Operation “Iron Wall”: Similarities in procedures and overlapping objectives between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

The pace of the Israeli military operation in the West Bank, which the Israeli army has named “Iron Wall,” is escalating. It began in Jenin and its refugee camp on January 21 when the army deployed a tank platoon from the 188th Armored Brigade to the northern West Bank for the first time since 2002. Israeli forces are now stationed in various areas of the West Bank, including the city of Jenin and its camp, after previously carrying out limited incursions and withdrawing from urban areas. The operation is intensifying as the ceasefire agreement faces challenges in transitioning to the second phase, with expectations of war resumption. This is happening amidst Israeli deployment in parts of southern Syria and attempts by Israel to prevent any presence or positioning of Syrian transitional administration forces in the south.

Similarities in Israeli Procedures Between the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Although this is not the first operation of this type in the northern West Bank, it is taking on unprecedented dimensions. What is becoming clear are the outlines of Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s statement following the launch of the operation, “Forces were applying lessons learned in Gaza." Indeed, the similarities between the tactics and strategies are quite significant.

 Official estimates indicate that the level of destruction and displacement in the city of Jenin and its refugee camp is unprecedented. Around 90% of the residents of the Jenin camp have been displaced. Katz also mentioned that the Israeli army evacuated 40,000 Palestinians from refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has warned against Israel replicating the violations it committed in the Gaza Strip in the West Bank. Reuters reported that the Israeli military has turned Jenin into a “ghost town,” demolishing homes and critical infrastructure such as sewage systems and water pipes.

The situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip can be analyzed regarding Israel’s attempts to engineer urban planning in both areas, particularly by repeatedly targeting refugee camps, including Jenin and the refugee camps of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia. Israeli officials believe that the camps serve as the source of recruits for armed factions and militant groups. The Israeli army has also announced plans to build roads and create new military routes in Jenin and Tulkarm similar to the “Netzarim Corridor” it established in central Gaza. These measures aim to improve the operational capability of ground forces, ensure military vehicles can access the camps in the northern West Bank, and provide rapid access to any location within the camps.

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect is the similarity between the two situations:  Palestinian territories have no authority and are managed according to Israeli directives. Israel has previously supervised, both directly and indirectly, the distribution of aid in the Gaza Strip. As for the West Bank, the Israeli police, for the first time since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, have imposed traffic fines on Palestinian citizens within the city of Jenin, which is classified as “Area A” according to the Oslo Accords.

Overlap in Israeli Objectives Between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military operation continues amid a series of changes taking place in the Palestinian territories, specifically in the alignment between the Israeli government and the U.S. administration regarding plans to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip, deeming it unfit for habitation. As U.S. President Donald Trump and members of his administration supported Israel’s annexation of areas classified as “C” in the West Bank into its sovereignty.

The objectives also intersect in Israel’s attempts to reshape the social landscape of the Gaza Strip. Israel’s television Channel 14 indicated preparations by the Israeli political leadership for a civil plan to be implemented the day following the military operation in the West Bank. This plan includes redrawing the map of the northern West Bank, altering urban planning, focusing on refugee camps, and introducing school curricula free from “anti-Semitism.”

 This is confirmed by a series of Israeli laws and decisions related to the West Bank over the past two years, the latest being the Israeli Knesset’s approval on January 29 of a bill allowing Jewish settlers to purchase land in the West Bank without first acquiring military approval. Additionally, on February 9, the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a law adopting the term "Judea and Samaria" instead of the West Bank, along with discussions in the Knesset on a legal amendment requiring a public referendum or approval from 80 Knesset members before any withdrawal from the West Bank.

Israeli Actions and the Attempts to Mix Up Files 

Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip complicate the joint Arab efforts to reject displacement in Gaza, particularly the positions of Jordan and Egypt, and the Arab consensus reached at the March 2 emergency Arab summit in Cairo regarding the Egyptian initiative to rebuild Gaza. The meeting coincided with Israel’s renewed threat to resume the war in Gaza. The Israeli government gave Hamas a 10-day ultimatum to release the detained Israelis in Gaza or the war would resume. Furthermore, in early March, Israel, in coordination with the United States, also decided to halt the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza until further notice. This decision indicates the continuation of the state of war and, consequently, the continuation of plans to displace Gaza’s residents.

This places the Arab efforts in a challenging position, complicating the actions of Arab countries on two fronts in the Palestinian territories. This is particularly evident with the emergence of serious risks related to Israeli actions to alter the geographical and demographic reality in the West Bank, alongside its attempts to influence the ongoing political process in Syria. Israel is also trying to impose a “secure depth” extending along southern Syria to the capital Damascus, thus positioning itself as the protector of the Druze community and attempting to prevent any presence of the transitional government forces in the south.

 On March 2, state-owned Israeli television channel Kan 11 reported that the Israeli government had instructed the Israeli military to prepare to defend the Druze town of Jaramana in the Damascus countryside. All of this means that Israeli government policies are not limited to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, they enjoy U.S. support, and they pose a comprehensive regional threat that endangers various Arab countries.

Finally, Operation Iron Wall comes at an advanced stage of the war in the Gaza Strip and a part of the previous promises made by the Israeli prime minister to reshape the Middle East. This is especially evident through a series of Israeli measures to re-engineer the Palestinian and Syrian geography, both spatially and demographically and changing urban planning in the West Bank in favor of Israeli settlement projects as an advanced step to the annexation and the imposition of Israeli sovereignty.

The danger of the ongoing operation specifically lies in targeting refugee camps and ending their existence in the West Bank through continuous military operations, while also targeting the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and banning its activities. This creates an environment that acts as a "push factor" to encourage as many Palestinian refugees as possible to migrate “voluntarily” should Israeli forced displacement projects fail due to strong Palestinian and Arab opposition to such initiatives.