Since its founding in 1948, Israel has never concealed its ambitions towards the West Bank. A review of its manoeuvres over the decades reveals a gradual but persistent trajectory that has rarely stalled even if it appeared to wane momentarily during episodes such as the division of the West Bank into Areas A, B, and C under the Oslo Accords, which established the Palestinian Authority (PA).
At that juncture, there appeared to be a concerted international will to return the land to its Palestinian owners, paired with proposals aimed at addressing the complex reality of Israeli settlements, which had expanded significantly after 1967.
Among the more notable proposals was the idea of “land swaps” to resolve the demographic entanglement between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Yet, none of these proposals materialised, nor were any tangible steps taken towards reclaiming Palestinian sovereignty. The only real substitution that was witnessed was Israel replacing pressure for peace with accelerated territorial acquisition and turning the West Bank into a cornerstone of the ideological and spatial project of settlement-based state-building.
Midway through the war on Gaza, Israel began to transform the annexation of West Bank cities, towns, and villages into one of the war’s strategic aims regardless of how the war concluded. The conflict in Gaza has provided a perfect smokescreen for Israel’s actions and a deafening distraction that saps the energy of all the Palestinian factions, regional actors, and, hypothetically speaking, the international community.
The latter, morally fatigued and ethically disoriented by the scope of the war, appears increasingly willing to accept any outcome. But Israel has not settled for Gaza as its sole diversion. During the same period, its confrontations with Iran and Hizbullah also escalated, and it was in this climate that the ambitions of Israeli settlers both within and beyond the ruling coalition were weaponised to give way to a veiled military strategy aimed at annexing the largest possible share of West Bank territory.
This plan employs Israel’s classic occupation model: displacing as many historically rooted Palestinian communities as possible, dismantling daily life in the refugee camps, and deploying military units in semi-permanent or rotating positions to fragment the territorial fabric and confiscate land for expanding settlement infrastructure.
Right-wing religious parties are racing to complete this project through legislative measures in the Knesset that would entrench greater control over the West Bank. However, the reality on the ground reveals that implementation is taking precedence over legality – land seizure is underway, while the legal scaffolding for its legitimisation through parliamentary decrees is being constructed post factum.
A report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) titled West Bank: Humanitarian Snapshot No 291 and dated 21 May this year confirms this trajectory. It states that between 13 and 19 May, Israeli forces killed eight Palestinians in the West Bank, including two children. On 14 May, Israeli forces imposed near-total lockdowns on over 11,000 Palestinians in the towns of Burqin and Kafr Al-Dik in the Salfit Governorate, even as settler violence against Palestinians escalated in the same areas.
The report underscores a particularly tragic trend: the growing number of Palestinians forced to demolish their own homes in East Jerusalem due to the lack of building permits, which are virtually impossible to obtain from the Israeli authorities. In 2025 alone, 62 per cent of all homes slated for demolition have been dismantled by their own owners.
Between 13 and 19 May, the OCHA documented the demolition of 25 Palestinian-owned structures under the pretext that they lacked Israeli-issued permits, four in East Jerusalem and 21 in Area C of the West Bank. These demolitions displaced eight families totalling 42 individuals, including 22 children. Moreover, around 140 additional structures suffered major damage as a precursor to future demolitions.
At the same time, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recorded 108 attacks against the healthcare sector throughout the West Bank, with 67 of these assaults taking place in the Jenin and Tulkarm governorates alone, areas where Israeli operations have continued uninterrupted since 21 January this year.
The WHO submitted an urgent appeal to all UN member states highlighting that between 7 October 2023 and 7 May 2025, Israeli-imposed movement restrictions in northern West Bank governorates, especially Jenin, Tulkarm, Tubas, and Qalqiliya, have severely hindered all aspects of daily life, particularly the operation of ambulances and access to life-saving medical care.
Israel remains unresponsive to such appeals and condemnations, despite the unprecedented clarity and detail of the UN’s documentation. On 21 May, a diplomatic delegation accompanied by PA officials that included diplomats from 32 countries visited the Jenin Governorate. They proceeded to two critical sites: a metal gate and an earthen barrier at separate entrances to the Jenin Refugee Camp. As the delegation lingered at one of the gates for about 15 minutes and prepared to leave, Israeli forces opened live fire in their direction. Though no injuries occurred, the incident came perilously close to disaster.
Palestinian officials were able to evacuate the delegation safely. The Israeli Army later claimed that its troops had fired “warning shots” after the group “deviated from its designated path.” This confrontation is emblematic of Israel’s collision course with the international community. It is racing against time and defying all those who resist its annexation blueprint, whether Palestinian or foreign.
Just one week after this diplomatic incident, on 29 May the Israeli Cabinet approved the establishment of 22 new settlements in the West Bank. The government announcement described the decision as “historic.”
The writer is director of the Egyptian Centre for Strategic Studies (ECSS).
* A version of this article appears in print in the 5 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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