RAMALLAH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Palestinian political analyst and writer Alaa Al-Rimawi said Israel is exploiting regional developments to accelerate settlement expansion and intensify military operations across the occupied West Bank, while using the escalation to advance political and demographic objectives.
Escalation by numbers
In an interview with the PIC, Al-Rimawi said Israel’s large-scale military campaign in the West Bank has been ongoing and did not begin with the recent events in the town of Till. He said the campaign was aimed primarily at appeasing Israel’s right wing, while military operations had already been underway and intensified afterward.
According to Al-Rimawi, Israeli occupation forces now carry out an average of 270 raids and arrest 50 Palestinians every day across the West Bank. He added that Israeli forces have raided 147 homes in recent days and that an average of four Palestinians are killed or targeted daily, reflecting the growing scale of Israeli operations.
He said the most notable recent development has been the sharp rise in settler attacks, alongside Israeli efforts to impose a new reality by expanding settlements and strengthening settler control throughout the occupied West Bank.
Exploiting international distractions
Al-Rimawi said Israel is taking advantage of the international community’s focus on the aftermath of the Iran war and broader developments in the Middle East, saying that Israeli leaders believe they have greater freedom to act amid declining international pressure.
He added that the escalation in the West Bank is also linked to Israel’s domestic political competition and elections, with the government relying on excessive force to satisfy its right-wing base and bolster its political standing.
Intimidation and forced displacement
Al-Rimawi said Israel’s strategy in the West Bank rests on two main pillars: intimidation and forced displacement. He further noted that Israel is deepening settlement expansion and imposing demographic changes that serve its settlement project, warning that conditions are likely to deteriorate further in the coming period.
The area stretching from Occupied Jerusalem to the Jordan Valley has witnessed continued settlement expansion through the establishment of new outposts and the seizure of grazing and agricultural land, threatening the Palestinian presence and undermining the territorial contiguity of Palestinian communities.
The establishment of the latest settlement outpost comes amid accelerating settlement expansion across the occupied West Bank, particularly around Occupied Jerusalem, as settler attacks continue under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.
