The military spokesperson for Islamic Jihad's armed wing is warning Israel that fighting in the Middle East could soon expand to the West Bank, setting up a major escalation in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Speaking for the Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades—the second largest militant group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas—Abu Hamza said that the war is no longer confined to Gaza and that the conflict will soon extend to the West Bank. Israel's military has occupied the latter region since 1967.
"We announce the official entry of the West Bank into the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation, and the battle may soon spill into [and] across the occupied territories," Hamza said in an audio clip, according to Iran's Mehr News Agency.
Thus far, the fighting has remained mostly in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip. Should the conflict expand to the West Bank, it could lead to a nightmare scenario: a multifront attack on Israel. With Gaza and the West Bank bordering Israel, there are fears that the armed wing of Hezbollah could attack Israel from the north through Lebanon.
"The IDF is on high alert on all fronts, including Judea and Samaria, and is prepared to face any threat to the lives and security of the people of Israel," the Israel Defense Force told Newsweek.
On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza. As of Thursday, at least 1,300 people had been killed in Israel, the Associated Press reported, citing the Israeli military. At least 1,400 people had been killed in Gaza, according to authorities there, the AP said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is "at war," and Israel has cut off supplies of food, fuel, electricity and medicine to Gaza. Israel has also called up 360,000 army reservists as it prepares for a likely ground invasion of Gaza, which has an estimated population of around 2.3 million.
Guy Ziv, the associate director of American University's Center for Israel Studies, told Newsweek that while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has no interest in getting the West Bank involved in the Israel-Gaza war, the occupied territory is a "tinderbox" out of his control. Parts of the West Bank are administered by the Palestinian Authority.
Ziv said Netanyahu and his ministers have long been warned by Israeli security officials about the "dangerously high" tensions between Israel and the West Bank, which could be further exacerbated by the increasing likelihood of an "ugly and chaotic" succession battle over Abbas' post.
"Israel cannot afford, therefore, to ignore the developments in the West Bank, even as it focuses on destroying Hamas in Gaza," Ziv said.
The Israeli government has already sent soldiers toward Lebanon in case of an attack from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group that fought a devastating war with Israel nearly a decade ago. At least 1,200 people in Lebanon and 158 Israelis died in the 2006 Lebanon War.
Hamas, which controls Gaza, has already called for young people in the West Bank to begin confronting Israeli soldiers. Of the more than 21,000 Palestinians who commute from Gaza to Israel to work each day, some 600 were forced to go to the Israeli-occupied West Bank as fighting erupted over the weekend. The Israeli government has said it is on high alert for possible attacks in the West Bank, where, as of Wednesday, at least 27 Palestinians have been killed.
"Anyone who challenges us in Judea and Samaria will be met with huge force," IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said this week, using the biblical names for the West Bank.
Update 10/16/23, 7:30 a.m. ET This story was updated with comment from IDF.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
