Afrasianet - The Israeli occupation is accelerating the pace of its policies in  the West Bank within a multiple and complex methodology, most notably the continuation of the military operation in the Jenin andTulkarm camps  for the third month in a row, the completion of the placement of more than a thousand gates and checkpoints at the entrances to Palestinian villages and cities,  and the approval of the name "Judea and Samaria" on the West Bank.

In light of the continued deduction of clearance funds and the weakening of the economic and financial capacity of the Palestinian Authority, the occupation adopts the methodology of promoting settlements with thousands of new units, legitimizing informal settlement outposts, and establishing many strategic plans to rehabilitate infrastructure in the West Bank to serve the perspective of Israeli settlements.

Al Jazeera Net and Roya Center for Political Development surveyed a group of experts, academics and politicians in an attempt to understand the future that awaits the West Bank and the nature of the options for the Palestinian Authority.

These views were reviewed through the following themes and questions:

•    What goals does the Israeli occupation seek to achieve in the West Bank?
•    By remaining in the Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps, does the occupation aim to reimpose military rule on the West Bank?
•    Is the Israeli occupation concerned with ending the Palestinian Authority?
•    What options does the PA have to counter Israeli plans?

The opinions of experts can be summarized as follows:

•    Israel uses the security objective as a cover to achieve strategic goals of changing the geographical and demographic composition of the West Bank.
•    Israel seeks to restore control and military rule to the West Bank after dividing it into squares and turning it into a pattern of local self-administrations.
•    The acceleration of Israeli policies in the West Bank aims to prevent the implementation of any option that could give the Palestinians an umbrella or political reference in the future.
•    Netanyahu's government uses settlers as a security arm to kill, destroy and intimidate Palestinians with the aim of displacing and tightening control over the West Bank.
•    Israeli stay in the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps is consistent with the real goals of the occupation to change the legal status of the camps to become part of the neighborhoods of Palestinian cities.
•    We are facing a new pattern of violent terrorism practiced by the Israeli military establishment, in coordination with settlers, to cause internal displacement and turn Palestinian cities into prisons controlled by Israel without a presence.
•    Ending the PA in its current form is a political goal of the occupation.
•    The PA's options are multiple, but they depend on the extent to which it wants to use them, foremost of which is the activation of the decisions emanating from the National and Central Council in 2015 as well as the dissolution of the PA.
•    The choice is to completely sever the relationship with Israel and let us all bear the result, as the facts can no longer be tolerated even by reason and thinking.
•    The PA can strengthen the domestic front by broadly unleashing the will of the Palestinian public in the face of Israeli plans.
•    The PA is required to return to the Palestinian people, and to hold comprehensive presidential and legislative elections to renew Palestinian legitimacy and strengthen trust between citizens and the political leadership.

Dr. Hassan Khreisheh: The declared goal of Israel is to fight the resistance in the West Bank camps, and the beginning was in Jenin camp because of its symbolism since the second intifada, during which the occupation could not end the idea of resistance, and this applies to the occupation targeting Tulkarm camps as well.

However, we must understand the Israeli mentality more deeply, as there is a strategic goal that the occupation seeks to achieve, which is to end the Palestinian camp as a population space, as it represents a symbol of the refugee issue and the right of return, which the occupation is working to erase after it targeted UNRWA.

The second objective of the occupation's strategic planning is to restore Israeli military rule to the West Bank by redividing it into squares, and the occupation aims, through its attack on the camps, to make them part of the composition of the city and one of its suburbs, and thus apply this to the remaining areas.

This Israeli strategy is largely linked to the use of settlers as security arms that carry out the tasks  of the occupation army by burning, killing, controlling land, uprooting trees, publishing advertisements calling on Palestinians to emigrate, erecting gates, legitimizing informal outposts, and ultimately seeking to apply military rule to the West Bank, as evidenced by its use of names such as "Judea and Samaria."

The American partnership is clear in adopting all these plans and ideas, all of which comes in light of the accelerated and real effort to annex the so-called (C) areas according to  the Oslo Agreement, which constitute more than 60% of the West Bank.

During the last war of extermination, it became clear and certain that the targeting is not for the resistance or the resistance, but for all Palestinians, so whoever was betting or waiting for any political solutions coming from America or others has proven with conclusive evidence that this bet is a loser.

On the other hand, the occupation no longer trusts the Palestinian Authority and does not give it any consideration, as evidenced by the reoccupation of the camps that are classified as Area A, i.e. under full Palestinian sovereignty, and therefore the PA is targeted to weaken it while maintaining its non-collapse so that it continues to play a functional role assigned to it by the occupation.

The PA has many options, but this depends mainly on the PA's desire to use them, but unfortunately, since  the Al-Aqsa flood, the  PA has distanced itself from this major event, saying that it is not part of this war, and that the war is against the resistance.

