Situation in West Bank Is ‘Practically Explosive,’ Expert Says

Some 48 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year amid an increase in the number of West Bank military raids

A Palestinian man was killed, and five were wounded in a pre-dawn raid on Monday by Israeli forces in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Nablus said that Amir Bustami, 21, died in a local hospital due to severe injuries after being shot by Israeli soldiers.

This brings the number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of the year to 48, all shot by Israeli forces.

Nine Israelis also were killed during this period.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, its troops entered Nablus to arrest Palestinian suspects linked to the killing of one of its soldiers last October, and apprehended five of them.

This heightened tension follows weeks of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, amid an increase in the number of Israeli military raids in the West Bank.

Ahmad Rafiq Awad, president of the Center for Jerusalem Studies at Al-Quds University, told The Media Line that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is to blame for the current wave of violence.

He says the implanting of “incendiary” policies like home demolitions by the Israeli government leads to such an escalation.

“The situation is practically explosive, and there is also pressure on Netanyahu from his partners in the government who want to resolve the conflict their way very quickly, and thwart the two-state solution by confiscating lands in Area C,” Awad said.

Area C, which Israel administers, covers over 60% of the West Bank.

The PA is experiencing a deep internal crisis, and it cannot be what Israel wants it to be – its security and economic agent, and implement what the occupation forces demand of it. It cannot do that. It is political suicide.

Professor Hillel Frisch, an expert on the Arab world at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security think tank, disagrees.

“There was also increased tension and a high wave of terrorism last March and it came under the former government, which was considered a more center to center-left government,” he said, adding that Netanyahu’s government is not doing anything to reduce “Palestinian resentment.”

Frisch blames the PA for the escalation.

“The basics are still out there, outstanding. The fact that there’s a lot of incitement in PA schools and on social media, that breeds violence,” Frisch told The Media Line.

Awad says the continued tension works to the Israeli government’s advantage.

“The tension and killing helps them to keep their government intact during this major crisis within Israeli society,” he said.

Amid mounting fury at near-daily raids by Israeli forces in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas suspended the PA’s security cooperation agreement with Israel last month after the largest incursion in years.

“The PA is experiencing a deep internal crisis, and it cannot be what Israel wants it to be – its security and economic agent, and implement what the occupation forces demand of it. It cannot do that. It is political suicide,” according to Awad.

While Israel blames the PA saying that it is weak and lacks strong grip on its security forces, not everyone agrees.

“No. Few state authorities have a complete hold on violence. There’s always crime, and there’s political violence too. So, the PA might not have that great control in Jenin, but they have pretty strong control almost everywhere else, including Nablus,” explained Frisch.

He says there is another “variable” that may add to the escalating tension.

“Division within Israel that gives the impression that Israel is weaker, that gives an incentive for Palestinians to be violent,” Frisch said.

Troubled by the increase in violence, the White House dispatched Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel and the West Bank late last month, in an attempt to rein it in.

The top US diplomat urged both sides to end the resurgent violence, while reaffirming Washington’s backing for a two-state solution.

“This is an unstable fascist government, and it will have to run forward and create crises. This government will not listen to American or Arab advice,” according to Awad.

“What do the Americans have to really reduce this other than some kind of avenue for settling the conflict, which is something no one is even attempting,” Frisch said.

Tension has been mounting in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, mainly after the formation of a new Israeli right-wing government headed by Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, in a move that is likely to inflame an already explosive situation, on Monday Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the transformation of ten illegal outposts into nine authorized West Bank settlements.

PA presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the PA “condemned and rejected” the decision, which he called a “challenge to the American and Arab efforts and a provocation to the Palestinian people.”

Overnight, Israeli jets struck an underground Hamas facility in the central Gaza Strip in retaliation for rocket fire from Gaza on Saturday.

Awad says the PA is in a difficult, critical stage, and there is little it can do.

“The Palestinian Authority is also in a major crisis. On the one hand, it cannot go far in confronting Israel except in the political and diplomatic arena, and through attempts to form regional and international groups to put pressure on Israel,” Awad said.

“It must move to satisfy the street, or the people will marginalize her further and respond to the Israeli aggressions,” Awad added, warning that “if things are not contained, we are heading toward an all-out uprising.”

The deadly start to 2023 comes after nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the Palestinian territories in 2022, making it the deadliest year since 2004, according to the United Nations.