi points out that Jenin camp is considered an icon of Palestinian resistance, as it has remained a symbol of steadfastness and defiance in the face of the occupation since the battle of 2002, despite the heavy losses suffered by the occupation army there.

Anbatawi points out that the strength of the Palestinian factions and resistance fighters in Jenin camp made it a safe haven for the resistance in the West Bank, which prompted the occupation to take harsh aggressive military measures to empty it of resistance elements.

Anbatawi explains that the occupation has developed systematic plans to gradually expand its military operations against the Palestinian camps, as this war gradually turns into a large-scale attack targeting the entire West Bank.

According to Anabtawi, this escalation comes in the context of appointing a new general to the Israeli army's chief of staff, who has extensive experience in suppressing the Palestinian people, which enhances the ferocity of military operations in the West Bank.

Anbatawi points out that this escalation is accompanied by unlimited support from the settlers, and aims in essence to impose a policy of actual annexation of Palestinian lands and an attempt to forcibly or voluntarily displace Palestinians. Israel also seeks to force neighboring countries, such as Egypt and Jordan, to receive Palestinian refugees, based on statements by US President Donald Trump in which he explicitly called for the displacement of Palestinians to these countries.

He explains that Israel is racing against time to impose a new reality on the ground, considering the events that took place on October 7, 2023, a historic opportunity to tighten its control over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and to work to empty the Strip of its population, in preparation for imposing more pressure on neighboring countries.

Anbatawi criticizes the Arab and Islamic silence regarding these Israeli policies, warning of the absence of real international positions capable of confronting this dangerous plan.

He stresses that confronting this project requires strengthening the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, supporting their internal unity, and ending the state of Palestinian division that weakens the Palestinians’ ability to confront the occupation’s plans.

Anbatawi stresses the necessity of forming a unified Palestinian front that adopts a clear and agreed-upon national program that expresses a unified Palestinian voice capable of influencing and mobilizing support from the Arab and Islamic worlds.

Anbatawi calls on the countries surrounding Palestine to take decisive positions to protect their national security in light of what is being talked about regarding the displacement of Palestinians to them, considering that the Zionist project does not target Palestine alone, but rather threatens the stability of the entire region.

An extension of a comprehensive war that began in the Gaza Strip

Writer and political analyst Adnan Al-Sabah asserts that the Israeli aggression on the West Bank is not just a passing military operation, but rather an extension of a comprehensive war that began in the Gaza Strip and is now gradually and systematically moving to the West Bank.

Al-Sabah explains that the occupation is implementing a clear plan that aims to eliminate the Palestinian presence in the West Bank by demolishing homes, committing massacres, and dismantling the social and demographic structure of the Palestinians.

Al-Sabah points out that the Israeli occupation army has explicitly announced to the political level that there is nothing more that can be done in the Gaza Strip after the recent military escalation, which means that the main destination now is the West Bank, where the “real war” has begun on the ground, with the aim of completely controlling the West Bank and dismantling it into isolated enclaves and cantons that are closed and separate from each other.

Al-Sabah explains that this policy is evident through the laws enacted by the Israeli Knesset, such as the law on the right of ownership for settlers in the West Bank, the law preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the cancellation of the Sharon Law of 2005 on disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank, pointing out that all of these laws are directed towards transforming the West Bank into an area completely subject to Israeli control, within a long-term Zionist settlement project that seeks to obliterate the Palestinian identity and achieve strategic political goals.

Al-Sabah explains that the ultimate goal of this plan is to implement the Zionist project based on transforming the West Bank into an integral part of “Judea and Samaria,” according to the biblical settlement vision that seeks to completely Judaize the Palestinian land.

Al-Sabah believes that the Palestinian people are the main obstacle to achieving this project, and therefore the occupation relies on multiple strategies to pressure the Palestinians, including internal displacement, economic and social oppression, and pushing them to search for individual solutions outside their homeland under the pressure of ongoing suffering.

Al-Sabah points out that the United States plays a pivotal role in supporting this project, by sponsoring Israeli policies and providing them with the necessary political and diplomatic cover.

Al-Sabah points out that the statements of the occupation leaders, such as Bezalel Smotrich, who put the Palestinians before the choices of "departure, submission, or death," clearly reflect the Israeli approach based on imposing a fait accompli by force.

Al-Sabah stresses that the only solution to confront this Israeli project lies in achieving Palestinian national unity, through building a unified national struggle program that manages the Palestinian people’s struggle with a single political leadership and a unified national consensus government.

Al-Sabah stresses that Palestinian unity is the basis for confronting Israeli and American plans, especially in light of...

Attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause through normalization agreements and political projects that serve the occupation.

Al-Sabah calls for building a broad Palestinian front to confront the "Deal of the Century" project and displacement plans, and strengthening political alliances based on common interests with neighboring countries, while stopping the policy of treason and internal division.

Al-Sabah stressed the importance of establishing a real dialogue with Arab and Islamic countries to unify positions against the Zionist and American projects that threaten the stability of the entire region.

Al-Sabah expressed his confidence that the balance will tip in favor of the Palestinian people and the Arab world if Palestinian national unity is achieved and regional positions are unified, especially since American and Israeli interests in the region depend largely on their relations with Arab countries, pointing out that strengthening this unified front will contribute to achieving the goals of the Palestinian people and preserving their national and historical rights.

Al-Sabah says: “It must be emphasized that building a front that begins with our unity and ends with the unity of the Arab and Islamic position in confronting American and Zionist projects is the basis for confronting the plans of the Zionist movement.”