Pressure builds to turn West Bank into ‘Gaza War 2’

Upon initial consideration, it might seem puzzling why the Israeli military, already tied up in a seemingly endless war in Gaza and cross border fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon, would further escalate conflict with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by launching major raids there.

Yet Israeli military analysts say there was no choice but to launch last week’s “Operation Summer Camps’’, the biggest and most significant army push in the West Bank since the Gaza war started on October 7 with Hamas’s brutal attack on southern communities.

By Saturday, the fourth day of the operation in the northern West Bank, more than 20 Palestinians, mostly militants had been killed, and swathes of the Nur Shams and Jenin refugee camps had been damaged or destroyed.

It's just the start of increased pressure on refugee camps and towns to combat a heightened capability of Palestinian militants stemming from Iranian provision of weaponry, explosives and money, Giora Eiland, former head of Israel’s National Security Council, told The Jewish Independent. “This has created real abilities and a substantial threat.”

He noted that a West Bank assailant had tried and failed to carry out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv two weeks ago, killing only himself. That raised fears of a return to the bus and restaurant bombings during the second intifada more than two decades ago