If the PA wants to make its choices, it must first implement the Palestinian consensus decisions emanating from the National and Central Council since 2015, including:

•    First, the termination of Oslo and its consequences, including security coordination.
•    Second: Not to be ashamed of the Arab countries and to officially ask them to stop the normalization agreements with the occupation and to end the state of silence practiced by these regimes in light of the massacres to which the Palestinians are subjected.
•    Third: Palestinian diplomacy should play its real role to mobilize public opinion against the occupation and pressure to stop the war, and there are simple models that can be developed and adopted, such as activating the role of Palestinian communities abroad, and making the Palestinian model in Europe an example to follow, as the Palestinians there were able to mobilize millions of demonstrators in more than one march against what the Palestinians are subjected to in Gaza.
•    Fourth: Dealing seriously with the outcomes of the national dialogues held previously, the latest of which is the Beijing Dialogue, and working to implement its outcomes through the formation of a government of national consensus to perform tasks that enhance the confrontation with the occupation.
•    Fifth: The PA and the factions must realize that this is an existential war for the Palestinians, and what is required in the face of Israeli ferocity is unity, rising above the mentality of division and standing in one row.
•    Sixth: Curbing all voices that criticize the resistance and exonerate the occupation, and reaffirming that the occupation and its partners have a project, and therefore we, as Palestinians, must prove our liberation project in front of the project .

Dr. Rafiq Awad Ahmed: The Israeli goals in the West Bank are the partial or total annexation of areas classified (C) and some areas of areas (A) if political and field conditions permit, in addition to the destruction, displacement and change of the geographical and demographic composition of the camps in a prelude to ending the refugee issue after  the exclusion of UNRWA. 

It also destroys  the two-state solution by dissolving the Palestinian Authority, impoverishing it or weakening it so that it can fall and is no longer a political title or umbrella that demands a Palestinian state, and control over the so-called Palestinian armed phenomenon of resistance.

As for the other goals that Israel promotes, they are merely political claims to provide a justification or cover for what it is doing, and thus the occupation will remain in the camps for a long period of time in line with the nature of the real goals that we have mentioned, as Israel wants to change the reality and the legal status of the camps to become part of the neighborhoods of Palestinian cities, and secondly, work to strike the idea of dividing areas according to the Oslo name (A, B and C).

Israel goes too far in reshaping its relationship with the Palestinians, and the occupation in these cities is only a prelude to the annexation of the West Bank, and the occupation seeks to overthrow the PA first morally in front of the Palestinian citizen, and secondly effectively through the occupation field control.

The PA is also considered an Arab and international option, which Israel does not want, but rather wants another form of administration of the West Bank through municipalities, tribes or military rule after linking all Palestinian interests to the civil administration of the occupation.

As for the PA's choices, it is time to think carefully about renaming and redefining the relationship with the Israeli occupation, and not to wait for the PA and not rely on allies, because Israel has hit all this through its ability to influence everyone, including the international system.

Dr. Hassan Ayoub: It seems that the reality of the West Bank in the foreseeable future and according to Israeli practice is formed in the form of separate prisons through a large number of military checkpoints and gates, especially in the areas adjacent to the settlement blocs or the main joints linking the West Bank governorates.

This means that in the next few years it will be difficult for Palestinians to move or move except through permits issued by the occupation, and this brings us to the reality of apartheid experienced by South Africans during the apartheid regime.

Added to this are the most serious internal displacements in the West Bank, which are coordinated by settlers and the Israeli military.

We are facing a pattern of terrorist and pastoral violence in the settlements, where organized and coordinated attacks are launched against small Palestinian towns adjacent to settlements, as is happening in the Jordan Valley.

Palestinian cities will be turned into prisons where  the Israeli army will be permanently present, but without headquarters, centers or administrative apparatus, a new pattern of imposing occupation and military control on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Therefore, the current Israeli military presence in the camps in the northern West Bank will be the sustainable reality in the future, and this will not be the case for Israel so that the predominant character of its relationship with the Palestinians, specifically in refugee camps or places where there may be a presence of Palestinian resistance, so that the Israeli military presence becomes a habitual thing in the daily life of Palestinians.

This reality is not imposed by security considerations, but by geopolitical considerations, so that Israel creates a new reality in the West Bank, and the Palestinians must accept the permanent Israeli military presence in a more cruel and criminal manner, as is happening in Gaza. 

This is why it is always suggested that the model of extermination and destruction of Gaza can be transferred to the West Bank, and this too sends a clear message to the PA: either accept coexistence with the new Israeli reality or that the rug will be pulled out from under its feet. 

In this case, Israel creates all the conditions for the possibility of implementing that through what it is actually doing on the ground, and we are close to Israel's policies leading to the deliberate and deliberate collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

There is a conflict between two currents within Israel regarding the future of the West Bank and the PA, one of which is the security and military establishment and some parties in the Israeli opposition when it had an effective and powerful role, such as the Israeli Labor Party and those like it.

As for the second current, represented by the Zionist right-wing forces, which now dominates the Israeli scene, which clearly speaks of the fact that the existence of the Palestinian Authority is irrelevant and that it is inappropriate to transfer the so-called "security of Israel" to non-Israeli or Jewish hands, this equation is governed by a power struggle within the occupation entity.

The prevailing approach in Israel today is that  of Bezalel Smotrich andItamar Ben-Gvir, which believe that the Palestinian structure must be completely changed, and that they want to crush the PA and end it as institutions, but so far they lack the means and tools that can achieve this without opening the gate of violence in the West Bank.

