Israel trying to recreate Gaza in the West Bank by pushing Palestinians out, warns Jordan

Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in I srael is pushing the occupied West Bank “toward an explosion” that threatens the entire region, senior Jordanian officials have warned, accusing Israel’s far-right government of trying to recreate the security conditions of Gaza to force Palestinians from their land. In a briefing shared with The Independent , the officials said Israeli policies “orchestrated by far-right extremists” were designed to impose de facto annexation, dismantle the Palestinian Authority (PA) and confine Palestinians to “restricted enclaves”, with the ultimate aim of preventing a Palestinian state. “The far-right government in Israel is purposefully escalating the situation in the West Bank to enforce new geographic and demographic realities,” the document read, accusing Israel of trying to “prepare for a scenario of security chaos”. Israel, it added, “seeks to worsen the security situation in the West Bank in a manner similar to that in Gaza , with the goal of pushing Palestinians towards forced displacement as a result of suffocating livelihoods and under the guise of ‘voluntary emigration’”. Recommended Saving a British presence in East Jerusalem is another triumph for Ed Miliband Houthi agents of chaos are no unruly tribesmen. They have joined Iran and Russia’s plot to wreak havoc October 7 attacks have led to an apocalyptic reality in Gaza – the violence must stop The brief concluded that Israel’s policies, ultimately aimed “at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state”, will “drive the security situation in the Palestinian territories toward an explosion, which is a danger for the entire region”. Jordan shares a long border with the West Bank and signed a treaty with Israel in 1994 that, though strained, has been a cornerstone of regional stability. Amman has repeatedly warned that the security implications of Israeli policy in the West Bank, including mass forcible displacement, would destroy the notion of a future Palestinian state, threaten its own stability and that of the region. Israel seized the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War, an occupation which the International Court of Justice has deemed illegal and in defiance of the Palestinian right to self-determination and statehood. open image in gallery Israeli soldiers patrol a street as they are deployed during an operation in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank ( AFP/Getty ) Since then, Israel has built and expanded its settlements: the West Bank is now home to over 500,000 Israeli settlers. Three million Palestinians also live there under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in scattered enclaves. Violence has surged since Hamas’s deadly 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed around 1200 people and Israel’s devastating bombardment of Gaza, which a UN inquiry has since concluded is a genocide. As the situation has worsened in September, the UK announced plans to introduce a ban on the trade of goods produced within Israeli settlements. Foreign secretary Ed Miliband said: “The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank – perpetrated by settler terrorists.” The move prompted severe backlash in Israel. Israel denies its forces have violated international law. The Israeli military dismissed the accusations that it was deliberately worsening the security situation in the West Bank to forcibly displace Palestinians “baseless”. In a statement to The Independent it said, instead its mission in the West Bank was to “thwart terrorism, protect all residents, and maintain law and order in the area.” It claimed there had been more than “2,000 attempted terror attacks” in the area since the start of the war and that any activities were conducted in accordance with”operational necessity, the law, and IDF orders”. But annexation efforts have been publicly accelerated by extreme right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, both of whom are settlers and public about their desire “to kill the idea of a Palestinian state.” The Jordanian officials pointed to Israel’s large-scale military offensive, “Operation Iron Wall”, in the northern West Bank which has forcibly displaced around 54,000 Palestinians since it was launched in January 2025. open image in gallery ( AFP/Getty ) The brief also accused Israeli authorities of having “chosen to turn a blind eye” to attacks by settlers that have displaced over 6,200 Palestinians, including over 3,000 children. According to UN data in 2026 alone there have been over 1,600 settler attacks causing Palestinian casualties, property damage or both. The brief also said that Israel has now imposed at least 940 checkpoints and movement obstacles, the highest level of checkpoints across the West Bank that the United Nations has recorded in two decades. The Israeli military said these checkpoints were necessary to its “security activities” and added that a deeply divisive new billion-dollar 22-mile barrier it is building within the Jordan Valley - that rights groups say is severing Palestinians from their land - addresses a “clear security need”. The Jordanian officials also accused Israel of a “systematic campaign” to weaken and collapse the PA by withholding around $7billion in Palestinian tax revenues, about 65 per cent of the PA’s income. It said it had also revoked large numbers of work permits for Palestinians employed in Israel, driving up unemployment. Israel has in the past claimed the these funds, often collected as customs duties on Palestinian imports, are being used to “support terrorism”. open image in gallery ( Reuters ) The brief said that the “extremist Israeli government” has approved 104 settlements since taking office in December 2022, and that at least 51,200 settler housing units have been advanced, approved or tendered since 2025. Recommended Sally Rooney’s publisher withdraws her books from UK sale over support for Palestine Action Indonesia’s top Muslim council opposes upcoming Andrea Bocelli concerts over Israel ties Israel returns stolen Greek artefacts as Athens intensifies Elgin Marbles campaign Of greatest concern is E1, a long-stalled settlement project east of Jerusalem. The officials warned it “would dissect the West Bank, isolate East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, and fundamentally alter the geography on which the two-state solution is based”. Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said plans to build more than 3,000 homes there will "bury the idea of a Palestinian state".