Expanding the Offensive and Accelerating Annexation: Israel Redraws the Landscape in the West Bank
Developments in the West Bank have taken a significant turn for the worse after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to take control of a refugee camp.
The situation was further exacerbated by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s declaration that the West Bank is “part of Israel,” while launching operations to demolish Palestinian homes.
The West Bank has consequently become a major focus of Israel’s domestic political debate, dividing those who support and those who oppose settler violence against Palestinians.
In a significant development, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he had instructed the army to take control of a refugee camp in the West Bank, without identifying it by name.
The move is reportedly expected to resemble an operation carried out last year in the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps in the northern West Bank, where tens of thousands of residents were displaced and dozens of buildings were demolished.
The Israeli Defense Minister’s office said in a statement: “Defense Minister Israel Katz held a security assessment last night concerning Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), attended by IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Director of Operations Itzik Cohen, Military Intelligence Directorate Chief Shlomi Binder, Central Command Chief Avi Blot, and other senior officials.”
The statement added that Katz had ordered an expansion of offensive operations against what he described as “Palestinian terrorism” and instructed the military to prepare to take control of another refugee camp, following the model used in the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps.
The name of the camp was not immediately disclosed.
Some assessments suggest that it could be Balata refugee camp in Nablus, Al-Amari camp in Ramallah, or Qalandia camp north of Jerusalem, although it could also be another camp.
Images of Palestinians being displaced from refugee camps have a significant impact on their morale. The scenes of tens of thousands of refugees being forced to leave the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps remain deeply etched in the collective Palestinian memory.
The decision comes as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that the West Bank is “part of Israel.”
Smotrich published images showing the demolition of homes belonging to what he described as “Arabs of the West Bank,” referring to Palestinians.
“We are continuing to enforce the law and prevent illegal construction and the seizure of land by Arabs in the West Bank. For many years, they acted in the area as though it belonged to them. That is over. The West Bank is an integral part of the State of Israel and constitutes part of its security zone,” Smotrich wrote on the X platform.
In recent months, the West Bank has witnessed an escalation in the demolition of Palestinian homes, alongside decisions to build tens of thousands of housing units in Israeli settlements.
At the same time, roads across the West Bank have experienced severe traffic congestion due to Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks.
Palestinians say the Israeli army deliberately places obstacles on roads as part of a policy of collective punishment targeting the population.