Therefore, the PA entity is in the wind, and it is at its weakest, not only at the level of what Israel wants from it and implementing its orders, but also in turning it into ghettos and the name of authority without having any real influence or role on the ground. 

The PA's options are almost non-existent, as it enjoys regional and international legitimacy without internal legitimacy, and this dilemma faced by the PA by not having internal legitimacy and abandoning popular and public support is simply due to the fact that it closed its options on one option that has no alternative for it, which is the option of negotiation and the so-called settlement process, as if the battle of the Al-Aqsa flood had not taken place.

In the political sense, the PA has the option of ending the division, as well as the option of pushing with all its strength and relations to activate the international decisions issued by international courts in favor of the Palestinians.

The PA can strengthen the home front by broadly releasing the will of the public, not necessarily linked to armed resistance, but with multiple popular mass options.

Although the PA has confined itself to the option of popular resistance, it has not worked to exercise it at all, and therefore seems to be in a state of waiting and does not offer alternative options, and is busy arranging its internal affairs, which is related to the creation of the position of vice president, Fatah's differences,  and the strengthening of the Palestinian security forces through appointments and promotions, and through the issuance of decrees that meet European and American conditions and related to the PA's obligations towards segments of the Palestinian people, especially the families of martyrs and prisoners.

It is spinning in a vicious circle, and therefore the PA is unable to develop options and alternatives through which it can confront the threat to Palestinians in general, whether in the West Bank or Gaza.

On the other hand, Israel reinforces all its practices and implements projects to impose a fait accompli that could turn the West Bank into 4 blocks within each block of ghettos separated from each other, which is like a maze of rats in which Palestinians live, and turns into a repellent place aimed at displacing the largest number of Palestinians abroad.

Dr. Hussein Al-Deek: The occupation focuses on the strategy of maintaining the military presence in the camps in the northern West Bank, and this is an application of what has become known as the resolution of the conflict, so that Israel will have full control over Area C, direct control over part of Area A, transform the Palestinian presence into isolated communities, and eliminate all resistance presence in the West Bank.

On the other hand, Israel wants this control without being obliged to provide the service and economic dimension to the Palestinians because it practically wants to weaken rather than strengthen the Palestinians.

Therefore, the direct and comprehensive Israeli administration, I believe, is not in the question of Israeli planning now, but rather wants to be in control and not direct manager, and wants self-management of the Palestinians without this administration enjoying any political or sovereign manifestations, meaning without having an internationally recognized authority. 

On the other hand, Israel pressures the Palestinians to make the cost of resistance higher than the cost of occupation, so that the areas where there is an act of resistance are destroyed and targeted directly, as in Jenin and Tulkarem, and keep the rest of the areas under Israeli control in light of a difficult reality with acquiescence to the fait accompli. 

Ending the PA in its current appearance may be a political goal for the occupation, with the need not to grant this authority any international recognition, and Israel wants a framework of authority concerned with administrative service affairs and orders the occupation and applies its conditions without being within a framework, umbrella or political name, this is the form that Israel wants.

Since October 7, 2023, its role has been marginal and limited, and there have been no initiatives by it to influence the political scene, and therefore its options will not exceed its traditional form based on the need for international recognition, or reliance on the Arab position, which also remains linked to political calculations and may change with the change of these calculations.

If it really wants to look for real options, it must return to the Palestinian people through comprehensive presidential and legislative elections to renew Palestinian legitimacy, and this may open the door to strengthening and renewing trust between the citizen and the PA, which will then represent the people and their choices.

Mohammed Jaradat: Israeli goals are old and new related to the Israeli right's ambition to annex the West Bank, and this was raised several years ago, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes  that the great harmony with the US administration represents a great opportunity to achieve the annexation process now.
The occupation has a political goal represented in the annexation of settlement blocs, a security goal to eliminate the resistance that has begun to form in the camps, in addition to restoring Israeli military rule to the West Bank while maintaining an administrative service role for the PA there.

It seems that the PA is preparing for this through the policies of the current Palestinian government, which began to marginalize the status and role of the PA president in preparation for the appointment of a vice president so that the powers are in the hands of the vice president open, and this is in harmony with what the occupation wants, and what is happening in Jenin and Tulkarm gives an indication of the form and nature of what the occupation wishes to apply in the rest of the West Bank.

Unfortunately, it seems that this policy comes within the framework of Arab acceptance and perhaps also from the PA under the pretext of resisting the plan to displace the Palestinians, and thus acceptance of the policies of the occupation and the reality it imposes.

The PA's options are its ability to obstruct Israeli plans, but this requires a great deal of sacrifice, but it seems that it is too late and the PA will not make sacrifices in this context after its role in besieging camps in the West Bank, political arrests and eliminating the state of struggle.

Therefore, the PA today is in a state of complete submission to the US-Israeli transformations, and even its ability to confront the media has become weak, and it is moving towards a self-management model for an authority emptied of any political umbrella or political role.

Ultimately, it depends on the shape and nature of the outcomes of the regional and international tracks and the future of the war on Gaza that could change the effects of power.

Source: Al Jazeera