MDA armoured ambulance > Tewfik, CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons
The escalating situation in the West Bank is likely to only get worse in the coming year as current tensions should not simply view this as a ‘wave of terror’ according to several Israeli officials.
Brig. Gen. Amit Saar said that Iran will be the most challenging issue posing Israel in 2023, but that this would be closely followed by the risk of growing violence in the West Bank.
Speaking at a conference in Israel, Saar added that “we need to examine what we have seen in recent months — not through the [prism of the] number of attacks, but the causes,” while casting doubt that Israel was prepared for the potential level of conflict going into 2023.
He also expressed scepticism that the current wave of attacks could be understood as a short-term “wave”.
Following a deadly series of attacks, the IDF has reported the arrest of more than 2,500 terror suspects in the West Bank since late March.
The attacks in question have left 31 Israelis dead.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority stated that around 150 Palestinians have died in Israeli counter-terror operations, the vast majority of these – though not all – being individuals connected with terrorism themselves.
Speaking on the protests in Iran, Saar acknowledged that the Iranian regime will likely manage to survive the current protests.