Despite US President Donald Trump's declaration that he rejects Israel's annexation of the occupied West Bank, Palestinians say that on the ground Israel is relentlessly taking over and an actual annexation announcement is only a matter of time.
Trump statements on the West Bank came after he was asked whether he had promised Arab and Islamic leaders during his meeting with them last Tuesday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, that he would prevent the annexation of the West Bank.
However, on the ground, the reality suggests otherwise. The number of Israeli military barriers and iron gates has reached nearly 1,000 in a relatively short time, as fanatical Israeli settlers seize more land, and settler-only roads continue to be paved.
Palestinians are effectively confined to their communities, their movement restricted, and are left at the mercy of Israel settlers whose sole motive is to colonise more land while flaunting their weapons under the constant protection and support of the Israeli army.
Palestinians no longer believe in politics, as Khaled Abu Naim, a resident of the village of al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, remarked to The New Arab. His village has been subjected to the fiercest settlement campaign since the current extremist Israeli government took office in 2022.
"We no longer have any land. They confiscated it all. We used to plant, harvest, and live off it. Now we can't even look at it from a distance," he said.
Al-Mughayyir lost tens of thousands of dunams over the years, but what Israel is doing there and along the eastern border of Ramallah is seizing and confiscating it to create vast areas for old settlements and new outposts that will soon be established.
"If all of this doesn't mean annexation, then I don't think the word has any meaning. This is annexation itself: losing our land and the land of our ancestors in the blink of an eye," Abu Naim added.
Special permits
Among the mean actions related to de facto annexation, Israel recently distributed special permits to the residents of the town of Beit Iksa, the village of Nabi Samwil, and the neighbourhood of al-Khalayleh, northwest of Jerusalem.
These permits will isolate these areas from the rest of the occupied West Bank, and they will also not be connected to Israel or Jerusalem. Rather, they will keep their residents in a large prison, devoid of services and communication, as an additional pressure to displace them.
Ali al-Awar, a researcher on Israeli affairs, noted to TNA that Israeli policy on the ground is systematic, based on strengthening and expanding settlements and complete annexation, which is being implemented via projects led by Yossi Dagan, head of the Supreme Regional Council for Settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Smotrich provides full financial support and transforms caravans and outposts into legitimate settlements by providing infrastructure, water, electricity, and road construction. However, regarding annexation, Netanyahu will not dare to actually announce it due to international resolutions and The Hague advisory opinion, which, he said, affirmed that the West Bank and Gaza are occupied territory.
"There is a difference between strengthening settlements and officially announcing the annexation of the West Bank. The Israeli media claims that annexation attempts are unrealistic and will undermine peace in the Middle East and continue the bloodbath. However, after the international tsunami of recognition of the Palestinian state, the two-state solution has returned to the forefront," al-Awar added.
"Netanyahu realises that the timing is not right for annexation, but he will face international and UN rejection if he announces it," al-Awar further opined.
Hebron first
Another clear indicator of the practical steps toward Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank is the transformation of the city of Hebron into a separate "emirate". Israeli authorities initiated this process by arresting its elected mayor, Tayseer Abu Sneineh, from his home and placing him under renewable administrative detention.
Abu Sneineh's arrest comes at a sensitive time, as Israel seeks to eliminate the large Palestinian population in Hebron in exchange for control of key sites there for the Palestinians, backed by the 1997 Hebron Agreement.
Palestinians considered this agreement as unfair to them, because it consolidated the presence of settlers within the heart of the city and left the Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque under Israeli control.
It also effectively divided Hebron and imposed severe restrictions on Palestinian movement, causing a decline in economic and social life. What was supposed to strengthen Palestinian sovereignty became a daily burden on its residents.
Prior to Abu Sneineh's arrest, Israel took steps in Hebron to separate it from the occupied West Bank and transform it into a reality similar to what Palestinian residents face in Jerusalem.
The most notable of these actions include raiding of several schools in the southern region, warning principals against raising the Palestinian flag there, and confiscating geography books bearing a map and the Palestinian flag. The Israeli army also stormed the city centre, unprecedentedly attacking a protest rally in which participants demanded the return of the bodies of martyrs held by Israel.
The plan includes replacing the Palestinian Authority leadership there with local clans, establishing a separate entity that recognises Israel as a "Jewish state", and strengthening security and economic cooperation with it.
Hebron is one of the largest Palestinian cities, covering approximately 1,060 square kilometres. It is home to nearly 800,000 people. This population density is distributed between the main city and the surrounding villages and towns, making it one of the most densely populated Palestinian cities. It is considered the capital of the Palestinian economy due to its extensive commercial and industrial activity, as well as the cradle of Palestinian resistance due to its conservative society. It is the area most in contact with settlers who call for the slogan "Hebron First" under religious pretexts.
Writer and political researcher Mohamad Alqeeq remarked to TNA that Israel has chosen Hebron to test the international and Palestinian community and to prepare settlers in the occupied West Bank for the experience of confiscating and annexing Area C.
"The annexation of Hebron is a gradual process that is not separate from the broader annexation plan, the E1 project in Jerusalem, or the idea of Greater Israel that Netanyahu wants to establish as a settler state on the ruins of the Palestinian state before it is even born," Alqeeq said.
He further argued that Israel exploited the Oslo Accords to crush resistance, and now it no longer needs the Accords or the Palestinian Authority. Rather, it seeks to extend its sovereignty and end of Palestinian society as a state, transforming it into isolated communities.
"The Palestinian Authority erred in suppressing the resistance, in its corruption, and in the resulting financial crises, which created a rift between it and its people. The only way to salvation is to rebuild it through Palestinian consensus and prioritise the Palestinian house of work. Otherwise, the PA will be complicit in the annexation through a policy of exclusion and a unilateral decision regarding the Palestinian destiny," the writer concluded.