Why is Netanyahu pushing into the West Bank now?

Residents of the West Bank city of Jenin have witnessed something unseen in their community in more than 20 years: Israeli tanks, which rolled into the Palestinian enclave on Sunday as part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Operation Iron Wall. Described by Israel as an offensive action against local terror cells, Operation Iron Wall has led to hundreds of Palestinians killed or arrested and left tens of thousands of civilians displaced. It has raised fears of a similar level of widespread violence and destruction as was inflicted upon the Gaza Strip during the war between Israeli forces and Hamas militants. This campaign began just days after Israel's Gaza operation officially concluded, prompting further speculation over the conspicuous timing of (and underlying intent behind) Netanyahu's latest West Bank actions.

With Israeli troops on the ground and the Palestinian death toll rising, Netanyahu has chosen a notable moment for a large-scale incursion into the West Bank. With most focus on the extraordinarily fragile ceasefire taking place in Gaza, what does Israel hope to accomplish with this latest initiative?

What did the commentators say?

While Israel has long carried out discrete incursions into the territory, the country claims this "even more aggressive military operation" is "necessary to root out Iranian-backed militants who threaten its security," CNN said. To do that, Israel's defense minister has said, it is "applying its Gaza playbook to the West Bank." Palestinians, however, describe those tactical goals as merely a "political agenda disguised and wrapped in a military and security operation," Jenin Mayor Mohammad Jarrar said to the network. "We all know the goals of this far-right government policy."

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Already "around 40,000 people" have been displaced from communities in the northern part of the West Bank in what has been described as the "largest forced displacement of Palestinians" in the territory since 1967, said the BBC. Israel appears to be "laying the groundwork" for a "prolonged military presence" in and around Jenin, said The New York Times. Palestinian officials have claimed the operation sets the stage for a "new generation of displacement" and a return to "military control" in parts of the West Bank; these parts had, for the decades following the 1993 Oslo Peace accords, been largely governed by the Palestinian Authority.

To many observers, Israel's calculus seems "political rather than security-driven," said Al Jazeera, designed to "appease far-right Israeli politicians" angry over the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. As "violence has soared in the West Bank" since Hamas launched its attack on Oct. 7, 2023, "so too have calls from far-right Israeli politicians for the annexation of the territory," CBS News said.

What next?

Looming over all this is the new administration of President Donald Trump, who has hinted at potentially endorsing Israel's annexation of the contested territory in the coming weeks. Israeli hardliners have been "heartened by the large number of strongly pro-Israel figures in the new U.S. administration" including Trump himself, Reuters said. In particular, Trump's calls for the mass relocation of Palestinians out of Gaza has "emboldened Israel's far right to renew calls for annexation of the West Bank," said The Times of Israel.

"People do like the idea" of annexation, Trump said earlier this month. "But we haven't taken a position on it yet." While the world waits for this administration's decision, the facts on the ground may outpace any forthcoming announcement from the White House. Israeli troops have been instructed to "prepare for an extended presence in the cleared camps for the next year," said Defense Minister Israel Katz. They have also been ordered "not to allow the return of residents and the resurgence of terror."