What Israel aims to achieve by bombing the West Bank

Israel has ramped up strikes in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks as talks to end the Gaza war continue in fits and starts in Doha.

The Israeli army killed at least 11 Palestinians in the northern part of the occupied West Bank on Wednesday in what it described as the "largest [operation] of its kind in two decades," involving two army brigades, helicopters, drones and bulldozers.

The army justified the move by saying it aimed to eradicate fresh Palestinian resistance activity in the territory, but critics said the justification rang hollow.

"Israel is now trying to take advantage of the war in Gaza. Its response to the growing armed rebellion in [occupied] West Bank is to annex more land, to expand settlements, to change its relationship with [the occupied] West Bank altogether," Palestinian analyst Ramzy Baroud told TRT World.

He said Israel is determined to impose a "siege on major cities"—particularly in the northern parts of occupied West Bank—to carry out mass arrests and targeted killings in hopes of restoring the status quo in the besieged territory.

'A war in every respect'

That's because the Palestinian resistance groups in the occupied West Bank have adopted "more sophisticated methods like explosive devices" to blow up Israeli military vehicles on major roads leading to the camps in Jenin and elsewhere—methods that don't require direct engagement, Baroud said.

"The new technique has been used successfully in Gaza. So the Israelis are very worried. They feel that the West Bank is slowly becoming another Gaza from their viewpoint," he added.

On Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for the same kind of lethal strikes in the occupied West Bank as the Zionist forces have been conducting in Gaza, where more than 40,000 people, mostly women and children, have died in a full-blown war since October.

"We must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps might be required. This is a war in every respect, and we must win it," Katz said.

Israel occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for an independent state.

Expanding settlements

Despite the so-called faltering peace process over many years, successive Israeli governments have allowed for the expansion of settlements. The number of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, increased from approximately 110,000 in 1993 to more than half a million last year.

Israel has used these settlements as an excuse to delay the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state. About three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Fatah-controlled government body, exercising limited control in population centres.

The presence of Israeli settlements and the accompanying infrastructure, such as settler-only roads and military checkpoints, restricts the movement of Palestinians, thus reducing employment opportunities and hindering trade and commerce.

Speaking to TRT World, political analyst Dr Sami Al-Arian said that Israelis have increased their brutality in the occupied West Bank because most people are currently focused on Gaza.

As many as 622 Palestinians have died at the hands of the Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October.

An additional 136 Palestinians were killed and at least 41 injured in airstrikes since then. In the last week alone, between Aug 20-26, as many as 13 Palestinians, including four children, were killed, according to data compiled by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Eight of these people died in airstrikes that Israel conducted in densely populated areas.

"The objective of the Israelis is actually to drive the Palestinians out of Area C of the West Bank," Al-Arian said.

The Oslo Accords signed in the 1990s divided the occupied West Bank into A, B and C administrative zones. The Palestinian Authority administers civil and security matters in Area A (18 percent). It administers only civil matters in Area B (22 percent). Area C (60 percent) is where Israel maintains full control.

"They're trying to drive out as many Palestinians from Area C as possible. The settlers have been trying to force the Palestinians out by burning their crops, burning their houses, their cars, harassing them," Al-Arian added.